Tackle airbag & electronics-related upholstery challenges

Vital information for upholstery work in modern vehicles

Upholstery Journal | April 2008

by Jake Kulju

It can feel like diffusing a bomb. What wire do you unplug? Which colored cable is connected to the sensory input device? One false move and an airbag could deploy in your face. As the gadgets, passive restraint systems and creature comforts in cars become more elaborate, so do the modes of servicing and repairing them. Side curtain airbags, seat-mounted side airbags and knee airbags were virtually unheard of 10 years ago. Today, they are standard equipment. Sensitive passive restraint systems receive information through computers that receive information from vehicle seats. The process of reupholstering the interior of a vehicle is more involved than it used to be. You should know what you’re dealing with before you start.

Know your enemy

Interior automotive technology is complex. Upholstering an automotive interior is a potentially dangerous undertaking. Working around a vehicle’s passive restraint system doesn’t just pose a challenge to the upholsterer, it is also a matter of safety for the customer and a legal liability to the business that works on the vehicle.

“The people who work on cars now are technicians, not mechanics,” says Ryan Summerill of AAA Top Shop in Ogden, Utah. “They can’t just turn a wrench, they can’t just bump into a sensitive component. Manufacturers have started putting sensitive components in vehicles, and now it’s happening with the interiors of vehicles.”

According to the I-Car web site>a not-for-profit company dedicated to assuring that every person in the collision industry has the necessary knowledge and skills relevant to their position to achieve a complete and safe repair—today’s automobiles may come equipped with side airbags, front airbags, side curtain airbags, knee airbags, seat position sensors, occupant classification systems, anti-whiplash systems, power position adjustments, seat position memory devices, seat heaters and seat coolers.

Jeff Poole of I-Car in Hoffman Estates, Ill., is a zone trainer and has been involved in the collision repair industry for more than 25 years.

“Ultimately, we realized that we needed to know more about what we were doing,” says Poole. “Some real pioneers realized there were major changes being made, and I-Car came to be as a not-for-profit guided by these industry interests. We need to know about technologies and how to fix them.”

Even though information is much more accessible, thanks to the efforts of I-Car and others, there is still a large gap.

“Some of this information is available through the dealer, and some is not,” Summerill says. “That’s been our biggest battle: how to get the information.”

Locating and deactivating airbags

The standard driver’s side airbag was a big deal when it was first introduced to the American market in the 1970s, but it takes a backseat to current Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) technology. Airbags are now located throughout a vehicle, including rear seats, knee bolsters, pillars and headliners.

“Technology is evolving at an alarming rate,” Poole says. “The upholstery industry and ultimately the rest of the collision repair industry is realizing the info is out there, but we don’t always know what to do about obtaining it or using it. Here’s the catch: Every vehicle has its own standards.”

Summerill agrees, and offers that maintaining a working knowledge of the vehicles can help expedite the repair process.

“Make sure you always look for the airbag lamp or SRS symbol,” he says. “If it’s a vehicle that you haven’t worked on before, I recommend that you look around and become familiar with the interior.” Summerill also suggests taking a good look at the owner’s manual.

Front airbags are located on the driver and passenger side. Steering wheels and passenger-side instrument panels house them. Side airbags are located in doors, seat backs and frame pillars. Side curtain airbags drop from headliners along the roof rails. Knee airbags deploy from the knee bolster.

Seat-mounted side airbags are designed to reduce the chance of injury in side-impact collisions. Airbags of this style may protect a passenger’s head, side and hips, and can deploy by mechanical or electronic operation.

Removing airbags or doing any collision repair on a modern automobile requires deactivating before handling. The basic process involves de-energizing the 12–volt electrical system of a vehicle and allowing several minutes to pass while the system discharges. I-Car suggests switching the ignition off and removing the key, then removing the airbag fuse in the instrument panel fuse block.

“Removal of airbags varies from vehicle to vehicle,” Summerill says. “Make sure that the key is off and out of the vehicle. Some cars have a backup alarm system or a backup battery system that might trigger the airbag system. There are about 20 specialty tools for each model of vehicle. Work with the manufacturer to learn disabling procedures.”

I-Car instructs that only a small amount of current is required to activate an airbag circuit, including static electricity. Make sure to ground yourself with an anti-static discharge strap. Locate and disconnect the yellow two-way connectors and carry the airbag so that it would deploy away from your body. Store the undeployed airbag in a safe place, away from stray voltage and static electricity.

Doing the work

When working on an auto interior, an upholsterer needs to be aware of the components that affect the SRS. Issues of personal safety, legal liability and proper vehicle operation all come into play anytime an electronic component of a vehicle is modified, tampered with or adjusted.

“You just need to realize your limitations and what you are comfortable doing,” Poole says.

He explains that most sensors today are accelerometers, which sense the impact forces affecting the vehicle. “There may be two front sensors, however on some vehicles there may not be front sensors, with the frontal impacts being detected by the sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) having the single point sensor built in,” Poole says. “There will usually be at least one side impact sensor, and up to three per side for side airbags and side curtain bags, with some vehicles utilizing pressure sensors in the doors. Additionally, there may be a separate roll-over sensor.”

Summerill suggests asking customers about any inconsistencies with the SRS light.

“When you remove a seat that contained an airbag, there might have been something that didn’t work 100 percent before you started,” he says. “Pay attention to the SRS light. When you turn the key on, the light goes on to make sure the lamp works. The light should turn off, but if it doesn’t, or if it flashes, that means there is something going on with that airbag system. At that point it’s probably going to require a trip to the dealer.”

When working with doors specifically, Poole recommends practicing extra caution.

“We’re used to taking doors apart and putting them back together, but it isn’t that easy anymore,” he says. “We recommend getting the vapor barrier back to the way it is supposed to be. If you do make changes, make sure they aren’t going to affect the operation.”

The price of safety

Keeping informed of the latest airbag technology, training yourself and your employees and maintaining a safe and efficient workplace can be a challenge. However, an even greater challenge is the cost of acquiring the information needed to perform safe installations and repairs. Each manufacturer has its own specialty tools, parts and OEM guidelines.

Summerill points out that when something goes wrong, there is more than the cost of lost business to a customer—there may be dealership fees if sensors or other airbag components need to be recalibrated.

“Bolts now have a spring system that has to be torqued to a certain calibration,” Summerill says. “You have to go through a checklist, because if you trip the airbag light on a vehicle you’re basically selling your profit to the manufacturer to get it fixed. Take a look at the components you are dealing with. What can you use hand tools on instead of air and impact tools?”

There is also the risk of injury. Poole doesn’t know of any documented cases of workers injured by airbags, but he agrees that there is a definite safety threat.

Summerill hopes that dealing with airbags will become easier.

“I’d like to see some standardization from the manufacturers,” he says. “One standard plug so that you can have just one tool to prevent airbags from going off, both for convenience and safety. I would also like to see the dissemination of information to smaller businesses. We can’t afford every service manual.”

Poole suggests that we look at the big picture.

“We’re all going to pay somehow—in the price of the car, the service or the insurance when the vehicle gets wrecked and repaired,” he says. “It might not be a cost that you see today in a big lump sum, but it’s something that we’re all paying for. The technologies start in the high-end market, and eventually end up in cars that are in your driveway. Safety features start on the high end, too, and eventually all that fancy technology makes it down to the daily drivers. In the meantime, I know that it can be challenging to make the right decisions all the time and to get the information that we need. That’s why I-Car exists—to help upholsterers be informed about what they’re doing.”

Jake Kulju is a regular contributor to Upholstery Journal.

Comments

Comments are the opinion of individual posters and do not reflect the views of Upholstery Journal or Industrial Fabrics Association International.

• 

  Al Cummings

  Apr 28, 2010
  1:21 pm CDT

  air bags

  thank you for this information.  I am about to pull a steering wheel with an air bag so this is helpful.

  Al

• 

  Kelly Frush

  Aug 12, 2010
  11:54 am CDT

  Glad to hear it helped you Al.

• 

  Ronald Dodson

  Dec 30, 2010
  10:40 am CST

  seat cover repair

  are there any special thread,fabric,or sewing methods for repairing an airbag equipped seat