The Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) is designed to supplement the front seat belts to help reduce the risk or severity of injury to the driver by activating and deploying a driver's-side air bag in certain frontal collisions.
The SRS consists of: left front and right front impact sensors (located on the right and left radiator support panels); air bag module (located in the center of the steering wheel). The air bag module contains a folded air bag and an inflator unit. The SRS also contains: a SRS diagnosis unit with a safing impact sensor (located in front of the shift lever); a SRS warning light to indicate operational status of the SRS (located on the instrument panel); a clock spring (mounted behind the steering wheel); and wiring.
The SRS is designed so that the air bags will deploy (inflate) when the safing sensor, plus either or both of the left front and right front impact sensors simultaneously activate while the ignition switch is in the ON position. These sensors are designed to be activated in frontal or near-frontal impacts of moderate to severe force.
WARNING
Only authorized service personnel should work on or around SRS components. Extreme
care must be used when servicing the SRS to avoid injury to the mechanic (by
inadvertent deployment of the air bag) or vehicle operator (by rendering the
SRS inoperative).
The diagnosis unit monitors the SRS system and stores data concerning any detected faults in the system. When the ignition key is in the ON or the START position, the SRS warning light should illuminate for about 7 seconds and then turn off. That indicates that the SRS system is in operational order. If the SRS warning light does any of the following, immediate inspection by an authorized dealer is needed:
If a vehicle's SRS warning light is in any of these three conditions when brought in for inspection, the SRS system must be inspected, diagnosed and serviced by a qualified automotive mechanic.