96 Ranger Driver Air Bag Replacement

[sean9721]

This morning I hit a deer on my way to work. The driver side airbag deployed. I have taken out the old airbag. What all is involved in putting a new one in? Do I just plug it in and then bolt it up? Common sense is to disconnect the battery while doing this.

 

[YZ250Rider23]

I think that the impact sensors in the front will also need to be replaced. Why did the passenger side not deploy? Was it switched off? If it was switched on and didn't deploy then I would say it's bad, and should also be replaced.

Yes, you must disconnect the battery and let the vehicle sit for at least 15 minutes before working on the restraint system. Also I was just thinking that the seatbelt pretensioners may have also discharged... if they were used on the 96's.

 

[sean9721]

The seat belts work fine. I drove it to work today. After doing some reading, I found out there is no passenger air bag in my truck.

How many sensors are up front? Are they plug and play?

 

[YZ250Rider23]

Well even if the seat belts work fine, the pretensioners will fire at the same time as the air bag, since they are all told to fire at the same time by the same ECU. They have a small pyrotechnic charge that tightens the belts while the bags deploy. It's difficult to tell if they have been fired or not by looking at them, but when you get it back together and get an airbag code for "seat belt pretensioner resistance high" it's because they have fired.

I think there is only 2 impact sensors in the front. With the hood open they should both be visible between the header board and the grille. Ya can't miss em. They should be plug n play.

 

[sean9721]

Are you talking about when you snatch the seat belt, it locks? If so, that part still works correctly.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

His truck doesn't have the pre-tensioners on the seat belts. 98+ do.

 

[hondaxr650]

Are you talking about when you snatch the seat belt, it locks? If so, that part still works correctly.

Thanks for the help.

No, the newer trucks have a pretensioner on the buckle side that fires a charge when the airbags go off to yank the slack out of the seatbelt. Yours doesn't have it.

 

[sean9721]

Thanks guys for clearing everything up.