Airbag Deployment ?

duratothemax

duratothemax

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Aug 28, 2006
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hmm Ill have to look into the two front end sensors...I know for a fact in 2004+ trucks there is only one. GM might have changed things in 03 because that was the first year of the passenger sensing system in the light duties, so maybe they did something unique to the HD's that year.

An airbag deployment when a driver is unbelted can be VERY deadly. It can snap your neck quite easilly among other things, crush your ribs etc. Trust me, you are much better off without an airbag deployment if your seatbelt wasnt on. There is a reason all airbag computers in every vehicle monitor whether the driver had their seatbelt on or not. ;)

The dash, steering wheel, and knee panels are all specially designed to absorb impact. If you take off the knee panel you'll see that its hollow with ribs on the back. This is to help absorb the drivers knees in the event that they are in an accident without their seatbelt on. The dash is supposed to do the same thing.

The system worked as it should have, you did survive thankfully, and thats the goal of the SDM. To take into account EVERYTHING (data) its presented with (speed, angle of impact, driver seatbelt usage, TPS, brake pedal usage, G-forces, EFS input) and make an educated decision on whether or not an airbag deployment would be critical in saving the drivers life. If any one of those things is not right, or "all the stars are not aligned" the SDM wont command a deployment.

wear your seatbelt! :p: :D

ben
 
Rttoys

Rttoys

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duratothemax said:
Not to sound like an ass, but the GM reps are idiots (big surprise) if they couldnt figure this one out. Wires running everywhere to diagnose everything is also stupid. All you have to do is plug in the Tech 2 and you can pull all the "snapshot" data off the SDM at the time of deployment (accident). It gives likea 5 second record of brake pedal usage, speed, TPS, seatbelt usage, RPM, etc.... leading up to the accident. You can also check for open deployment loops, short circuits, etc with a tech 2. Im not a dealer tech and have no formal education in such, but Rttoys has and Im sure he could either confirm this or correct me if Im wrong.
ben
Click to expand...


For the most part you are correct. The only thing is, if I use my Tech 2 to see the data stored in the SDM, I get nothing but a code that says there was a deployment. It takes one of the reps 'special' Tech2 (they have a different name for it though) to get the info and it pulls info you have never seen before....:secret: I'm suprised some of you that use/develop/research EFI Live haven't found out about some of the 'other' things our vehicles know/moniter....or maybe you have and ain't tell'n:cool2:

OK, enough of the tinfoil hat talk. One thing every one of us overlook when we mod our trucks, is we don't think about if it will jack with the SRS. Something as little as changing the angle of the truck (crank t-bars, lift kits) will effect the function of the SRS. How much??? I don't know, but it does effect it.

Example;
Back in '96 or '97 we had a Camaro that deployed the air bags when the customer 'just came to a simple stop', he says. Big thing, everyone was involved. Rep came out, took one look at the car and said 'de-nyed'.:D It had a lowering kit on it that changed the angle of the vehicle and when he came to calm smooth 'stop' all the moons alighed and the bags deployed. He hooked up his Tech2 and I got to see firsthand what a real Tech2 can do:eek:. Not a simple stop....go figure. He was well over 100mph coming down useing full brake pressure.....bla bla bla. Can't hide from the computer. Kid had to pay for the repairs.

Things are much more complicated now and the systems are much better than they us to be, and it's still fun to catch people in a lie.:rofl:
 
Killerbee

Killerbee

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Rttoys said:
Example;
Back in '96 or '97 we had a Camaro that deployed the air bags when the customer 'just came to a simple stop', he says. Big thing, everyone was involved. Rep came out, took one look at the car and said 'de-nyed'.:D
Click to expand...

I would think GM would be grateful that the deployment did not cause loss of life....and grateful they were not being sued. Systems like this need to be dummy proof, because they are so lethal when not working as intended.

Aren't there 2 main g-sensors that must be in agreement (series connected): one under the radiator support, one under each seat?
 
duratothemax

duratothemax

<--- slippery roads
Aug 28, 2006
7,139
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Wyoming
Rttoys said:
For the most part you are correct. The only thing is, if I use my Tech 2 to see the data stored in the SDM, I get nothing but a code that says there was a deployment. It takes one of the reps 'special' Tech2 (they have a different name for it though) to get the info and it pulls info you have never seen before....:secret: I'm suprised some of you that use/develop/research EFI Live haven't found out about some of the 'other' things our vehicles know/moniter....or maybe you have and ain't tell'n:cool2:

OK, enough of the tinfoil hat talk. One thing every one of us overlook when we mod our trucks, is we don't think about if it will jack with the SRS. Something as little as changing the angle of the truck (crank t-bars, lift kits) will effect the function of the SRS. How much??? I don't know, but it does effect it.

Example;
Back in '96 or '97 we had a Camaro that deployed the air bags when the customer 'just came to a simple stop', he says. Big thing, everyone was involved. Rep came out, took one look at the car and said 'de-nyed'.:D It had a lowering kit on it that changed the angle of the vehicle and when he came to calm smooth 'stop' all the moons alighed and the bags deployed. He hooked up his Tech2 and I got to see firsthand what a real Tech2 can do:eek:. Not a simple stop....go figure. He was well over 100mph coming down useing full brake pressure.....bla bla bla. Can't hide from the computer. Kid had to pay for the repairs.

Things are much more complicated now and the systems are much better than they us to be, and it's still fun to catch people in a lie.:rofl:
Click to expand...

yes thats true...I forgot about that. :eek: You need to take the VCI box part out of the tech 2 (I think thats what its called, the big thing that slides out of the end where the cable plugs in) and install a special one to download SDM snapshot stuff. The codes that set when a deployment is commanded are not able to be reset I dont think; you need to replace the SDM.
 
duratothemax

duratothemax

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Killerbee said:
I would think GM would be grateful that the deployment did not cause loss of life....and grateful they were not being sued. Systems like this need to be dummy proof, because they are so lethal when not working as intended.

Aren't there 2 main g-sensors that must be in agreement (series connected): one under the radiator support, one under each seat?
Click to expand...

I explained that above. They arent wired together and they arent part of the deployment loop. On HD's there is one EFS on the front core support, and an accellerometer INTERNAL to the SDM. The SDM is under the drivers seat. On 2003-only HD's and all light duties, there are two EFS's mounted on teh radiator core support.

They dont have to be in agreement, but most of the time they are. The EFS can NOT trigger a deployment on its own without the SDM's internal sensor agreeing with it. Howveer the SDM can trigger a deployment on its own without agreement from the EFS.
 
Rttoys

Rttoys

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Mar 6, 2008
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Killerbee said:
I would think GM would be grateful that the deployment did not cause loss of life....and grateful they were not being sued. Systems like this need to be dummy proof, because they are so lethal when not working as intended.

Aren't there 2 main g-sensors that must be in agreement (series connected): one under the radiator support, one under each seat?
Click to expand...


They were being sued, that's why a field service rep was involved. The system is and was very fool proof, and are not as 'lethal' as you are makeing them out to being. The odds of an air bag accedetaly deploying are very very minimal, most people are going to say ''I know a friend'' or ''I heard about this one guy'', and no one knows all the ''facts'' about the case, just that the airbag went off for no reason. It has happened, due to the information I got from GM while in an SRS class, but we are talking about such a small number compared to the millions of airbags on the road. In the early years ('90ish) the SRS systems caused most of the problems, but the problems were more of the fear of a 'bomb' inside the car that could explode at anytime....technology fear. Just like seatbelts, it's taken many years to really fine tune these things to the point where we are now.

Back then that system was a 2 sensor system that worked very well. Like I said before, with the mods this guy had, the data pulled from the SDM (the real story) and all the moons lineing up.....caused the right conditions for the deployment. BTW, the lawsuit was later dropped.
 
duratothemax

duratothemax

<--- slippery roads
Aug 28, 2006
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Rttoys said:
The odds of an air bag accedetaly deploying are very very minimal, most people are going to say ''I know a friend'' or ''I heard about this one guy'', and no one knows all the ''facts'' about the case, just that the airbag went off for no reason. In the early years ('90ish) the SRS systems caused most of the problems, but the problems were more of the fear of a 'bomb' inside the car that could explode at anytime....technology fear. Just like seatbelts, it's taken many years to really fine tune these things to the point where we are now..
Click to expand...

nothing pisses me off more than the "I know a friend..." or "my brothers uncles sisters mailman....." stories. :rolleyes:
 
sweetdiesel

sweetdiesel

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duratothemax said:
.

Were you wearing your seatbelt? If you arent wearing your seatbelt the airbags sometimes wont deploy because the SDM (airtbag computer) takes this into account when deciding whether or not to deploy the airbags (driver seatbelt usage)
Click to expand...

Been thinking about this lately

removeing stock seats and seat belt like in Casper,Does this mean NO airbag?

I know mine wont be going off if I hit anything
 
sweetdiesel

sweetdiesel

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duratothemax said:
dunno...Pat is the seatbelt light on when you take out the stock seat and put the race seat in?
Click to expand...

Ben FWIW and i cant speak for Pat ....But the wire to the seats is not hooked up

I havent had power to it yet,and simply pulled all the air bag crap out
Im sure when i start my truck its dash will light like a cristmas tree
 
duratothemax

duratothemax

<--- slippery roads
Aug 28, 2006
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Wyoming
alright so in that case, yes, the SDM would think the seatbelt is on.

hmm thats interesting, I would have thought if you unplugged it, the light would be on constantly. So Lennart your truck doesnt chime when you start it right? (provided you have the stock radio still in)
 
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