Lately I crashed my 2002 Grand Voyager into a suddenly stopped car
I fixed most damage (new hood and light) and ducktaped my bumper.

Now I was thinking about that crash and how heavily I crashed into the car in front of me and suddenly I realized that my airbag(s) didn't come out

Now I think my airbags are switched off somehow .. How could that have been done?
Dont get me wrong, I'm happy the airbags didn't go "pooof" but I'm curious how they can be switched off.
The airbag lights are working and go out after starting..

 

It depends on how hard you hit the car in front or your deceleration rate. If loco on train hit a car and was fitted with air bags of course it wouldn't go off. But if it hit another train, well it would but driver would be crushed beyond recognising unless he jumped out, which has happened.

 

The fact the light goes out after starting means the system has passed an internal test and is armed. Ya I know, you have to put a lot of trust in that little light bulb. I've never been real comfy with that. Might check with your dealer and see if there's any further testing needed. They could scan it with their DRB scanner but not sure that would reveal anything more than the internal test.

 

Let's put it this way: The car in front of me (Renault Twingo) was pronounced "Total Loss"
In the crash I pushed the unfortunate Twingo on the back of the car in front of him (a Renault Clio) which received considerable damage too and was almost total loss
It really was a very hard hit and a sudden deceleration, I certainly expect an airbag to go poof on a hit like this.
But indeed, maybe the small Renaults I hit where too light for the heavy tank like Voyager to be noticed by the sensors, or maybe I was just 'lucky'

 

It, all of the info is in the Body section of the workshop manuals. As far as I'm aware there's no way of turning them off other than the front passenger one, but you should get an additional warning [PAB indicator] that its turned off.

 

- or maybe you were not wearing a seatbelt ? and that's why it didn't trigger.

 

Its triggered by the seatbelt?
I always thought it was some sensors in the bumper or something.
In that case.. I think I indeed didn't wear my seatbelts since I was still very close to my home, I can't remember actually..

 

Most cars now have seat-belt pre-tensioning as part of the crash safety system, so check the resistance of the firing element of the squib (there are only two wires to it); it should be around two ohm. Most include this resistance in the switch-on test routine from the micro., and indicate with a warning tell-tale if ouside limits. Most now have seat-sensors so the micro. "knows" if someone is sitting in any particular seat too. The Chrysler configuration may not include pre-tensioners in the test routine because there aren't any, or indeed have seat sensors anyhow.
When you had your crash, if no-one was sitting in the front seat next to you and your squib has fired, there will be a difference in length of the seatbelt fastener between the driver and the front passenger up to 4 inches, so that's an easy check if one has fired and pulled up its length. Statistically, fired pre-tensioners are the most common problem with crash safety systems. Very heavy braking can fire them sometimes.
As other contributors have said, it depends on the crash deceleration as to whether the airbags fire or not. I had this problem with the Jag. The system will assume if the crash is not too serious, i.e. less than a pre-determined deceleration, that the seat belts will be effective. After all, if the airbag fires the driver won't be able to see, so it has to be a serious life-threatening crash to have the air bags firing.
If all checks ok, I should forget about it.

Leedsman.

 

Thx for all the advice and insights, I take it I didn't crash hard enough for the airbags to come out, luckily..

 

If you didn't smack your head on the steering wheel or get a significant neck injury you didn't need them.


Front impact sensors were a recall on my 2005 voyager, its worth checking yours. Any mean dealer can quickly check it on their computer from your vin number.