Missing airbag or misleading Haynes manual?

[colmd]

Hi,

I have a March 2000(W) S40 1.6.

I decided to remove the two front seats to give the floor a good clean. Like a good boy I read the Haynes manual which told me how to inhibit the SIPS airbags. I opened the cover marked SIPS on the RHS of the drivers seat but there was no red tool on the reverse nor was there any sign of the airbag mechanism inside. It was the same on passenger seat.

The Haynes manual states that SIPS airbags were standard on the S40 from launch. It did say the mechanism changed in Jun/July 2000 but there's no evidence of the side curtain air bag either.

Should I be worried or was there some weird combination of model that didn't include the air bags. Either way it's quite irritating that SIPS is written all over the place in the car but its not installed.

Colm.

[Kerry_T-5R]

Originally Posted by colmd

Hi,

I have a March 2000(W) S40 1.6.

I decided to remove the two front seats to give the floor a good clean. Like a good boy I read the Haynes manual which told me how to inhibit the SIPS airbags. I opened the cover marked SIPS on the RHS of the drivers seat but there was no red tool on the reverse nor was there any sign of the airbag mechanism inside. It was the same on passenger seat.

The Haynes manual states that SIPS airbags were standard on the S40 from launch. It did say the mechanism changed in Jun/July 2000 but there's no evidence of the side curtain air bag either.

Should I be worried or was there some weird combination of model that didn't include the air bags. Either way it's quite irritating that SIPS is written all over the place in the car but its not installed.

Colm.

Im not sure on the mechanism, but the car does have SIPS bags as standard. They are located inside the seat and inflate by bursting the edge of the seat seam.

Kerry

[Kerry_T-5R]

Found this video on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haBHa...eature=related

Kerry

[ivor940]

Hi Colm, As the car is possibly originally Irish, and the 1.6 was the entry level car, the Side airbags may have been optional. The Duty / VRT caused such items to be optional. It is one reason why people in Ireland will import a UK spec car. For example, most Ford Focus here in Ireland have no ABS, while most in the UK would have it fitted. The Haynes manual is based on a UK spec car.
Does SIPS also mean the structure of the S40 is designed like the 940 to spread side impacts through the structure.

ivor940

[Toblerone]

The actual SIPS gubbins in in the side of the upper bolster - the plastic pod only houses the 'switch', although this should be fairly obvious as it's quite large!

How is the rest of the car spec wise?

[colmd]

Ivor, I imported the car from the UK in July 2005. It would be a mammoth search to find a 5 year old Irish S40 in such good condition! Importing is the only way to go.

Toblerone, I'm not sure how the rest of the specification stacks up. It was sold to me as an SE, I was fairly sure it wasn't but the price was still right. The V5 just said "S40 l", the Volvo service history calls it "S40 1.6 N M". It doesn't have a trip computer or front fog lamps which I think were standard on the SE.

There's a couple of pictures of it here:

http://importyourcar.net/Real_exampl...%20July%202005

I've attached a picture of the drivers side "plastic pod".

Thanks,
Colm.

[mokins]

Colm

I have had a few V40's and I know they have changed how the SIPS works. Older models are wired into the airbag system and have a red tool to make the seat safe. Newer models are all self contained and are not wired into the main airbag system and only operate if the side impact is sufficient to casuse the side of the car to cave in on you the driver. This newer seat does not have a red tool as all the sensors are self contained but the air bag is there.
As for the side curtain... I dont know when it bacame standard, but my V plate didnt have one and my 02 plate did. The best way to tell is to remove the trim going up the side of the front window and if you have a side curtain you will see it at the top.
Again, the side curtain will only deploy on a side impace crash (I know this as I had a side impace in that car and it went off! - I now have a 03 plate V40)

The Haynes manuel tried to cover all options and at times does not make clear what is standard on each model and age and what is optional, but I hope this helps.

Thanks
Darren

[Toblerone]

This is mine on a 1999 plate. the actual switch is behind the 'P' of 'SIPS'. The little square shows the protective tool attached to the cover.

When the door (on my model) is deformed in a crash enough to enter the cabin, it presses the switch in and sets it off. As far as I know they are mechanical and don't have any wiring, hence the need to protect the switch when the seats are out of the vehicle.

i don't know whether mine are the old or new system as described above though!

[colmd]

The mechanism you describe is the old one according to the Haynes manual.

At this stage I'm just going to assume there is an air bag in there somewhere. It would be nice if there was an easy way to determine the exact trim level of the car. Maybe I'll contact the original owner.

Thanks for all your help.

Colm.

[Nickmac]

The system changed in 2000, before 2000 the switch had to be physically pressed in by the car deforming alongside the seat, hence the red safety clip if you were moving the seat around (and the bloke with the hammer in the video!)
Post 2000 cars have a purely electronic actuation sequence which is set off by sensors in the B pillar and other areas of the car, these cars will not have a switch or safety clip in the side of the seat, they just have electrical connections on the floor under the seat.
If you want to take out a seat like this, first disconnect the battery and wait at least 2 minutes before removing any wiring or plugs as not doing so will leave the air bag warning light illuminated on the dash.