ARC AIR BAG Inflator preliminary evaluation PE15027
Air Bag Inflator Rupture. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the inflator module. Opened Jul 13, 2015, closed Aug 25, 2016 after 13 months without a recall. closed
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedThe Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has upgraded its Preliminary Evaluation (PE15-027) of ARC Automotive Inc. (ARC) air bag inflators to an Engineering Analysis. ODI opened PE15-027 in July 2015 based on two injury incidents involving a driver air bag inflator rupture. One incident involved a 2002 Chrysler Town & Country that utilized a dual-stage air bag inflator. The other involved a 2004 Kia Optima that utilized a single-stage inflator. Both driver air bag inflators were manufactured by ARC, a tier-two supplier of automotive air bag systems, at their manufacturing facility in Knoxville Tennessee. All ARC driver air bag inflators are a hybrid design that fills the air bag by releasing an inert gas mixture stored in the inflator at high pressure. The gas mixture is augmented by an ammonium nitrate based propellant. The pressurized gas mixture and propellant are contained entirely within a hermetically sealed steel housing isolated from external atmospheric conditions. During the course of PE15-027, ODI requested information from ARC about which air bag module manufacturers used the subject ARC inflators. Based on the information received from ARC, ODI requested information from the identified air bag module manufacturers about which vehicle manufacturers used modules with the subject ARC inflators. That process identified two additional affected vehicle manufacturers, General Motors and Hyundai. Based on the age of the vehicles involved in the two incidents in the U.S., ODI focused on single- and dual-stage inflators manufactured by ARC from the start of production to September 2004. It is estimated that approximately 8 million inflators, both single- and dual-stage, were manufactured for use in vehicles produced by Chrysler, GM, Kia and Hyundai for sale or lease in the United States during that time frame. In addition to identifying models using the subject ARC air bag inflator, ODI requested that the affected vehicle manufacturers supply the details for any type of complaint, field report, lawsuit, arbitration or other report involving any vehicle manufactured for sale or lease in the United States equipped with air bag modules utilizing an air bag inflator manufactured by ARC regardless of inflator type (dual vs. single) or position (i.e. driver, passenger, side, etc.). No additional field failures were reported to ODI by the vehicle manufacturers. Additionally, ODI received information from ARC regarding the design, manufacture and testing of the single- and dual-stage driver air bag inflators. In July 2016, ODI was informed by Transport Canada of a fatal incident involving a driver air bag rupture in a 2009 Hyundai Elantra. It was determined that incident inflator was manufactured by ARC and had ruptured in substantially the same manner as the two previous incidents known to ODI. The driver air bag module in the subject 2009 Hyundai Elantra utilized a single-stage inflator manufactured at ARC's facility in China. ARC confirmed that the inflator in the 2009 Hyundai Elantra was substantially the same design as the single-stage inflator in the 2004 Kia Optima and was assembled using substantially the same manufacturing process. The U.S. market model 2009 Hyundai Elantra did not use the single-stage driver air bag inflator produced by ARC in China. It is unknown at this time if any of the inflators manufactured in China were used in vehicles produced for sale or lease in the United States. Accordingly the PE is now closed and upgraded to an Engineering Analysis. Further details can be found in the EA16-003 investigative file at SaferCar.gov.
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one closed without a recall. That means NHTSA found no defect trend it chose to act on at the time, or the manufacturer addressed the condition another way (a service campaign or a bulletin, which have their own pages). A closed file can be reopened if new reports arrive.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themNHTSA filed this action against ARC Automotive, Inc. without naming a model year — an equipment or manufacturer-level query.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE15027 a recall?
No. A preliminary evaluation is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one closed without one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is PE15027 still open?
No. It closed on Aug 25, 2016 without a recall.
Which vehicles does PE15027 cover?
NHTSA filed it against ARC Automotive, Inc. without naming a model year.