[Beppi]

Hi guys, anyone know if the airbag gas cylinders ever need replacing or refilling? How would one know when to do it, it's not in the service manual.

 

[Seanhump]

To be honest, I'd leave that one to the dealer / service dept ...

It's going to be easier to replace the whole airbag if/when it's due for a change on calendar time

 

[Dodsy]

Its usually recommended that Airbags are replaced after 10 years. It should be left to a garage to sort out as they are potentially lethal.

They dont have a gas cylinder so nothing to recharge. They work by having an explosive charge which when detonated produces a large volume of rapidly expanding gas which then inflates the airbag.

Personally I have never bothered, my oldest car (Just sold) was 15 years and I never felt the need to spend a lot of money on replaing all the airbags. Remember in modern cars you can have many airbags - my current car has 8 or 10 . Replacing all of those would cost many thousands.

 

[Beppi]

Thanks guys, I think I'll just leave them be then.

 

[55AMG]

They are set off by an explosive charge , there is no gas cylinder that stores pressurised gas.

 

[etyu]

Expiration date may be related to the chemicals used to produce the "controlled" explosion, probably to make sure that they function as intended.

 

[Beppi]

Very interesting this explosive charge design, I wonder if anyone know how it works. Maybe some diagrams and the mechanism how the explosion is triggered. The whole concept sounds dangerous without knowing all the facts. If there is an explosive change I would imagine it may be a life time unserviceable component of the car then, that is if it is not physically damaged before it's life time period.

 

[RJV]

Very interesting this explosive charge design, I wonder if anyone know how it works. Maybe some diagrams and the mechanism how the explosion is triggered. The whole concept sounds dangerous without knowing all the facts. If there is an explosive change I would imagine it may be a life time unserviceable component of the car then, that is if it is not physically damaged before it's life time period.

 

[Beppi]

Thanks again, let's hope there are no bugs in the software that will trigger the explosion whilst driving happily alone.

 

[Sneaky Pete]

Thanks again, let's hope there are no bugs in the software that will trigger the explosion whilst driving happily alone.

http://www.slkworld.com/slk-r171-general-discussion/44177-side-airbag-deployed-no-reason.html >

 

[Beppi]

Let's hope the statistics are low, but it surely has made me nerves. I'll talk to my car and ask her if she's happy before i drive her.