As our 993's start getting on in years, I believe we are at or approaching an airbag service recommendation (I don't have the manual handy, but I seem to remember that).

Is this just legal CYA, or do airbags in fact have a short, finite life?

* is there anything to service, or do they just get replaced outright?

Thoughts?

 

They say about 10-15 years is the official life of an air bag, but you probably can go longer without any problem. After 20-25 years, you might wanna start thinking about having it swapped out though.

 

Yeah, that's the common sense approach we'd probably all follow. But curious if anyone really understands and can explain what goes wrong with the airbags over time.

I am sure the manufacturer(s) know, but they're in the business of selling airbags. What we need is a whistleblower airbag R&D guy to come clean!

M

 

Since the price of a 3 spoker bag doubled in the last year I would hate to see the price in 15 years

 

Time for an RS 3-spoke wheel. Problem solved.

 

Dare I ask, how much is double?

 

I think they are $850 now.

 

Splendid.

 

I believe this is another case of legal CYA ...

The electrical contacts are gold plated to prevent corrosion and the explosive charge is similar to WWII munitions that have survived over 60 years and are still very effective

 

Hi that would be me.

i haven't got time for a long detailed post now but yes the 10 year life is largely a legal CYA stipulation.

I have two cars over ten years old including my 993, I will not be changing the airbags.

The ten year life is a highly conservative figure that was arrived at after considering the time it takes for the pyrotechnic constituents to breakdown when subjected to very extreme temp cycling for long duration. The likes of which a vehicle will never experience in real life.

pp

 

^^^So what would be a "reasonable" service life?

 

More than 10 - 15 years.


Andreas

 

I would go ahead and replace yours since your head is bigger than the rest of ours.....

 

Andreas

 

The service life of the airbag might reflect the efficacy of the propellant inside the airbag and how deeply the decorative Porsche shield gets embedded into the driver's forehead. The four spoke steering wheels have an obvious seam that shows about how the bag will deploy, I'm not so sure of the three spoke wheel.