Side Airbag Replacement

sahinoz

This is not a usual DIY post since I was very depressed and anxious during the whole thing and did not take pictures. But I believe it will shed some light on the topic of side airbag replacement since DIY attempts are very few and it is difficult to believe (that you can fix something for $750 but the dealer gave you a $5000 quote, what the hell) unless a person fixed the problem successfully. I will add some pictures later though, the ones that I took after some relief. Now is story time.

One rainy day in Ohio, a good thunderstorm, I disabled my ESP and did some little drifting, forgot it turned off, hit a puddle, lost control, tried to handle it with counter steering but it fishtailed three times right and left, and went into a spin finally, I flew out of the road into a field like 2-3ft below the road, landed when the car was sideways and from the impact my side airbags deployed although I didn't hit anything.

I had my car towed, had a flat tire fixed due to separation from the rim, drove back home with some vibrations, had 4 wheel alignment and it was fine. However, I didn't have collision insurance and they gave me a $5000 quote for the airbag system, they said they need to replace everything, including side impact sensor, main control module, seat belts and seat cover which did not make any sense whatsoever to me. So I decided to do a little research.

I'm going to skip the long story and give you the conclusion. I purchased side airbags (roof and seat), one from a salvage yard, one from a website (nissanpartscheap or everythingnissan), changed them myself, sent my control module to myairbags and had it reset, stitched the seat myself with the right thickness thread, the exact same way they were stitched originally. Everything was done in two weeks for about $750 with intense labor

The key clarifications:
- Side impact sensor is totally fine if it is not physically damaged, if you didn't hit something on the door, it is reusable, it is an accelerometer after all.
- Seat belt pretensioners do not deploy in side impacts for a Z, that's how it is programmed, but if you had a frontal impact and want to still check, you can use a voltmeter to measure the resistance across the pins, there are videos on this if you google, that's what I did just to make sure, and I got the right value.
- The control module can be reset, you do not need to purchase a new one, a new module is $800, reset service is $50, and it works.
- Seat can be stitched if you do it the right way, there is actually no difference if you match the thread type and size, but I can't defend the argument since I didn't deploy them again.

What you need:
- Get new airbags
- Have the module reset
- Install airbags, install module, get into the diagnostic mode and it will detect new components, the SRS light on dashboard will then turn off.

*Stitching the seat is optional, as it requires significant time (5-6 hours) and decent hand skills. I used two normal needles with pliers, more explanation will come about the thread type/size, stitch method, with pictures showing the progress and the final form.

Cmike2780

I'm so tempted to judge, but I'll refrain. As far as replacing the airbag, there is a good reason why it's an expensive fix. It can be deadly if done incorrectly. No offense to you OP, but if someone doesn't know what thier doing, don't even think of attempting to do this. If anything, this is a lesson in providing adequate insurance coverage should the unexpected happen.

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DEpointfive0

and that's why most cars are totaled whenever any airbag is deployed

sahinoz

Late return to the post, moved from the US back to Istanbul that's why.

Thanks for the refrain And you are absolutely right about the insurance, when you don't the have power in your hand, DIY is not fun at all.

As far as I know, cars totaled when the airbags are deployed are the cars which are in 5k-10k price range, since the insurance would have to pay that much for airbag replacement, they replace the car. Mine was only the left side airbag and my quote was 5-6k, add the frontal airbags and it'll be more.

sahinoz

Now I'm adding pictures which I promised for a reference to people who might have a similar problem and seeking for details.

You have to take all the plastics out to remove the roof, starting from the back, never mind the old airbag sitting there, I took all the pictures after I did the job.


Take the roof down, or maybe take it 'up' in this case


This is how the new left airbag looks like when installed


This is the right one just for reference (it didn't deploy)


Control module, sitting right behind and under the console.


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Seat stitching
The method to use as I saw from the torn stitches and a web search is lock stitching. The picture below shows lock stitching, what we do is lock stitch by hand, the other method (shown as hand stitching) is the absolute wrong thing to do. You do one loop with one needle, you do the second loop with the other needle through the first loop, and go on like that. Use pliers since the cloth is hard and hands sweat.


Here is how the process looks like

Torn seat


Close up look


Starting, two needles for lock stitching.


About an inch done (also you can see from AAA logo that I started considering being a member after I paid $300 for towing)


More pics












Main stitch done


Fixed the bottom end


Finally done after 5-6 hours

sahinoz

Here there is some information on thread type and also a deployment test of a stitched seat cover. http://www.thehogring.com/2012/03/03...ew-this-cover/
Search for Ken, and check also Naseem's reply below, the thread I used was Nylon Size 46 from reading this and a few other posts.

In the test video, of course we only see that it deploys, nobody knows the exact definition of 'proper deployment'. Besides the thread size and type, the frequency of the stitch is as important. Try to get the same spacing between two stitches with the factory to ensure similar deployment characteristics.

octet

I'm in the process doing the same for the 40th Anniversary red seats, one had the airbag exploded, trying to source the airbag, but extremely expensive from Nissan UK

Thanks for all the info!