Help with airbag paper

[TrunkMonkey22]

I have to write a 5 page paper on airbags. It needs to be based on a customer complaint using a problem/solution format. I was going to do the airbag light being lit but it seems like that would be hard to write a 5 page paper on. Anybody have any idea how I could organize that idea into 5 pages or have any better customer complaints dealing with airbags? Thanks.

[jb_85]

Wow, that seems like a pretty hard task to me. Problems on air bags? Besides the light, like you mentioned, there's no really complaint I can think of right off my head. I did have customers complain about the airbags being turned off when someone sat in the passenger seat. Of course, that's not really a problem since some systems were built to turn off depending on the weight of the passenger.

I can't think of any other complaints, but if I do, I'll try to inform you. Good luck with the paper.

[shorod]

Are you allowed to include the troubleshooting sections from factory service manuals?

You could probably make 5 pages out of stating the problem of a flashing airbag/SRS light on a Lincoln LS (customer complaint), the first diagnostic step of having the customer record the lamp flashes just after the key is turned to "Run," then go into the details of troubleshooting, say, a Lamp Fault Code (LFC) of 32 which could either be due to a bad clockspring or broken wires under the driver's seat. One further troubleshooting step would be to check for proper operation of the horn and cruise control, which could point to the clockspring (but is not a definite indication).

If you go down the route of inspecting the wires under the seat and find they've been destroyed, then you can detail having a consultation with the customer to explain that the likely cause of the broken wires is due to the "Easy Entry" feature which moves the seat back when the car is put in park and the key removed, then detail the process of disabling the easy entry feature (with customer approval) as the long term solution.

If you still weren't up to 5 pages, then you could discuss that after repairing the wires, the problem still wasn't remedied in which case you get to explain to a soon-to-be irate customer because now you also have to replace the clockspring. You'll get to describe how technicians or service managers in this situation also have to be able to play mediator and convince the customer, as appropriate, that there were two problems which gave the same indication and, since the broken wires were the obvious place to start, that was the first step taken, but ultimately there were two problems and if you didn't find them both now, they would have been back in the near future with the same symptom.

You can get some details from the Lincoln LS forum.

-Rod

[MagicRat]

Does it have to be a purely technical/service article?
Why not discuss the consumer-related issues about airbags, like concerns about safety, sitting too close to the airbag, application and use of multi-stage airbags, where seat sensors determine driver's size, position related to the wheel and adjust the airbag power accordingly.

You could also discuss the implementation of side airbags, the difference between sie and curtain airbags and how they affect the safety of young children riding in the back.

[shorod]

Originally Posted by MagicRat

Why not discuss the consumer-related issues about airbags, like concerns about safety, sitting too close to the airbag, application and use of multi-stage airbags, where seat sensors determine driver's size, position related to the wheel and adjust the airbag power accordingly.

If going this route, I'd also suggest discussing the difficulty some have in moving from the previously preached "hands at 10 and 2" which will hurt you if the airbag deploys to the more recent "hands at 3 and 9" suggestion.

-Rod

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by shorod

If going this route, I'd also suggest discussing the difficulty some have in moving from the previously preached "hands at 10 and 2" which will hurt you if the airbag deploys to the more recent "hands at 3 and 9" suggestion.

-Rod

Along with that is the issue of driving position. In the good old days, it was "Adjust seat to a comfortable driving position".
Now it's 'Move seat as far away from steering wheel as possible (Because there is a bomb pointed at your chest)'.