Front air bag crash sensor failure

An NHTSA Preliminary Evaluation into Volkswagen vehicles. Closed 24 April 2008.

Investigation
PE08012
Type
Preliminary Evaluation
Opened
15 February 2008
Closed
24 April 2008

What NHTSA investigated

Certain subject vehicles, model year (my) 2003 convertible and my 2004 sedan and convertible vehicles are equipped with an advanced dual-stage air bag system.the air bag crash sensors (#1F0 909 606) contain a solder joint on the circuit board that may crack under certain high temperature conditions.if this occurs, the air bag indicator light will illuminate and the control module will enable a fallback algorithm that will ensure that the front air bag always deploys in a frontal crash in which the vehicle's deceleration is high enough to activate the frontal air bags.however, in low-severity frontal impacts, the front air bags may deploy more forcefully than designed, increasing the possibility of injury to out-of-position front seat occupants.volkswagen will inspect for the defective crash sensor and replace with an updated design.in addition, 16,177 early-my 2005 new beetle sedan and convertible vehicles (built through oct 31, 2004) are also included in the recall campaign.this preliminary evaluation is closed (see recall 08V-178)

The recall that followed

  1. Volkswagen — Air Bags: Sensor/Control Module-Inactive08V17800017 April 200876,900 vehicles

Vehicles covered

MakeModelModel years
VolkswagenBEETLE2003–2004

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.