I guess that depends on how you split hairs, so in the strictest sense I was incorrect. My intent was to convey that if you as the vehicle owner have a new sensor installed by the GM dealer under the recall you will end up with the original design sensor plus the reinforcing tape.
Passenger Airbag Sensor
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The sensor seem to be Made in Luxembourg. It was fastened with three stripes of dublebsided tape, very easy to remove. To see if I can get any wiser I will try to measure the digital signal from the unit and take off the felt to see if I can see any actual damage.
Attachments
Progress report.
When powering up the sensor nothing happens whatsoever, no digital activity nothing?!
Took away the felt cover and dug deeper into the pps and at least I managed to find the broken part. That feels good because now I know that there is an actual problem with the PPS and probably not with any other system in the car.
When powering up the sensor nothing happens whatsoever, no digital activity nothing?!
Took away the felt cover and dug deeper into the pps and at least I managed to find the broken part. That feels good because now I know that there is an actual problem with the PPS and probably not with any other system in the car.
Attachments
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Right @kjelle69, but I'm afraid you're "reinventing the wheel". We've already been down this path. If you look on page 6 of this same thread (https://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/f12/passenger-airbag-sensor-75353/index6.html) you'll see pics of the fault. This was what @Robotech (may he live forever) used for pursuing NHTSA to get a recall.
And @JohnWR has traced the serial communication and has worked on an emulator to simulate a working mat.
Still, what you've shown is a good reinforcement (ha!) of the same failure mode.
And @JohnWR has traced the serial communication and has worked on an emulator to simulate a working mat.
Still, what you've shown is a good reinforcement (ha!) of the same failure mode.
I am working from a faulty memory since all of my notes are at home and I am at work, but from what I remember the PPS is a slave device, and only transmits data in response to a query from the SDM.
I am going to re-install my damaged PPS to see what the DTC is, because there is a specific code for a failed PPS and you are getting one for invalid or missing data. As I was doing my analysis I had a lot of invalid or missing data faults, and they were self-resetting in that they went away as soon as I installed a working PPS and did not require any reset with the Tech2. The failed PPS (broken like yours and most all of them) set what I assume was a different DTC because I was told that it did require a Tech2 reset. I was not present for the replacement, but I still have the failed part.
It is of course reasonable to assume that there could be different failure modes even if the cause is the same broken sensor trace.
I am going to re-install my damaged PPS to see what the DTC is, because there is a specific code for a failed PPS and you are getting one for invalid or missing data. As I was doing my analysis I had a lot of invalid or missing data faults, and they were self-resetting in that they went away as soon as I installed a working PPS and did not require any reset with the Tech2. The failed PPS (broken like yours and most all of them) set what I assume was a different DTC because I was told that it did require a Tech2 reset. I was not present for the replacement, but I still have the failed part.
It is of course reasonable to assume that there could be different failure modes even if the cause is the same broken sensor trace.
Close up of the crack.
Anyone who tried something like this?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/10m-20mm-S...?hash=item56ae717b9fⓂ️mGzpYq86k-j0seYYWA4MwLg
Or this, conductive ink
https://www.electrokit.com/produkt/...MI2b_Lyo2x3gIVVYuyCh2uhgaXEAQYAiABEgLZQ_D_BwE
Anyone who tried something like this?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/10m-20mm-S...?hash=item56ae717b9fⓂ️mGzpYq86k-j0seYYWA4MwLg
Or this, conductive ink
https://www.electrokit.com/produkt/...MI2b_Lyo2x3gIVVYuyCh2uhgaXEAQYAiABEgLZQ_D_BwE
Attachments
The consensus a couple of years ago when this was extensively reviewed (mainly by TS, but many others also) was that the traces are too fragile to withstand the removal of the protective coating. If you have success I bet that many people will be happy to see it.
We actually managed to split the plastic and remove the glue to expose the thin conductive material. When this was exposed it was possible to short the broken ends and trigger the sensor to react. However I think that a repair would not last for long when mounted back in the seat ?
Am I brave to guess that the SDM is the master and communicates with the PPS (which act's as the slave) with LIN Bus ? :willy:
It could be, but I had never heard of LIN Bus prior to your post so your guess is likely to be as good as mine.
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5,594 Posts
While it is very impressive that you've gone down this path and shared the knowledge with the forum, you've hit the same conclusion that many have. A repair may be possible but not necessarily feasible. If the original substrate that supported the conductor failed, a repair would most likely be weaker.
I keep getting reminders of the recall, but I'm waiting until, oh, say my sensor fails?
Partly correct. The passenger weight is used for the on/off determination only. Any object or person below the threshold will not enable the airbag, while any object or person above the threshold will.
The activation of the dual-stage airbags is determined by the severity of the impact, with a lower impact resulting in a less intense deployment. Since this has never been identified as a failure source, and could easily save someone's life, why does it bother you?
No it does not bother me in that way. it's a good purpose with the dual stage altough I think it's s bit too complicated
. High complexity tend to make systems unreliable. Also thought that an emulator must be set to either blow off stage one or both, but since it's only depending on speed and not the weight then it doesnt matter if the emulator only says on or off.
Thank you for straightening this out for me.
. High complexity tend to make systems unreliable. Also thought that an emulator must be set to either blow off stage one or both, but since it's only depending on speed and not the weight then it doesnt matter if the emulator only says on or off.
Thank you for straightening this out for me.
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7,260 Posts
If you have yet to get the recall applied, make sure you reverse any seat mods before taking it in!
See: https://www.solsticeforum.com/forum...ecall-beware-if-you-have-any-seat-mods-157243
(sorry for the multiple thread updates)
See: https://www.solsticeforum.com/forum...ecall-beware-if-you-have-any-seat-mods-157243
(sorry for the multiple thread updates)
Has anyone tried this "sensor emulator"? Saturn Sky Oh sorry I see a whole thread with information on these from Airbag360
I have SDM module number 15774620 installed - the emulator does not work with this module.
Anyway to disable or bypass airbag sensor in passenger seat.
There is an idea how to restore the operation of the PPS module (even if the mat is damaged).
I will try to do this next week.
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