Australian General Motors unit Holden has issued a safety recall for Commodore model line vehicles built from April 2003 to December 2005.
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All the affected cars were fitted with side impact airbags as standard or optional equipment.
The recall has been issued following reports that side impact airbags had inflated under circumstances which did not warrant inflation. This may be caused by static electricity charge, generated in particular conditions, which stimulates the airbag inflator if an earthing wire under the seat has come loose.
Such conditions can be generated only when the car is stationary and the person is exiting or has exited one of the front seats, as sufficient charge must be generated and the outer side seat bolster compressed to reach the side airbag inflator.
Dealers will install an additional earth spring on each front seat to correctly earth any charge.
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By GlobalDataThe recall involves 89,167 vehicles in Australia and 34,552 export vehicles – a total of 123,719. Thirteen cases have been reported since 2003 but no accidents.
GM Holden executive director engineering Tony Hyde on Tuesday said the airbag inflation would occur only while the car was stationary, allaying concerns about possible accidents.
“Electrostatic charge accumulation usually requires some sort of moving activity which is generated while swinging out of a seat,” Hyde said. “This action also brings the occupant closer to the side impact airbags as the backrest side bolster is compressed when getting out of the seat. The bolster will not be sufficiently compressed while driving to allow any charge to reach the inflator.”
Vehicles affected include all Holden Commodore variants plus the Statesman and Caprice long-wheelbase luxury versions and the Monaro coupe. However, the list excludes the US-market Pontiac GTO derivative of the Monaro.
Export versions under a variety of GM brand names have been shipped to the Middle East, China, Korea, Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
GM Holden spokesman Jason Laird declined to estimate the cost of the recall. “We don’t provide specifics on recall costs. Our only concern is doing the rework free of charge to customers,” he said.
“The rework on this campaign involves fitting a small spring under each seat to ensure the static electricity charge is earthed. This is a relatively inexpensive and swift campaign to perform on each car.”
