Has anyone heard of an instance where the side curtain airbags deploy for no known reason whatsoever? Is there any known TSB/recall for this?

My friend called me in a frantic and told me as she was driving, heard a noise coming from the front end and next thing she knew her side curtain airbags deployed. She didn't get hit or have anything happen to the car. She did hit a small pothole, which shouldn't be cause for deployment. The front driver and passenger airbags did not deploy...just side curtains and sid seat airbags?

I've been searching the internet and acurazine, but haven't found any info on this matter.

It's a 2006 TL, auto, non-navigation.

The car is being towed to the nearest Acura dealership as we speak. She lives in PA.

Any help/info on this matter would begreatly apprciated.

 

Wow. That must have sucked. Sounds like a sensor triggered a little prematurely. Or she really hit a pothole bigger than she is letting on. If one wheel dropped far enough in a hole (or whatever), the rocker panel under the driver/passenger door could hit the ground in the right spot to jar that side impact sensor. Sounds logical to me. Especially if there was a trigger-happy sensor. Just a thought.

 

Here's some reading:
http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=26945

 

Just got off the phone with her. Acura told her that they have seen this happen twice before and currently have the car hooked up to diagnostics to see all sensors that were triggered. Guess we'll see how they decide to approach this situation...stay tuned for updates.

 

what ever happend???
The other day i was driving my 07 TLs, and suddenly curtain airbag and side airbag deployed?? I made an appt w acura , i just would like to know if anyone else has gone thru this b4.. I would like to go into the dealership with some knowledge of the issue. Thanks

 

Anyone have anyyyadvisee im kind of on edge dont know what to expect tommorow!!!!!

 

did you drive over a pothole or hit a bump really hard? If not, don't worry, its probably a faulty sensor. If you did then it's still probably a faulty sensor that inflated the airbags a bit prematurely.

The dealership will probably hook up the car to HDS (Honda Diagnostic System) and see what sensors triggered the air-bag. They'll inspect the area of trigger and see if there is any damage to it or the sensor. If they see some sort of damage they'll try to determine if it was before the incident or the cause of the deployment. As well they don't see any damage, it'll come down to a faulty sensor.

 

Well turns out Acura said there is Damage to the H Frame. Looks to be to "Gashes".. They said thats why they deployed. I didnt hit any pot holes.. No contact of any kind.. hMMm boggless my head! So now my insurance has to p/u the bill.. Just in case any1 was wondering.. They said they have seen this a "Few" times. Who knows.. I feel like im being BS'd .. KINGS PLAZA AUTO MALL OF BKLYN SUCKS . Best part, they give me back my car, with this inspection list that they checked my tread life of my tiers,Brakes , Air pressure ect... I get in my car start it up and it says the back tire is low.. So i check the psi indicator.. It reads 49-46 (Front) 27-32 (Rear) Who puts 50 p/ air in a tire? Some inspection they did.. I will never return to this Dealership .. Thumbs down Acura of Brooklyn.

 

call up Acura Client Services and complain! If you know you didn't cause it keep on fighting for it! As well complain of the service you got there. Don't say that you'll never buy another acura, tell them you are a loyal customer and want to see things made right.

 

Acura Client Services is a big fat waste of time and space. All they do is repeat what the dealership who examined the car said. And they are rude.
In my case, I was pulling up to a light in my 2008 Acura TL a week ago, and as I was pressing the brake the driver side airbag deployed. Acura looked at the car and found: (listen to this bs - the car has 14000 miles on it) bubble on one of the tires, and roof warping around the sunroof! Because of this, they are claiming I hit a pot hole and they are not covering the damage. Same story as zero269 - insurance has fight them now.
As you can tell, Acura will find something to blame this on, and I am not expecting anything will change. Meanwhile I files a case with NHTSA office and am now dealing with the local State Attorney General Office. I suggest you do the same - if enough people come forward they will have to admit there is a problem.
I would love to escalate this to the Acura management, but as the rude dude from the customer service number said, "Once they get the letter, they'll stamp it and send it to us..."

 

what ever happend???
The other day i was driving my 07 TLs, and suddenly curtain airbag and side airbag deployed?? I made an appt w acura , i just would like to know if anyone else has gone thru this b4.. I would like to go into the dealership with some knowledge of the issue. Thanks

 

This low-profile thread of a single random event is turning into a thread about a Class Action lawsuit

I would be paranoid as hell worrying about that time bomb sitting next to my head. I'm glad that mine are removed.

 

ACURAZINE MODERATORS,

Could we get this thread moved to the main "Third Generation TL (2004-2008)" forum? It would be beneficial to our community to be aware of this issue. Plus, it would be helpful to have this thread in a higher traffic forum instead of the "Problem & Fixes" sub forum. We need to discovery how many other members have had this issue.

 

Acura will not be taking responsibility for what happened. I can't be without a car for long and single incident law suit seems too expensive, so the matter has been forwarded to my insurance.
My insurance adjustor was at the dealership and looked at the car - he said there was a bubble on my right tire and because of it, he cannot fight Acura's claims. I asked him if you can determine if a pot hole which cause the bubble was responsible for the air bags deploying, and he said no. I can't even believe they are entertaining the idea that a pot hole can cause the air bags to deploy, with only evidence being a tire bubble that could have happend the other 600 plus day I owned the car. As I mentioned before - I drive the same way home from work every day and ther is no pot hole at the accident site!!!! Funny enough, the dealership's other claim of buckled roof around the sunroof was disproved; the adjustor found the same 'defect' on another 08 TL sitting in the shop next to mine!
I agree with the previous poster about moving this post to a more visible area of the forums to gain more exposure. I can already 4 people in this thread who had same or similar problem - it took 12 incidents (one of them being fatal) to trigger Honda/Acura's air bag 400k car recall last year, lets hope this issue will need someone dying to come to light.
I urge all the forum members whos air bags deployed for apparent reason to report this issue on the NHTSA site
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ - that's only way this dangerous situation will be resolved.

 

Thread Bump

Has any other members had this issue of the side airbag deploying for no apparent reason?

 

hmmm if potholes can set off airbags these days then im damned lucky!

couple weeks ago i nailed a deep pothole that not only put a bubble in my tire but also bent the hell out of my rim on the inside. didnt make my airbags deploy thank god but sure sounded like an explosion went off inside the car. $200 bucks later my rims is repaired and tire replaced for $20 thanks to the discount tire certs. its a 200 tire alone!

so would almost seem like a pothole setting off the airbag is a VERY poor excuse on the acura dlrs part.

 

I agree Mjakaz06TL, that is a lame response by Acura. They are sticking to it - BBB notified them that there is a case open against them;the same freaking customer support parrot woman called me to say that Acura has not changed its stance regarding this issue. I can't seem to escalate this above her head!

 

Yes this happened to me yesterday. I was at a standstill in a parking lot with the engine idling. It was like a gunshot. I don't even want to think about what might have happened had I been in traffic

 

That is complete bullshit!

 

Wow now im worried driving. This needs to be escalated bigtime. Lets figure something out guys...

 

If my airbags deploy randomly while driving, I will be finding a tree or something to hit to trigger the steering wheel big. Totaled car = $$. Yes that sounds terrible I know, but I would hit the tree just enough to trigger the steering wheel airbag.

 

The bluckles on the roof were a manufacturing defect. I had the same problem with my TL when it was new.
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/ripples-roof-sunroof-615613/

 

This sounds like a wonderful glitch... I'll be keeping my head further away from the sides of my car now.

 

+1

 

The air bags on my 2008 Acura TL deployed after hitting a pot hole. I was driving and hit a pot hole on front passenger side tire. The tire blow out, however there was no body damage. The driver’s side currant air bag, driver's seat air bag, & rear driver's side current air bags all went off. Acura of Charleston, SC told me this was due to the pot hole.
My understanding of air bags is they are designed NOT to deploy when hitting pot holes or any part of the under carriage. I’m working with my insurance company to get the work done. I strongly believe this an Acura issue. I will keep you posted on my outcome.

 

Thanks for sharing and welcome to AZ

 

It has been 7 years. What was the outcome?
- Just happened to one of our Third Gen TL's (we have three and one RL)

 

Great now I'm paranoid

 

His last activity was in 2011. Doubt you'll get a response!

 

Understood, should have included some sarcasm in my comment!
One step at a time on ours:

- Amazingly, pretty much all insurance companies cover potholes under collision
NOTE: Just 3 months ago, I sent the State Farm Ad into my agent calling BS on their "Mother of All Potholes commercial" for false advertising as we had two bent wheels from potholes this winter. I called into my agent and told them now I really have a claim for them.

- The County/State is sending us a package for the claim for the pothole.
- Will start with that journey with a trip to the Acura Dealership for a quote.
- My SF Agent is researching to see if we start a claim process and do not use it, does my daughter lose her "Steer Clear Discount" IF so, we will hold off for a little bit.

My bet is that the car would be a total loss:
- Side Curtain Airbag
- Headliner
- Labor to R&R Headliner, Airbag - ton of work - A,B,C pillars with all the seat belts removed... IF you have not done these, trust me a lot of work - I have done about 5 headliners/sunroof cartridges on BMW's, Expeditions, Buick Regals...
- Seat Airbag
- Seat Upholstery
- R&R Seat and Upholstery
- Seat Belt Re-tractor - Yes, these fire and either need to be rebuilt or bought new
- Air Bag Computer (I have done an Infinity and it needed to be reprogrammed)
- Labor to get to and reprogram everything
- At least two wheels, possibly one tire (they will prorate these so not much there on the tires...
- Rental Car

Carfax will consider this an "Unsafe Car" even with the above work...

Taking it one step at a time.

Daughter will be driving one of our other TL's - lucky daughter that her dad has a spare car... She sent me a very nice text thanking me for walking her through this.

 

Update:
WV Legislation (Location of pothole, not our home state) truly helps those that do not look out for themselves:
- IF you have collision, their liability is limited to your deductible and they require an abstract of your insurance coverage with the package submission or it is thrown out/delayed
- IF you do not have collision coverage at all, there is no limit
- Even my insurance office manager was floored at this as I read it aloud

SO:
- Insurance Company has looked at it
- Did not even need to get into the wheels/suspension issues to determine that repair cost exceeds value
- Estimator did state that he put it in the highest condition category as it is in great shape
- Will be working them to determine salvage value cost to see if I end up buying it
- He gave me a ballpark number to expect, but that comes from another group in a more formal manner

Learned one thing about SRS system work:
- IF I fix it - legally allowed to procure used parts (side curtain, seat belt retractor, seat)
- IF a body shop were to fix it - parts are supposed to be new
- But we all know that many shops do not follow the rules

I am very familiar with the paperwork/inspection process that should happen with the title if I buy it back and that will come into consideration

 

You can buy it back for a lot less and get a rebuilt title. You can end up buying a crashed TL with the airbags intact from a rear end or something of the nature for around 1K and take the parts you need. Copart had a few last time I checked.

 

Yep, this is not my first rodeo here...
I've had about 50 vehicles, dealt with salvage certificate and worked the process for a rebuilt title
- Dealt with paperwork in VA, MD, NY, PA and one from FLA over the years.

So far no real good hits on what are highly rated seats on Car-part and working with the yards directly... waiting on a few more pix before burning fossil fuel to pick up a seat
- Other parts are easy peasy