12 to 16 explosive devices in our vehicles?

[Mr Big]

Sorry to hear about your experience, traumatic for sure.
Be lucky it wasn’t a takata air bag, those have been known to kill people.
Unfortunately, most decent brand vehicles have similar type of pretensioner setup. While rare, it’s not never there is a fault. Airbags fault too, very rarely, but you only need it to happen once.

I've been doing a lot of research and the one vehicle that has had the most seatbelt tensioner discharges is the BMW. This appears to be nothing new and has been going on for a while.

 

[Mr Big]

I’m curious - did you purchase the vehicle new? Has it ever been involved in an accident or property damage (such as a tree fell on it)?

No Accidents ever. No issues ever. Only maintenance has been tires, brakes, fluid changes, etc. Just a fluke.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

No Accidents ever. No issues ever. Only maintenance has been tires, brakes, fluid changes, etc. Just a fluke.

I see you are in Florida. The humidity has been awful and the rain pretty heavy. I would suggest that maybe water or humidity go into the module somehow. You might want to check carpets, and under carpets for moisture anywhere the module or wiring pass through. If any I would look to sunroof drains not working.

 

[Mr Big]

I see you are in Florida. The humidity has been awful and the rain pretty heavy. I would suggest that maybe water or humidity go into the module somehow. You might want to check carpets, and under carpets for moisture anywhere the module or wiring pass through. If any I would look to sunroof drains not working.

None of that was the issue. The dealership did a complete check and only found a nicked wire from the factory install, that was causing 2.* volts shorting to ground. To be safe they fully tested and replaced pretty much every airbag and seatbelt module and harness. The vehicle has never been in any accidents, no flooding, no leaks, only normal maintenance just the faulty harness. Like I said there have been tons of 2018 Ford F-150 trucks and 2020 Expeditions with a faulty seatbelt tensioner issue. Unfortunately, none for any other year.
Besides you are missing the point. We are driving down the road with many gallons of gasoline, with 12 to 16 on board explosive devices that use gun powder.
These new vehicles are basically controlled by a computer. My new Explorer is constantly disabling features due to lower voltage, since we don't drive it much. We drive across town or on a trip, they start working again. This is normal. With my background of decades of programming, diagnosis and repair of computers and electronics, I can say for a fact that computers malfunction. So, it leaves a lot to think about, considering all the airbags, seatbelt tensioners, suspension, "electronic steering", etc., are controlled by a computer.

 

[rd618]

We are driving down the road with many gallons of gasoline, with 12 to 16 on board explosive devices that use gun powder.
These new vehicles are basically controlled by a computer.

You’ve been through a trying experience, no doubt. But Let’s not spread misinformation, there is NO gun powder in any airbag or seatbelt pretensioner.
The computers used in cars or industrial settings are by no means the same as operating systems, people should not assume their vehicles will start blowing airbags randomly. There are multiple redundancy measures in place to prevent that. Your issue was a faulty wire. Way different.

 

[Kevin-Michigan]

Wow. Please report incident to the NHTSA.

 

[ROBERT BONNER]

You’ve been through a trying experience, no doubt. But Let’s not spread misinformation, there is NO gun powder in any airbag or seatbelt pretensioner.
The computers used in cars or industrial settings are by no means the same as operating systems, people should not assume their vehicles will start blowing airbags randomly. There are multiple redundancy measures in place to prevent that. Your issue was a faulty wire. Way different.

Incindiary charges powering bags and tensioners have changed several times over the decades. Incindiaries used in modern (20teens+) vehicles are made up of primarily Guanidinium Nitrate, which is basically solid rocket fuel. Many of the combustion gases produced are the same or similar to those produced by modern smokeless gunpowders, so, a closed vehicle that has cycled one or more of its incindiaries will smell similar to burnt gun powder.

 

[ROBERT BONNER]

While not directly related to this particular incident, this string does highlight just how prevalent these incindiaries are throughout your vehicle. When servicing or modifying the insides of your vehicles, tremendous care is required to avoid inadvertant discharges. Do your homework on how to disarm these systems prior to doing any work in their general area. It's normally as simple as pulling the airbag module fuse and allowing some time for capacitive discharge before touching the related wiring to ensure your safety. Simply pulling the ground off of the battery won't necessarily disarm them. Always handle them like you would any other incindiary: carefully.

 

[Deadman]

This just confirms my love of older cars. Screw these modern computer nightmares. I just bought an old cop car for my daily so I can park my Expedition and not have to deal with all the screens n crap that I hate! . A cheap 500hp rear drive sedan makes me forget all about the comfort of the Expedition. lol. It'll probably need a battery tender

 

[Mr Big]

You’ve been through a trying experience, no doubt. But Let’s not spread misinformation, there is NO gun powder in any airbag or seatbelt pretensioner.
The computers used in cars or industrial settings are by no means the same as operating systems, people should not assume their vehicles will start blowing airbags randomly. There are multiple redundancy measures in place to prevent that. Your issue was a faulty wire. Way different.

First off my post was made to inform all vehicle owners of any make or model, that this could happen to them and to take precautions when personally working on their vehicles.
Also, NO DISRESPECT, but you should research facts, because you are the one that just posted misinformation. There absolutely is a substance similar to gun power in the pretensioner and you can smell it when it goes off. It is a pyrotechnic explosive device, (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2fH6giWmSP0). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVH9CX7iMp4 <--go on YouTube or ask some Ford expert that knows.
The computer used in cars is very similar to any PC, tablet or cellphone, with an operating system, processor and ram, reacting on signals and commands true or false. The short sent a signal to the computer and the computer reacted. I agree multiple redundancy measures are in place, especially after the TAKATA incidents. However, if a computer gets a false signal from the sensor, it could cause the pyrotechnic explosive device to ignite.