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What Are Airbags in a Car and How Do They Work?

What Are Airbags in a Car?

How Do Airbags Work in a Car?

What Are the Importance of Having Airbags in a Car?

What Are the Types of Airbags Available in Cars?

What Are the Reasons for Flashing of Airbag Warning Lights?

How to Know if Your Car Has Faulty Airbags?

A defective airbag system can cause injuries to people. These can result in an increased risk of injury during a crash. This is why you must conduct an airbag check after a regular interval.

Nowadays, almost every car is manufactured with a specific system that can diagnose faults in an airbag system. This test checks if the circuits and sensors work properly in this system. Moreover, if there is any risk factor, it would flash a certain code.

For example, if the airbag indicator flashes twice, pauses and then again flashes four times, it means the code 24 issue is detected.

Some common codes that can be detected are highlighted in the table below.

 

Code

Issues

12

Battery voltage is low

13

Airbag circuit is shorted or grounded

14

Short or ground is on the primary crash circuit

21

Airbags are not mounted properly

22

Safing output is shorted to the voltage of a battery

23

Return circuit is open, or safing sensor output is shorted

24

Output feed is open

32 to 35

Problem with the airbags on the frontal side

41 to 45

Issue with RH and LF primary crash sensor

Airbags in a car are undoubtedly a great innovation; however, it also has reported some major risks. Sometimes during a collision, when the nitrogen gas explodes to fill the airbag, it can get leaked and result in ignition. Another issue noted is related to the talcum powder coating of the airbag. When the bag inflates, this powder also gets deployed, which can cause breathing problems and other respiratory issues.

Regardless of these issues, you must always remember the importance of airbags and how it has saved so many lives.

Frequently Asked Questions