General Description

DESCRIPTION
The Supplemental Driver Air Bag Restraint System is designed to provide increased frontal accident protection for the driver IN ADDITION TO that provided by the safety belt system. FORD RECOMMENDS THE USE OF SAFETY BELTS FOR ALL VEHICLE OCCUPANTS.

The system uses a series of sensors to monitor the deceleration rates of the vehicle. If a crash occurs at a speed in excess of 22.5 km/h (14 mph) the sensors will close and the control module will deploy the air bag. The air bag is designed to fully inflate before the driver moves forward, and to deflate slowly when struck by the driver.

The Air Bag System consists of two basic subsystems:
1. The driver air bag.
2. The electrical system which includes impact sensors and an electronic monitoring unit.

Operation
When the ignition switch is turned to the RUN position a yellow AIR BAG lamp will illuminate in the instrument cluster for approximately four to eight seconds. If the lamp goes out and stays out, the air bag system is fully serviceable. If there is a fault in the system, the lamp will then flash a code corresponding to the fault present. Depending on the nature of the fault, the system may still be operational.

It is important to understand that the system is operational regardless of the ignition switch position. The air bag system obtains its power from its own circuit independent of the ignition/accessory circuits. It is only necessary to have the ignition switch set to the RUN position to obtain a system OK or the fault codes.

If a vehicle is involved in a crash, one of the front crash sensors and one of the safing sensors must close in order for the system to inflate the air bag.

When a crash sensor and a safing sensor close at the same time, battery power will flow to the air bag inflator. Inside the inflator, an igniter will then heat the gas generant and cause it to ignite. This ignition will cause the sodium azide/copper oxide gas generant to produce nitrogen gas which will inflate the air bag. The air bag will fully inflate in less than 40 milliseconds.