Jump to content
CaddyInfo Cadillac Forum

is it possible to set off the airbags


winterset

Recommended Posts

kinda funny, but.....I was going through the inputs/outputs looking for an option, and I was being careful not to change anything. then I thought leaning over the steering wheel, what if I accidentally set something like "airbag deploy" from LO to HI. I stopped. Is that possible. is there a test to check the voltage to the airbags. expecting the person performing this test has the airbags removed?

I am not looking to play around with the airbags, just curious if this scenario is possible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


kinda funny, but.....I was going through the inputs/outputs looking for an option, and I was being careful not to change anything. then I thought leaning over the steering wheel, what if I accidentally set something like "airbag deploy" from LO to HI. I stopped. Is that possible. is there a test to check the voltage to the airbags. expecting the person performing this test has the airbags removed?

I am not looking to play around with the airbags, just curious if this scenario is possible.

winterset,

Theoretically, a "diagnostic function command" could exist that would allow the air bags to be deployed, but I guarantee you that there is no such function in any of the software for the instrument cluster of the air bag controller (known as the Sensing and Diagnostic Module, or SDM). Furthermore, none of the "deployment loop circuit integrity" diagnostic tests that are built into the SDM could cause the deployment in any such scenario as you have imagined. For that matter, I seem to recall that the version of the SDM that was used in '96 models incorporated an electromechanical "arming switch" inside the SDM, whose switch contacts had to be closed due to deceleration/shock (as caused by a vehicle collision) in order for "deployment" current to flow to the air bag inflators; thus, the arming switch acted as a kind of mechanical "safety" for the system. (Later SDM versions have done away with this mechanical switch, and operate purely with solid-sate sensing.)

In any case, your use of the vehicle's onboard diagnostics is no cause for alarm with regards to the air bags. Don't worry. . . :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...