Friday, July 04, 2008 #

Airbag Recalls - April / May / June 2008

Hyundai is recalling 393,714 MY 2006-2008 Sonata vehicles equipped with an advanced air bag system which features an occupant classification system (OCS) in the right front seat. The purpose of the OCS is to disable the right passenger seat front air bag when it detects the presence of a child restraint system or small child in the right front seat. The right front air bag is disabled to prevent injuries to a child that may result from air bag inflation during a crash. Misclassification of a small stature adult as a child in the right front passenger seat may cause the air bag to not inflate in a crash that merits air bag deployment and may result in injury to the right front occupant. Dealers will verify that the OCS does not properly recognize a properly seated adult occupant. After verification, dealers will remove the right front seat cushion assembly and ship it to an evaluation and repair facility. This facility will evaluate and repair or reprogram the seat cushion and OCS as necessary. The recall is expected to begin on or about May 26, 2008. Owners may contact Hyundai at 1-800-633-5151. 08V-161

Volkswagen is recalling 76,900 MY 2004-2005 New Beetle and MY 2003-2005 New Beetle convertibles equipped with an advanced (dual-stage) air bag system. This system may have air bag frontal crash sensors that contain a solder joint on the circuit board that may crack under certain high temperature conditions. If this occurs, the air bag indicator light will illuminate and the fallback algorithm will ensure that the front air bags always deploy in a frontal crash in which the vehicle's deceleration is high enough to activate the frontal air bags. In low-severity frontal impacts, the front air bags may deploy more forcefully than designed, increasing the possibility of injury to out-of-position front seat occupants. Dealers will inspect each vehicle to determine that the specific defect crash sensor is present on one or both sides of the vehicle. All of the defect crash sensors will be replaced free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on or before July 31, 2008. Owners may contact Volkswagen at 1-800-822-8987. This recall was the subject of a Preliminary Evaluation, PE08-012, conducted by the Office of Defects Investigation. 08V-178

Land Rover is recalling 37,142 MY 2005-2006 LR3 and Range Rover Sport vehicles. Relative motion between the steering wheel hub and/or the steering column cowl with the clockspring, which includes the driver side air bag circuitry, could result in fracturing of the air bag wiring connection. If an air bag wire fractures, the SRS warning light will illuminate on the instrument cluster. The SRS warning light indicates to the driver that there is a concern with the SRS system in the vehicle and that immediate repair is necessary. If the SRS warning light is ignored and a vehicle crash of sufficient severity to command deployment of the driver's air bag occurs, the air bag module may not deploy in the intended manner. The condition may result in the deployment of only one stage of the dual stage driver's air bag or the air bag may not deploy at all increasing the risk of serious injuries to the driver. Dealers will insert spacers between the lower left hand side of the column switch mounting point and the column lock to improve the alignment of the column switch. Two foam pads will also be fitted to the top of the steering column switch gear to provide assured clearance between the cowl and the clockspring face. The recall is expected to begin on or about July 21, 2008. Owners may contact Land Rover at 1-800-637-6837. 08V-248

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