Dear Tom and Ray: My 1995 Honda Prelude has warning labels that say the car’s two air bags need to be inspected after 10 years. Is this really needed?
– Seth
Ray: Well, there’s no way to really test the air bag, other than to lend the car to my brother for the weekend.
Tom: Right. Without what is called a “destructive test” (actually setting it off and seeing if it works), there’s no way to know for certain that the air-bag material and the explosive charge are still in perfect condition. But based on industry experience, we know that they’re likely to be fine for the life of the car.
Ray: Volvo, which is known for its leadership in safety, originally told its customers to have their air bags replaced after 10 years, just to be safe. But based on its real-world experience, it later changed that recommendation to 15 years, and now – with even more experience – to 20 years.
Tom: If you turn the ignition key to the “run” position (just before it cranks), you should see an “SRS” (supplemental restraint system) light appear on your dashboard. It should stay on for about six seconds, and then go off. That tells you the wires are connected and the sensors are working, and the air bag is ready to go.
Ray: If the light doesn’t come on, fails to go off or flashes while you drive, you need to see your mechanic.
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Dear Tom and Ray: I have a ’93 Honda Accord with 170,000 miles. There’s a consensus from various mechanics that the car’s motor mounts are broken, or at least in a state of disrepair. Where I can’t seem to find consensus is in how bad this is. Some mechanics have told me that it can cause irreparable harm to the motor if I keep driving like this. Other mechanics say that bad motor mounts are not a critical problem. What do you say?
– Brian
Ray: Motor mounts hold the motor in place and attach it to the frame of the car. The exterior sleeve of the motor mount is made of metal, but inside, they use rubber or sometimes, now, hydraulic fluid to “isolate” the engine and keep the engine’s vibrations from shaking everything else in the car – like your teeth.
Tom: But the majority of motor mounts are designed so that even if the rubber isolating component fails, the mounts will continue to do their most important job: keeping the engine from falling out on the road. But a bad motor mount puts additional stress on the other motor mounts.
Ray: And when the engine is allowed to move around and twist inside the engine compartment, you take the risk of shifting the geometry enough to bind up other components, like an accelerator cable, for example. That could lead to real trouble.
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