Description & Operation

WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 1996 Suzuki Esteem. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

WARNING: To avoid injury from accidental air bag deployment, read and carefully follow all WARNINGS and SERVICE PRECAUTIONS.

The main components of the Air Bag System are the driver-side air bag module, the contact coil, the passenger-side air bag module, the Sensing and Diagnostic Module (SDM) and the AIR BAG indicator lamp. See Fig 1 . The driver-side air bag module and the passenger-side air bag module are deployed by current supplied from SDM through squib circuits. The current ignites an ignition compound which causes the generation of a large quantity of nitrogen gas to rapidly inflate the air bags.

The contact coil is combined with the combination switch assembly and is mounted on the steering column. It allows rotation of the steering wheel while maintaining continuous contact of the driver-side deployment loop to the driver-side air bag module. The Sensing and Diagnostic Module (SDM) functions to detect velocity changes as a result of frontal crash severe enough to warrant deployment. The SDM also performs malfunction monitoring of the Air Bag System, and provides malfunction diagnosis through use of a Tech 1 scan tool.

Fig 1: Locating SRS Components

Courtesy of SUZUKI MOTOR CORPORATION