Oversensitive air bag deployment

An NHTSA Engineering Analysis into Mazda vehicles. Closed 9 October 1998.

Investigation
EA97012
Type
Engineering Analysis
Opened
23 May 1997
Closed
9 October 1998

What NHTSA investigated

In may of 1997, odi upgraded to an engineering analysis with 51 complaints.odi is now aware of 88 complaints of alleged inappropriate airbag deployments.typical complaints allege that the airbags deployed after the vehicle hit a pot hole at between 20 and 45 MPH, or that the airbags deployed while driving at between 20 or 60 MPH for no apparent reason.approximately 25 drivers alleged that they did not hit anything in the roadway.mazda will conduct a safety recall ofall 1995 and 1996 models of the mazda 626 and MX-6, as well as a small number of 1997 mazda 626 models, equipped with the same sas unit.the sas unit controls the airbag systemit contains a built-in crash sensor to detect vehicle deceleration during a collision.affected models were assembled from june 1, 1994 through september 10, 1996 and have a VIN within the following ranges: mazda 626:1YVGE22**S5300001 through 1YVGE22**V5599030 mazda MX-6: 1YVGE31**S5300001 through 1YVGE31**T5589965ALL owners will be notified of the possibility that their vehicle may experience an unnecessary airbag depoyment in certain situations.they will be instructed to bring their vehicle to a mazda dealer to reprogram the sas unit to reduce the frequency of unnecessary deployments.

The recall that followed

  1. Mazda — Air Bags: Sensor/Control Module-Inactive98V2490008 October 1998213,000 vehicles

Vehicles covered

MakeModelModel years
Mazda6261995–1996
MazdaMX-61995–1996

Source

From NHTSA’s investigation file, rebuilt daily. To report a problem with your own vehicle, go to nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem. All open investigations.