Last night while I was driving home from Christmas shopping my DIC started to go crazy. It was cycling through all of the options including the language setups. After awhile it settled down to just flashing the message to change my oil (which doesn't need changed) and to service the air bag. I was about a quarter of a mile from my exit on the PA turn pike when my driver's air bag deployed. The air bag did not come straight back but instead hit me in the chest and left arm. The inside of my car filled with whatever the gas is that is used to deplay the bag. All I know is it's not something that you want to breath. I was pushed towards the console which put me in front of the only clear spot of my windshield. This was another fantastically lucky ( I don't think so ) occcurrance for me because I was traveling at 70mph at the time. I was able to stay on the road and reach over to the window buttons and lower the windows. I exited the turnpike and noticed the DIC was stable on the engine temperature mode. The engine temp was 201. My dealer is only a mile and a half from the exit so I thought I'd try to make it to the dealer's lot to leave the car for the night......what more could happen...right? I made it about 3/4 mile and flames came up out of the dash. In the couple of hundred feet it took me to find a place to pull off of the road, the flames were completely up over the gauge pod and burning melting plastic was dripping down between my legs as I was trying to get my car off of the road. I pulled off and bailed out. A young girl stopped and used my cell phone to call the fire department. A man who lives near where I stopped had just pulled into his garage and saw me grab snow and throw it on the dash (my fire extinguisher did not fire when I pulled the pin). He came down with his fire extinguisher and after an attempt with snow decided to use his extinguisher on the flames. By the time the fire department got there three or four minutes later we had to use the extinguisher at least two more times. The fire would not go out until the battery was disconnected. The fire department used a pry bar to peel off the dash pod to get into the fire area. The entire wiring harness around the ignition switch and controls was a melted mess. I came away with a couple of slightly burned fingers and a pair of burned pants but no permanent damage. Unbelievable considering what had happened to me over the previous ten minutes. I may not have had a visible passenger with me last night but I'm certain a guardian angel was riding with me doing extra duty allowing me to be posting this right now. I'm going over to take some pics later today and to set up a visit for the insurance adjuster. I'm not certain how this is going to play out, especially with Nittany's high mileage and the amount of damage that was done. I do know that I'm alive and even a first 1000 can be replaced if needed. I'll post pics later for the not-so-faint-of-heart to see.
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That is an unfortunate accident. Glad you are ok. I would like to see the pics. I would be freaking out if my airbag blew up in my face. Can we assume that you are going back to being Miata-man after this experience?
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Wow, I can't imagine getting hit with the airbag with no warning at all. Glad to hear you made it out intact! I've been hit by an airbag twice and I couldn't fathom going through that and attempting to continue driving! You must be one mean motorscooter!
Dan, last night @4:55pm I was in the Home Depot buying an Kidde Fire Extinguisher! I had no idea why at the time. When I got home with it, my husband asked me why I bought it. I told him I didn't know - I just had a sense and I needed to buy it.
Thank God you’re OK! What happened to you is completely insane. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. It's just unbelievably scary!
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Unblievable--I read thinking it must be joke how in world did this happend thank goodness you are safe. There were so many times you could have had a very bad accident during all of this--WOW
I kept waiting for the punch line! We are SO VERY sorry to hear about this, but even MORE glad that you are okay. I don't know what else to say, but "thank God you are alive and well!"
Car insurance is a good thing, right?
Again, we are thankful that you are OK and that it was not more serious than it is.
--Chemist
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The airbags are inflated by a pyrotechnic gas generator. Its basically a tiny rocket motor. It fires, burns for a few miliseconds and then expends its fuel and quits. The bag is hot because of the exhaust gasses.
the cloud is a combination of the inflation gas venting and lubricant. The air bags are designed to inflate rapidly and then deflate rapidly. They have vents sized to allow spring action on impact to absorb energy then deflate to get out of the way quickly. the lubricant is power. Used to be talcum powder that allowed the bag to unfold very rapidly without hanging up anywhere.
The circuitry that triggers the AB system is supposed to sense acceleration levels and NOT trigger unless they are sensed. But since your harnes failed massively all bets are off.
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