"Boxer_4" (Boxer_4)
08/30/2016 at 11:30 • Filed to: None
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"Boxer_4" (Boxer_4)
08/30/2016 at 11:30 • Filed to: None | 7
| 16 |
By now, I’m sure you have heard about the large-scale recall regarding Takata airbag inflators. In fact, you may be sick of hearing about it ( if that’s the case, sorry for bringing it up again... ). However, with nearly 34 million vehicles involved, it’s still a very relevant topic.
First, a Simplified Explanation of the Problem:
The Takata airbag inflators in question do not perform as intended during airbag deployment. In general, during an airbag deployment, the propellant contained in the inflator undergoes a chemical reaction in a rapid but controlled manner to generate ( typically ) nitrogen gas to inflate the airbag.
The issue is these inflators use a non-desiccated propellant (
ammonium-nitrate
) to inflate the airbag. A desiccant is a drying agent that absorbs and/or dissipates moisture. The Takata inflator design allows moisture in the form of humid air to enter the inflator. The moisture, combined with high heat, degrades the propellant over time. The degraded propellant does not undergo the necessary chemical reaction in a controlled manner, and can result in a ruptured inflator that can produce deadly shrapnel during airbag deployment.
The Recall Timeline
If your vehicle was recalled before May 4th 2016, you should have received a recall notice from your manufacturer. If you are unsure, you can do a recall search by VIN from
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
, or contact your manufacturer.
This image and the following images borrowed from Subaru of America, Inc.
NHTSA has published a list of all of the vehicles with affected airbag inflators. This list can be found
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
. However, due to the shear number of affected inflators, NHTSA and Takata are replacing the inflators recalled after May 4th, 2016 in stages. NHTSA identified three zones (zones A,B,C), determined by the general heat and humidity each state or territory experiences. This, combined with the age of the airbag inflator, determines when the recall for a particular vehicle becomes active.
A description of each zone, and the time to significant inflator degradation can be found below:
It should be noted that if your vehicle was ever registered in higher priority zone, even if it isn’t registered there now, your vehicle still follows the recall timeline of that higher priority zone.
Vehicles ever registered in: Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan) and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Time in service until significant degradation may occur: between 6-9 years.
Vehicles ever registered in: Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Time in service until significant degradation may occur: between 10-15 years.
Vehicles ever registered in: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Time in service until significant degradation may occur: between 15-20 years.
The Recall Schedule
Image borrowed from NHTSA
The vehicle recalls currently stretch until at least 2019, with the defect filing date referring to when the recall becomes active. If you noticed your vehicle was listed as being affected by this recall, but have not received a recall notice from your manufacturer (
the situation I’m in
), this is most likely the reason.
It should be noted that the last row of the table refers to replacement parts, meaning those those intended for accident repairs. This is a bit of a concern, or at least something to be aware. I would imagine that Takata and/or NHTSA are keeping track of the use of these replacement parts, but I do not know that answer.
This is an unofficial guide, and is not intended to replace information provided by Takata, NHTSA, or your vehicles manufacturer. Information is correct as of 8/29/16. Not affiliated with Takata, NHTSA, or Subaru of America, Inc.
Thanks to Subaru of America, Inc. and NHTSA for source information
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Boxer_4
> Boxer_4
08/30/2016 at 11:31 |
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I hope this information proves useful, and isn’t redundant. I found this information while researching my own inflator recall situation, and didn’t find the latest on Oppositelock or Jalopnik.
BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
> Boxer_4
08/30/2016 at 11:35 |
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So then being in Ontario, I should expect to be issued a recall alongside Zone C?
BorkBorkBjork
> Boxer_4
08/30/2016 at 11:35 |
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Good info. I just got a Takata notice for my Tahoe, of all things.
jimz
> Boxer_4
08/30/2016 at 11:45 |
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yep, it’s a good summary. I’ll probably link it from a couple of forums; I know there’s some bitching from owners of 2014 Mustangs about not getting replacement parts for their cars yet.
also worth noting is that the other contributor to Takata’s problems is that they’re the only company who used ammonium nitrate. the rest of the manufacturers seem to use guanidine nitrate, which doesn’t have the hygroscopic instability of AN. the industry used to use sodium azide but dropped it due to its toxicity. plus I think it left shitty residue all over everything when deployed.
dogisbadob
> Boxer_4
08/30/2016 at 11:56 |
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Takata should lose their patents or have them invalidated, so companies that actually know how to make airbags, can replace them.
Were any of them made in Iraq, China, or North Korea? al-Taqada
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Boxer_4
> BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
08/30/2016 at 12:05 |
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I would imagine that is likely the case. While NHTSA and Transport Canada are separate entities, it appears that Transport Canada is closely following developments (and referencing information) from NHTSA regarding the Takata recalls.
It appears the
Transport Canada website
only has the recalls listed prior to May 4th, 2016 (before NHTSA announced a zoned replacement plan) currently. I have a feeling that Transport Canada will be updating their information in the near future, though the urgency is a bit less due to the environmental conditions (doesn’t make it any less troubling though).
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jimz
> dogisbadob
08/30/2016 at 12:26 |
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ok, someone needs to take that photo of Shigehisa Takada and photoshop a keffiyeh on him.
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Boxer_4
> jimz
08/30/2016 at 12:28 |
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This began as answering a question/concern from a friend of mine (who had his passenger airbag inflator replaced recently), saying that Takata wasn’t going to be able to replace all of the airbags in time. There is still a lot of confusion regarding this recall, which is understandable due to the large scale of the problem.
I get that people are upset, too; having to wait for parts while concerned their car is unsafe to drive. While it was made abundantly clear that the oldest airbags were unsafe (all were past the point of unsafe degradation), I don’t think a lot of people understand that newer produced inflators haven’t reached that point yet, and won’t for at least several years.
That’s interesting regarding the specific propellant used. It makes sense that other airbag manufacturers used different propellants, especially if there was a patent on AN. I wonder if the lack of a desiccant was a cost “issue”, or if they didn’t realize it was needed.
I’ve never experienced and airbag deployment (either old or new), but I remember a friend of mine had one deploy in an early ‘90s Ford Club Wagon. I recall he said it stained his clothes during deployment. It wasn’t a good time (well, obviously...).
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Boxer_4
> dogisbadob
08/30/2016 at 12:36 |
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The unfortunate thing is that we still at least need Takata’s production capacity to fix this mess. This really drives the point that we need stricter regulations on testing and introducing new safety equipment (such as airbag inflators) to market (from JimZ, Takata used a new type of propellant when these inflators were introduced). It also wouldn’t hurt for manufacturers to difersify suppliers for critical components (such as airbag inflators).
Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
> Boxer_4
08/30/2016 at 12:40 |
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Got mine replaced last month. I am relieved.
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jimz
> Boxer_4
08/30/2016 at 12:41 |
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It’s pretty clear Takata’s use of ammonium nitrate was because of cost. you still have to go through all of the red tape to use it, but so much of it gets made for fertilizer that it’s relatively cheap. I think (and this is just conjecture on my part) they must have thought the inflator canister was “sealed” well enough to not need a desiccant. Guess not.
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Boxer_4
> jimz
08/30/2016 at 12:47 |
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I figured it was cost regarding the ammonium nitrate, I was more curious about the lack of a desiccant; whether it was too expensive to include, they thought they didn’t need it (the likely scenario), or they just didn’t think about it.
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BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
> Boxer_4
08/30/2016 at 12:47 |
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See, what I find confusing is that Transport Canada put together a list of affected vehicles, but there aren’t any recalls from the manufacturers yet.
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Boxer_4
> BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
08/30/2016 at 13:12 |
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That was sort of the case earlier, before the NHTSA revealed their zone plan. NHTSA had released their large list of affected vehicles (larger than what TC has listed currently) but the manufacturers did not acknowledge it. NHTSA now has the plan out for when all affected vehicles will be recalled, even if the manufacturer doesn’t have the recall announced or active yet.
It does appear that earlier affected cars already have recalls (Canadian Subarus built in or before 2005 for example). I get the impression that TC is following NHTSA’s lead on the matter, and may be a few months behind them as a result. It is quite possible that TC is still working on or finalizing their recall plan, and it isn’t published yet
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BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
> Boxer_4
08/30/2016 at 13:16 |
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So I should just wait then.
Also, since I’m the third owner of the car, I don’t think I should expect to be sent any notification, should I?
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Boxer_4
> BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
08/30/2016 at 20:26 |
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That’s what I would do, provided the car is newer, and has never “lived” outside of Canada (especially southern states). It is likely that anyone you would end up talking to would know just as much as is currently available to the public.
As for being notified, it depends. I’m not sure what the rules are in Canada (or individual provinces), but in the US, I believe auto manufacturers now have access to registration records provided by each state, and are required to use this data when notifying current owners about recalls. Maybe someone else who is more familiar with how Canada and/or TC operates will chime in?
Another approach: It is likely possible to register your car with the manufacturer as the new owner.