Airbag light

2005 XG350L Airbag light came on 6 months ago dealer clean some plug and ok. Now its on again and I about due to take it in for oil change. Running Google lots of complaints with is problem and no much in permanent fixes. Any words of wisdom out there??
Reply to
news.knology.net
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I have no certain answers, but it's my theory that the terminals in the side air bag connector get a small amount of oxidation on them, increasing the resistance of the circuit enough to turn on the lamp.

Because the air bag is such a critical item, very small changes in resistance (1 Ohm or so) can be enough to set the lamp. I've had good luck with retensioning the terminals so that there's more positive contact. Few vehicles come back after I've done this.

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Reply to
hyundaitech

Hyundai has a history of such problems. I had a 2001 Elantra that would show the airbag light very often, starting at 2000 miles. Had it at the dealer for the problem 7 times in two years. Not long after the last visit the car was hit from behind while stopped waiting for traffic, the offender was estimated to be going 70+ mph. The car was driven forward into another car and demolished the front end as well. My daughter was injured. Not one airbag deployed. Some research on the net leads me to believe it is not an uncommon event. Please be sure to wear your seatbelt too and never assume the airbags will save you.

Reply to
Steve and Janet

And, it may well be that the Airbag system operated as designed. It operates based on rapid deceleration while the vehicle is moving forward. Probably, there wasn't much in the way of forward motion to decelerate from.

Reply to
Bob

The car traveled 31 feet forward before striking another stopped car. If this is normal operation, then a design change is needed. My daughter had some neck injuries, but her more serious injuries resulted from the front end impact, even though she was wearing a seatbelt.

Reply to
Steve and Janet

Ultimately, there's not enough information here for any of us to determine whether the air bags operated normally. In most cases, no problem is found when the air bag lamp isn't on.

Since no air bags deployed, it would be simple for a repair facility to check whether there were any faults even after the collision. Since no air bags deployed, we can probably presume that no trouble codes were set from air bag deployment, leaving only those codes that would indicate problems with the system, which likely were present even prior to the collision.

In your specific case, the distance the car was pushed and the speed of the car that struck it from the rear are irrelevant. Presuming the implication that a front air bag should have deployed, the relevant factor the rate of deceleration at the time of frontal impact.

Additionally, the problem I was referring to above (and presumably the original poster's problem as well) has to do specifically with connectors for the side air bags. Since you're alleging a problem with the frontal air bags, neither problem has anything to do with the other.

The one thing about your post that's absolutely true is that seat belts need to be worn. Occupant restraints are designed to be most effective when all are active/used.

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Reply to
hyundaitech

What would be your conclusion about the operation of the airbags as you stood and looked at the front of the car, to see the radiator torn apart and pushed into the engine. It looked as though another vehicle had struck it from the front. Would you think that was a significant decelleration? What if the injuries included those which could only have been caused by decelleration? Should a deceleration strong enough to fracture bones cause the airbags to deploy? What if the car had been to the dealer repeatedly with the airbag light on. What would you think? The technical details do not always tell the whole story, if that were so, the car would have only required one visit to the dealer for this problem. I understand the minute details here, and I certainly respect your opinion, and the opinion of others, but as a Dad, it is hard to take the fact that I paid for a car with airbags and they didn't work, which caused injuries that didn't have to be. Sometimes we buy cars that are mechanical nightmares and the problems remain elusive, and this was one of them. I am not anti Hyundai, I have a 2003 Accent and plan to buy another Hyundai in the near future. My only point was to not depend on airbags to save you, as they sometimes fail, as evidenced my many reports, including this one. Best regards.

Reply to
Steve and Janet

So you are that kind of people that expects that everything is perfect, IT's NOT your fault, and somebody has to pay for it..... Well, this is REAL LIFE .... SH*T* happens ....

Look at yourself .... are you perfect ????????????? clearly NOT.........

People like you are the ones making this Country be the worse one on the planet, when it use to be the BEST one ever.

Reply to
Vic Hyu Garcia

I don't expect everything to be perfect at all, and I don't expect anyone to pay for this. There certainly will not be any effort to make anyone pay for this in any way. In my mind, the airbags may well have not deployed because the front impact was not severe enough to trigger them, as has been also stated by others here.

My only point was to urge people to wear their seatbelts and not depend on airbags totally, as Hyundai recommends, and to realize that not everything is perfect, including airbags. If I came off as being an elite snob and trying to make Hyundai pay for something that was not their fault, I apologize. Being a combat veteran, I clearly know that s*** happens, and I certainly do not think this country is becoming the worse one on the planet, far from it.

I believe Hyundai is a great company, that is why I have purchased two of them and will buy another soon. My other Hyundai has had no problems and has performed flawlessly, the best car I ever owned. I continue to recommend Hyundai to anyone who asks. And I not will be leary of the new car's airbag system. The incident may well have just been a fluke.

No one will be expected to pay in any way for this. The insurance company of the vehicle that hit the car has already payed for the damaged, and our insurance has paid the medical bills. That is the way things are supposed to work. There will be no further action on this. This clearly was not my fault though, the fault rests with the person who was clearly not paying attention and hit the car, let's not forget that.

I am actually grateful that the Elantra held up so well from the impact, it could have been so much worse. The car was hit from behind at a high rate of speed, yet it did not catch fire, and the driver's area was intact. I thank God, and Hyundai for that. Please folks, wear your seatbelts, there are too many deaths from car accidents where people do not wear them, thinking airbags are sufficient protection. Best regards.

Reply to
Steve and Janet

One can't be sure without seeing the crash or at least the vehicles involved, but this doesn't surprise me. Air bags are intended for fairly severe frontal collisions. It takes an impact of up to 14 MPH into a SOLID barrier to trigger the impact sensors. If your car traveled 31 feet before hitting the car in front, there is a good chance that it was going less than 14 MPH at impact AND given that you hit another car, which isn't a solid, fixed barrier and itself will move when hit, it could take an impact speed of up to 28 MPH to trigger the airbags in that scenario.

Remember that two cars colliding head-on simulate one car colliding into a fixed barrier (assuming the cars are equal weight). If each car is traveling 14 MPH, then the closure rate between the two cars is 28 MPH. If one car is not moving, then the other car has to be traveling at 28 MPH to have the same impact is if both cars were coming at each other at

14 MPH.

I'm not saying that your airbags were working correctly and maybe they weren't, but one can't be sure from your description of the accident alone. The really extreme impact in your case was at the rear of your car and there are no air bag sensors there.

Matt

Reply to
Matt Whiting

I agree with you, thanks for the comment. Opened my eyes and makes good sense. You can't plan for all events possible in this world, just wish we could! LOL Thanks again and best regards.

Reply to
Steve and Janet

I apologize if I went too strong, now I see, from your response, that you are NOT that kind of person, I should had read all the post before jumping unto your last one, I took that out of context, my fault.

What I agree with you 100% is your statement about seatbelts, yes they work, my son and his future best man are alive thanks to those, their car did not had airbags, hit on the side by a Volvo, dragged 27 ft over the curb into a pole .... only thing recoverable from his car was one (1) wheel, total loss ..... but both were walking within 5 days.

Yes the seatbelts DO work.

Reply to
Vic Hyu Garcia

Reply to
news.knology.net

Why don't you have both done at the same place? Surely it is not the most economical way of doing things, even if Firetstone does free rotations.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Reply to
news.knology.net

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