95-99 dangerous

[kalev]

Saturday March 8, 2003, I was on my way home from shopping with my 4-year-old son when for no reason the driver side airbag of my 1996 Pontiac Grandam exploded in my face. The deployment of the bag forced my arm back into my face snapping my head back and completely disorienting me. Once I regained my bearings I realized I was northbound in the southbound lanes of Winston Churchill Blvd. in Mississauga. Luckily I was able to regain control of my car without a major incident.



The next morning I went to the hospital to have my arm and neck looked at. Fortunately my arm wasn't broken. It was however severely bruised and still non functional. My neck was still very stiff and sore. I am currently undergoing treatment for whiplash and ligament damage to my arm.



Since the date of the accident I have found out a few things regarding my 1996 Pontiac Grand Am. 1- there is a sensor/module under the carpet under the front passenger seat that when in contact with moisture can corrode and cause the airbags to deploy.

2- my firewall had been leaking water under my carpet to the area where this sensor/module is located. My firewall is so rusted it can’t be repaired.

3- GM considers this a maintenance issue.



I contacted Transport Canada to report the incident and was informed that
they are currently investigating 1995-1999 Pontiac Grand Am's for water
leaking into the car through the firewall and pooling on the floor. This has caused “many” airbags to deploy without warning. I have also read many similar reports on the NHTSA website.



A local GM dealership had my car for 17 days while GM “investigated” but in the end I was told that the module/sensor was too corroded to read the information stored in it. I have requested the module/sensor back but as of today I still haven't seen it. During these 17 days without my car I had to pay for a rental car out of my own pocket.



Ken Locke from GM contacted me he said GM was willing to
do something for me.
GM will repair my airbag system if I agree to two things.
1- I pay for and repair the water leak in my car (the unrepairable one)
2- I sign a release stating that this matter is closed and I have no further
claims pertaining to this matter.

I refused to do this and was told that I was on my own. My car is currently unsafe to drive.

[snarkee]

what a joke....Rusted out 96 and GM wont do a thing about it

my 93 z24 had that water problem HUGE....i managed to fix it to sell it

good thing i didnt have airbags in it

[SpecialFX]

Man, that really stinks. Thanks for the heads up. Glad you weren't hurt anymore than you were becase that could have been realllllly bad.

:???: Sad to hear the way GM is handling it.

[Overclock This]

I hope you are ok,

This is a first of me hearing of this

I hope nobody else has this problem

[LoneRangers15]

I would get a lawyer and not say another word to GM.

[99capergrandam]

My brother-in-law had a similar problem with his 96 GA but he was fortunate in that his air bag didn't go off. Water gathered under the front passenger seat and caused the air bag module to go a fire but because their was soo much water it never did too much damage. It also caused him to lose his instrumentation lights and several other problems, but he has since had the module removed along with the air bags. He has tried for ever to stop the water from coming into his car but has been unseccessful. He now drives the car with no carpeting because the water causes mildew and stinks to high heaven. What a stupid location for an air bag module.:flamedevi

[p8ntman442]

Get a lawyer, this is bs. Seriously an air bag going off while driving normally is a big problem, and could get gm in big trouble. Talk to a lawyer, this should be a fairly easy case to win, or atleast settle with gm.

[VanishingImage]

first off,did you cause the air bag to go off? no you didn't,second,did the car malfunction because of poor sensor location? yes,they should pay for their malfunctioned product.Deffinately get ahold of a/your lawyer.

[02GARacer]

OMG man that sucks ass i have a 1996 GA SE

[Fiadhaich95]

I say sue there asses. One they sold their merchandise in an area prone to bad weather with the knowledge that the unit was not good in bad weather, two they did not have an immediate recall of it as a defect. You have some grounds for a HUGE personal injury lawsuit.

[mtnagel]

I'm thinking that GM obviously knows this is a problem if they want you to sign a release. I agree, lawyer is the way to go.

BTW, does anyone know if this is an issue on 99+? Is the sensor still on the floor?

[TDIguy]

Originally posted by kalev
Saturday March 8, 2003, I was on my way home from shopping with my 4-year-old son when for no reason the driver side airbag of my 1996 Pontiac Grandam exploded in my face. The deployment of the bag forced my arm back into my face snapping my head back and completely disorienting me. Once I regained my bearings I realized I was northbound in the southbound lanes of Winston Churchill Blvd. in Mississauga. Luckily I was able to regain control of my car without a major incident.






Busy road for it to happen on, take care and good luck

[sunrunner_pei]

Originally posted by mtnagel
BTW, does anyone know if this is an issue on 99+? Is the sensor still on the floor?

The Inflatable Restraint Sensing and Diagnostic Module is under the carpet on the passenger side under the seat in the '99+.

[Crackers]

If they want you to sign a release it is because they realize there are is a big potential downside. Call a lawyer.

If you don't want to phone a lawyer (which you should), I would phoen the AAA and the newspapers. An airbag is nothing to screw around with and you could have been killed (crossing the center lane) and could have killed someone. If for nothing else it will force GM to fix it with other drivers and save some lives.

[Peyman]

what the hell, that is crazy, im scared......well kinda...i always hear of people getting injured when the airbag goes off..why is that? i didnt think it could be so powerful...anyways dude im sorry that happend to you, that sucks and i hope it works out for ya

[mtnagel]

Originally posted by sunrunner_pei
The Inflatable Restraint Sensing and Diagnostic Module is under the carpet on the passenger side under the seat in the '99+.

Doesn't seem like moving it from driver to passenger side makes it any safer?!

[Livefast]

Originally posted by Fiadhaich95
I say sue there asses. One they sold their merchandise in an area prone to bad weather with the knowledge that the unit was not good in bad weather, two they did not have an immediate recall of it as a defect. You have some grounds for a HUGE personal injury lawsuit.

You would create more of a hastle for yourself by bringing up a lawsuit, and probably end up wasting more money then you would gain. It would go on so long you would loose any and all satisfaction with it. These types of things could drag on for a long long time too. What is wrong with just signing it and having a local dealership fix it while GM picks up the cost? Its just a bruise.....

[kalev]

Whiplash and ligament damage is not a bruise. I am in physiotherapy 2.5 hrs a day. One of the conditions is that I repair the firewall befor they replace the airbag system. The firewall is unrepairable by a garage. I would have to go to a bodyshop and have a new firewall manufactured.:2up: :2up: :2up: :2up:

[T3rry]

call gm and tell them if they dont give you a large sum of money you will get a laywer, threatnign with a lawyer sometimes is better than actually getting one because u dont have to pay the laywer so you end up with the same settlement.

[ironray75]

Originally posted by T3rry
call gm and tell them if they dont give you a large sum of money you will get a laywer, threatnign with a lawyer sometimes is better than actually getting one because u dont have to pay the laywer so you end up with the same settlement.
Yea, true that! I had to do that a few times.

[GundamGT]

I had the airbag go off in my face as well in my 96 gt. Fortunatly i wasn't driving i was just sitting in the car. I havent found the location of the leak, and im afriaid that it's the firewall as well. If you pursue this let me know how it goes

[born4drivn]

Originally posted by mtnagel
Doesn't seem like moving it from driver to passenger side makes it any safer?!

What do you mean??? In 96 and 97 it is located in the same place as the 99+. In the passenger front seat...

Sorry to hear about your mishap. I sure hope I don't experience it. And I wonder what change in 2000 from the 99, so that it's not an issue for the newer models.

[obne]

I had the same problem as the original post just 3 days ago. I have a water leak (surprise, surprise), passenger side airbag module soaked and covered in corrosion, drivers side airbag blew while my wife was stopped at a stop light. Sent some email to GM Canada and they actually called back, but left a message to phone as I was out. Of course I only get their voice mail.

[TorquePower]

Hence, I've said it before, GM sucks, not only do they act like they don't care about their customers, their quality of vehicles had gone down.

I'm sure Ford may even be doing something like GM but not as bad.

Daimler-Chrysler all the way!

[HighwayProwlerz]

Sorry, Daimler-Chrysler isn't any better.

That sucks man. Yeah, I would threaten to call a lawyer and demand a settlement enough to replace your car completely. Your car is unsafe to drive and lawyers are expensive. If you lived around here I could hook you up with a pre-paid legal protection program for $25. Oh well.

Good luck!

[96GrandAm SE1]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! I've had water that puddles on the passenger floorboard, and I have a mechanic and a body repair expert check it out and they both couldn't find anything wrong. I never once thought about the firewall. After having red ur message, me and my freind ripped up my upholstry and checked my firewall, and sure enough it had a few holes, and a lot of rust. once again, I cant thank you enough for your input, and i'm glad u and your son made it through