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What all is involved in the airbag system on a 95-96 XJ?

Atl XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Atlanta
Other than the actual airbag itself, what other sensors and such are there that have to be replaced? I know the 95-96 system is different than the 97+ system.

The reason I ask is because mine deployed last night and I'm not sure if its goign to be totalled or not. If they do total it I might buy it back. If there isn't any serious unibody damage...
 
I was in a six car pile up and I was the last car in it. The car behind me was able to swerve around me and avoid the accident. I hit an Acura TL at ~35 mph. The Heep is driveable, I drove it home, but the airbag is out and there is a lot of damage to the front of it. It drives completely fine though. Marcia and I are both okay and so was everyone else in the accident. My shoulder hurts a little bit from the seat belt and I had chit from the airbag all over me but I'm fine. Its a '96 so it only has the driver's side airbag. Marcia is okay too, just has a few bruises and her knee hurts a little bit. There is smoothie shit all over my dash and in the defroster vents. Thats gonna be a real bitch to get out if its not totalled. I'm glad we didn't get rearended (a Range Rover BARELY missed us and swerved into the next lane), I had both of my bikes on the back of it. We'd just come back from riding on the Silver Comet trail.

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These are the two things that make me think its probbaly totalled.

See how bent the fenders are:
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Where's the front bumper? It should be 4-5" out past the grill vs being pushed in further than it.
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Then throw in the fact that its only worth $3000-$4000 max and they probably won't want to fix it. They'd also probably have to repaint the whole thing to get the paint to match...Then there's the airbag system and the huge smoothie mess. Its all in the defroster vents. I don't even know how it get it all out. :rolleyes:
 
I cut the airbag out of it today and its driveable (temporarily) if I put a new radiator in it. The clutch fan hit the radiator in the impact and put a small hole in the radiator.
 
So I just did a search and it looks like:
95-96 XJ airbags are completely self contained (100% mechanical). There are no electical connections, just an arming pin.

Is that true? That would make replacing the airbag a lot easier.
 
never heard of a mechanial air bag, besides the early ones back in the 70's. IIRC your should have an air bag computer module, clockspring and the air bag itself. should not be any other sensors, the decelleration sensor is in the computer module.
 
Replacing your airbag is as simple as it looks just be careful not to sit in front of it as you replace it. Work from the side. The 95 and 96 models used the same mechanical airbags triggered by a sufficient jolt through the steering column.To remove you had to unscrew the arming bolt and then remove the retaining bolts. To replace, do it in reverse and be careful. I had similar damage to my 96 which also damaged the fan blade and had to replace everything in front of that point. You may also have rail damage near the steering box. check it out. The insurance company will look at it and probably figure that the cost of repairs would be around $4k and the vehicles value at less than that so it is likely to be totaled. You may need some frame straightening up front and for sure a new crossmember piece, both of which may require shop time by someone qualified. I spent $900 getting my front end rails and crossmember properly repaired and then spent another grand on used parts from salvage yards and did everything else, roughly an entire front clip minus the fenders. Your fenders could probably be pounded out quite easily if needed.
The insurance co will probably place a value somewhere between 3.5k and 4.5k tops and you can buy it back from between $400-700. If it is in rather good condition, 96 was an excellent year for xj's and parts is parts, afterall. If you are mechanical and enjoy projects, go for it. Fix it up with $1500 and bank the other $2k for your efforts. If not, walk away and find an xj for your bankroll amount. If it was your DD then you may have no choice. Glad you are ok but I feel for your jeep. Talk it over with a mechanically inclined friend after thoroughly looking things over, especially the undercarriage from the front axel forward. I used my accident like a semester at XJ University. And get an FSM as well.
 
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just the air back assembly. be sure to replace the clockspring in the colum as well. even if it looks ok, replace it anyway.
 
Hudson Bend said:
Replacing your airbag is as simple as it looks just be careful not to sit in front of it as you replace it. Work from the side. The 95 and 96 models used the same mechanical airbags triggered by a sufficient jolt through the steering column.To remove you had to unscrew the arming bolt and then remove the retaining bolts. To replace, do it in reverse and be careful. I had similar damage to my 96 which also damaged the fan blade and had to replace everything in front of that point. You may also have rail damage near the steering box. check it out. The insurance company will look at it and probably figure that the cost of repairs would be around $4k and the vehicles value at less than that so it is likely to be totaled. You may need some frame straightening up front and for sure a new crossmember piece, both of which may require shop time by someone qualified. I spent $900 getting my front end rails and crossmember properly repaired and then spent another grand on used parts from salvage yards and did everything else, roughly an entire front clip minus the fenders. Your fenders could probably be pounded out quite easily if needed.
The insurance co will probably place a value somewhere between 3.5k and 4.5k tops and you can buy it back from between $400-700. If it is in rather good condition, 96 was an excellent year for xj's and parts is parts, afterall. If you are mechanical and enjoy projects, go for it. Fix it up with $1500 and bank the other $2k for your efforts. If not, walk away and find an xj for your bankroll amount. If it was your DD then you may have no choice. Glad you are ok but I feel for your jeep. Talk it over with a mechanically inclined friend after thoroughly looking things over, especially the undercarriage from the front axel forward. I used my accident like a semester at XJ University. And get an FSM as well.

Wow, thanks for the advice, it looks like a lot of good info.

I drove it like 10 miles home after the accident and it drove totally normal, even at interstate speeds. Its leaking antifreeze a little bit, but if I put a new radiator in it, it would drive normal, it just looks like a POS. One of my fathers good friends owns a body shop and he said he can help me out with everything. If there isn't damage to the unibody, I'll probably buy it back and fix everything myself and have them repaint it.

It is my DD, but I've been thinking about getting another DD anyway, but its a good vehicle so I'd like to keep it as a second car and for camping, fishing, carrying my bike around, etc.

I had my bikes on the back when the accident occured, thank gawd that RR barely missed us. I would have been PISSED if my Fisher was ruined. I just bought it like a month ago.

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stewie said:
just the air back assembly. be sure to replace the clockspring in the colum as well. even if it looks ok, replace it anyway.
Yeah, I forgot about the clock spring...
 
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