Engineering Analysis · Open
Air Bag Inflator Rupture
Manufacturer: ARC Automotive, Inc.
This investigation led to a recall
NHTSA links this probe to recall campaign 23V334.
Campaign 23V334 predates our recall archive — check NHTSA.gov for details.
What NHTSA is examining
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is upgrading its Preliminary Evaluation of ARC Automotive Inc. (ARC) air bag inflators to an Engineering Analysis. ODI opened PE15-027 in July 2015 based on two injury incidents involving a driver air bag inflator rupture. One incident involved a 2002 Chrysler Town & Country that utilized a dual-stage air bag inflator. The other involved a 2004 Kia Optima that utilized a single-stage inflator. Both driver air bag inflators were manufactured by ARC, a tier-two supplier of automotive air bag systems, at their manufacturing facility in Knoxville Tennessee. All ARC driver air bag inflators are a hybrid design that fills the air bag by releasing an inert gas mixture stored in the inflator at high pressure. The gas mixture is augmented by an ammonium nitrate based propellant. The pressurized gas mixture and propellant are contained entirely within a hermetically sealed steel housing isolated from external atmospheric conditions.During the course of PE15-027, ODI requested information from ARC about which air bag module manufacturers used the subject ARC inflators. Based on the information received from ARC, ODI requested information from the identified air bag module manufacturers about which vehicle manufacturers used modules with the subject ARC inflators. That process identified two additional affected vehicle manufacturers, General Motors and Hyundai.Based on the age of the vehicles involved in the two incidents in the U.S., ODI…
Vehicles under investigation
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation records, updated daily. An investigation is not a determination that a defect exists; many probes close without a recall.