Airbag Recall 2002-04

thanks for mentioning the recall. my 01' camry has been in 3 front end collisions and not a single time did my airbags deploy. I've been curious about why thery have not deployed. There has been signifigant damage done to the front end. Would you know of how much force is needed to set them off and where the airbag sensors are?

There are 175 pages of diagnostics for the Camry supplemental restraint/airbag system and another 76 pages covering sensors and the various assemblies! If you've had serious impacts and no airbag deployment then the system should be checked out. The main SRS(supplemental restraint system) warning light in your instrument cluster should come on with the ignition switch in ACC or ON and go off in about 6 seconds. If it flashes then you have an SRS malfunction. The main airbag sensor assembly is mounted on the floor inside the lower center (gear shift) assembly. The front airbag sensors are mounted on each front (l+r) body side member. They are mechanical and detect deceleration force above a set limit, contact the airbag sensor assembly and fire the bag and seat belt pretensioners. The side airbag sensors are mounted in the left and right center pillars. Dealers depend more on the Diagnostic trouble codes (DTC) for analysis but visual and electrical checks of connections and sensor wiring can be done.