Passenger Airbag deployed when removing bumper ?

[Semnoz]

Just got car back from bodyshop (insurance claim) where they've removed and refitted the entire front bumper/lower skirt/grill/fog-lamps for respray and replacement of broken parts. They've done a good job.

I'd also been admiring how much they'd cleaned the interior, but then noticed white powdery residue on the forward facing part of the dashboard on the passenger-side. My immediate thought was that they might have accidentally deployed the air-bag when working near the front bumper, and then cleaned the interior to hide the evidence. I will call them tomorrow to ask, but just wondering if I need to worry. What should I ask ? Would they have needed to replace the air-bag assembly if it had deployed ?

[Tannaton]

The white powder will be dust from sanding body filler in their workshop - it gets everywhere.

If the passenger airbag deploys it destroys the dashboard, and there would be warning lights on the dash.

[Semnoz]

Originally Posted by Tannaton

The white powder will be dust from sanding body filler in their workshop - it gets everywhere.

If the passenger airbag deploys it destroys the dashboard, and there would be warning lights on the dash.

I guess filler is a possibility. It was only deep scratches on the front bumper section and a few cracked trim mounting brackets, so I would have thought deep sanding would have been enough. There's no dust in the car, just the faint trace of a powdery residue within the plastic 'grain' on the front part of the dash, mainly close to the wide trim (mahogany on my car). It could just be dried cleaning solution, e.g. a cream cleaner, but it would be quite unusual to use something like that when doing a car valet.

The only message on the dash after it was returned (on the back of a lorry) was a fault with the child locks, which has since gone away.

Anyhow, as you say, the whole top section of the dash would be ripped open if the air-bag had deployed.

It sure is odd.

Anyhow, I'll not worry for now. I'm just pleased that the whole front end of the car is now new, and the idiot that cut me up has had to pay for it !

[Model flyer]

You said they had cleaned the interior . The powder would be the residue from the glass cleaner that they missed . The only effective way to remove the smeary stuff that builds up on the inside of the screen is to use a decent glass cleaner like Auto-glym. This dries to a white powdery film and that's probably what your seeing. As already said airbag deployment would have destroyed the dash. I regularly use Auto-glym as I cant stand smeary screen and its the only cleaner I have found that effectively removes it All the others just spread it around! I cover the dash with an old towel while cleaning as the residue can get everywhere .

Any suggestions for a cleaner to use cleaner ?