Ford recalled numerous vehicles for a manufacturing defect in passenger air bag inflators.   The vehicles include the 1995 Ford Countour, 1995 Ford Crown Victoria, 1995 Ford Explorer, 1995 Ford Mustang, 1995 Ford Probe, 1995 Ford Windstar, 1995 Lincoln Town Car, 1995 Mercury Grand Marquis, and the 1995 Mercury Mystique.

The manufacturing defect resulted in the inflator being cracked during the process of securing the igniter inside the inflator.  This can cause two different safety problems if the airbag inflates during an accident.  First, the passenger airbag may not inflate properly, since some of the gas will escape from the inflator and will not fully pressurize the bag.  Second, those hot gases that escape can cause burn injuries to a consumer and can ignite flammable materials, resulting in a fire.

The inflator manufacturers are required to conduct certain quality control testing for every batch of airbag inflators.  That testing includes “lot acceptance testing”; parts are not supposed to be shipped from the supplier’s airbag manufacturing facility until those tests are successfully passed.  There are also other quality controls and process control standards that are supposed to be met before those parts are shipped.

This is yet another instance where, despite promises of strict quality control, defects are not caught during the production process.  This means the defective parts are not identified, and are instead installed into consumers’ vehicles.

The government’s recall number is 95E-006002.

While all new vehicles must have frontal airbags that deploy from the steering wheel and dash to protect you in a frontal crash, many also have side airbags (sometimes abbreviated as SAB or SIAB) to shield you during side impact collisions.

Crash sensors for side airbags are usually installed inside the bottom of the “B-pillar,” the post behind the front door that helps hold up the roof. In some vehicles, these crash sensors are inside the front door or near the back seat area.

Your car, truck, van or SUV usually has at least one crash sensor on each side of the vehicle. During a side impact crash, the side airbag sensor should detect the sideways (lateral) deceleration and send an electrical signal to the airbags to begin inflating.

Side airbags are most commonly installed inside your seat, attached to the upper part of the seat frame nearest the door. In a few vehicles, the side airbags are installed inside your door, beneath the plastic trim cover. These side airbags are designed to provide a protective cushion between you and the side of your car.

3 Types of Side Airbags

• “Torso” airbag – Rectangular in shape, it protects only the torso or upper body and is often less than 18 inches tall when fully inflated. These airbags usually provide very little protection to your head and neck.
• “Head and torso” airbag – Taller than a regular torso bag, this type of airbag protects you better in a vehicle accident by protecting your head, neck and chest from the side of your car and the vehicle that hit you. This is particularly true when you are hit in the side of your vehicle by a taller vehicle, such as a pickup truck, van or SUV.
• “Curtain” airbag – A curtain airbag deploys downward from the edge of the roof and is intended to cover most of the window so your head and neck are protected, even when you would otherwise move outside the window during the accident.

For maximum protection, curtain airbags are sometimes combined with torso airbags that deploy from the seat or door trim to protect your chest. In many cases, such curtain airbags extend from the front seat toward the back, and can thus also protect back seat passengers.

In prior years, other types of side airbags were sometimes used, but on a much smaller scale. For example, a few cars used a tubular protection system consisting of an airbag shaped like a tube that ran from the front to the back of the door, extending across the window.

These systems need a separate torso airbag to adequately protect your chest. Often, there were significant disadvantages associated with such side airbags that resulted in limited use.

1. Airbag Modules: As the heart of the airbag system, airbag modules include the fabric airbag cushion or “pillow,” the inflator that generates the gas that fills the airbag, and the container that holds them.

For front airbags, the driver’s airbag is in the center of the steering wheel, and the passenger’s airbag is in the dash in front of the passenger seat. Side airbags are generally in the side of the seat or behind the plastic trim next to the seat. Newer curtain, rollover or canopy airbags are located in the edges of the roof, and deploy down along the side windows.

These modules must contain certain specific safety features to prevent the airbag from causing unnecessary head, neck, chest or other injuries.

2. Airbag Sensors and Diagnostics: The crash sensors are the “brains” of the airbag system, deciding whether and when to deploy the airbags in an automobile accident or collision.

The diagnostic portion of the airbag system is intended to diagnose certain electrical problems within the airbag circuits. These diagnostics evolved into modern “black boxes” that record crash information and go by names such as:

• ECU (Electronic Control Unit)
• SDM (Sensing and Diagnostic Module)
• RCM (Restraints Control Module)
• ORC (Occupant Restraints Controller)
• EDR (Event Data Recorder)

Sensor failures can lead to airbags not deploying during a car accident where they should have protected a consumer. They can also lead to unnecessary deployments that can cause a crash to occur, or can directly injure a consumer.

3. Clockspring: An electrical component in the steering wheel, the clockspring allows electrical current to flow through the wires in the steering column to the driver airbag module mounted in the steering wheel. When this part is defective, it can prevent the driver’s airbag from deploying, even during a high-speed wreck. Millions of these components have been recalled, often due to a poor design, lack of testing, or inadequate quality control.

4. Warning Lamps: These warning lights in your instrument cluster or on your dash should show the electrical status of your airbag system. When you start your car, the warning lamp should flash or stay on for about six seconds while the diagnostic unit checks the system. If your warning lamp comes on while you’re driving, you probably have a defect in your airbag system, which could cause the airbag system to unnecessarily deploy or can prevent deployment in a crash.

5. Passenger Airbag On-Off Switches: In some vehicles, including pickup trucks and cars without a back seat, a key-operated on/off switch is located in the dash. These are typically intended to allow a driver to shut off the passenger airbag when infants or small children do not have an adequate back seat in which to sit and must instead sit in the front seat.

6. Passenger Presence Detection and Occupant Classification Systems: Newer advanced airbags include various methods to determine the presence and size of the front passenger, in order to adjust how forcefully the airbag should deploy.

If there is no passenger, or if an infant or child becomes too close to the dash, these advanced airbags are typically intended to prevent the deployment of the airbag. If the occupant is an adult, such systems can tailor the inflation force to the person’s size or position. A failure in these systems can have deadly consequences.

7. Other Components: Other parts of your car should also be designed to work together with your airbag system during a crash, including deployment doors, trim covers, knee bolsters, steering columns, steering wheels, sun visors, windshields, seats, dash or instrument panels (I/P), and sometimes even the inside rear view mirrors.