Functioning air bags are crucial to your vehicle’s safety system. The NHTSA estimates that as of 2017, over 50,000 lives have been saved by frontal air bags. But did you know that once they deploy, these and their connected components will need to be replaced?
How Much Does It Cost to Replace Air Bags?
It generally costs around $1,500 to $6,000 replace air bags, depending on the severity of the crash. The price may seem steep, but it makes sense considering these are single-use components. It’s also common to replace other components connected to your air bags.
Components That Need Replacement Along With Air Bags
The components that may need to be replaced when installing new air bags include your impact sensor, air bag control module, and clockspring.
Let’s take a closer look at what these parts are for and how much they cost to replace.
Impact Sensor
Some vehicles have their air bag impact sensors located behind the front bumpers and in the vertical supports within the A, B, and C pillars. These sensors detect crashes and send signals to the air bag control module to deploy the air bags. Others have a single impact sensor inside the airbag electronic control module. It depends on how many airbags the vehicle has and how they’re configured.
During severe crashes, one or more of these sensors could get damaged. Those that aren’t physically damaged reset automatically.
A new impact sensor may cost you somewhere around $210 on parts alone. Labor costs may set you back by another $100.
Air Bag Control Module
The air bag control module, also known as an electric crash unit, controls the bag’s deployment, and on newer vehicles, the module may include crash data storage, and information exchange with the engine controller via vehicle networks. A malfunctioning module may not deploy the air bags during collisions or it might deploy when there is no collision.
You can usually find the air bag module in the center of the vehicle—under the radio or behind the steering wheel. But don’t assume you’ll immediately recognize it, because today’s vehicles have all manner of modules of all sizes all over the place.
Pro Tips are nuggets of information direct from ASE-certified automobile technicians working with CarParts.com, which may include unique, personal insights based on their years of experience working in the automotive industry. These can help you make more informed decisions about your car.
Pro Tip: On some platforms, after the airbag module has deployed bags, it will need to be reset in order to clear the code it has stored while deploying the bags. Sometimes a scan tool must be used to reset the module (disconnecting the battery won’t do it), and on others, there are simpler procedures. The module usually isn’t damaged unless it has physically been impacted by something.
The average price of a new air bag control module hovers around $600 to $700 for parts and another $110 to 140 for labor. Prices may vary depending on the standard rates, taxes, and fees in your location.
Clockspring
The air bag clockspring is an assembly with a spirally wound flat ribbon that allows you to turn the steering wheel while maintaining a constant electrical connection to the air bag, horn, and other electrical steering wheel-mounted control.
Note: If the steering column is disconnected from the steering gear, the steering should be in the center and locked. If the steering wheel (and clockspring) are at one end or another of clockspring travel, and the steering rack is centered, the clockspring will be destroyed the first time the steering wheel is turned from stop to stop.
The clockspring also transmits signals from the steering wheel to the computer to allow the air bag to deploy. It’s located between the steering wheel and steering column, which means you’ll likely need to replace the clockspring once the air bags are deployed.
The average cost of a clockspring replacement is around $440, parts and labor included.
Air Bags
Lastly, the air bags themselves need replacement to ensure that the safety system functions properly. It’s best to seek the help of a qualified technician to ensure that parts are correctly installed and working.
Replacing the air bags typically costs around $750 in total. You’ll have to pay $500 for the replacement part and another $250 for labor. Labor costs may seem expensive, but the job requires time and advanced skills.
How Air Bags Are Replaced
It’s not recommended for amateurs to replace the air bags themselves since these devices are crucial for road safety. One mishap in the process could cause the bags to malfunction and fail to deploy during the appropriate time.
Caution: Any time work is done on the airbag system, the battery should be disconnected and you should wait ten minutes before doing any work on the airbag system, because the capacitors in the airbag module may still deploy the bag.
If you want to know how a mechanic performs an air bag replacement, here’s what the process usually entails:
- Step 1: The car battery is disconnected to prevent other air bags from accidentally deploying.
- Step 2: The air bag is removed (driver, passenger, curtain, seat, wherever the airbag is located).
- Step 3: The old air bag is unplugged from the wiring harness being removed.
- Step 4: Air bags located in other areas of the vehicle may need replacement because not all trim panels survive deployment. This involves replacing the side panels, dash panels, and console/roof panels.
- Step 5: After placing the new air bags, the technician will reset the air bag control module and replace the crash sensors destroyed in the collision.
- Step 6: Lastly, the battery is reconnected, the airbag light is monitored, the codes are cleared from the module, etc. If the horn or other steering wheel buttons don’t work or a code is stored for the driver airbag circuit, the clockspring may need replacing.
Caution: Any time work is done on the airbag system, the battery should be disconnected and you should wait ten minutes before doing any work on the airbag system, because the capacitors in the airbag module may still deploy the bag.
– Richard McCuistian, ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician
How Long Does It Take to Replace Air Bags?
On average, it only takes one to two hours for an experienced mechanic to replace an air bag. The process may take longer depending on the severity of the damage, vehicle model, and air bag type.
Pro Tips are nuggets of information direct from ASE-certified automobile technicians working with CarParts.com, which may include unique, personal insights based on their years of experience working in the automotive industry. These can help you make more informed decisions about your car.
Pro Tip: Some airbags are part of the steering wheel so that the entire wheel must be replaced, but most can be disengaged using special procedures the mechanic can look up in the service info.
Do Air Bags Expire?
Modern vehicles have air bags that last as long as the car’s life span. Air bags don’t expire on newer cars, meaning you won’t need to replace them as long as they don’t deploy.
The opposite is true for older models. Some manufacturers require owners to change the air bags in older vehicles as part of their routine maintenance. This usually applies to models manufactured before the 90s. That being said, almost no vehicle before the 1990s had airbags, and people with vehicles that old don’t typically worry much about the airbags, anyway.
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