Exploding Seat Belt

[sc4808]

A friend of mine who has a 2008 3500 DD ECLB was sitting in his truck yesterday when a loud bang or explosion happened in his truck, he said it sounded like someone shot a gun inside the truck. Turns out it was the seatbelt retractor on the drivers side, I had never heard of this and did a google search and found the incident below.

 

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

 

 

CHEVROLET SILVERADO 2007 Safety Review #10289818

 

CHEVROLET SILVERADO 2007 car safety problem was reported on Oct 25, 2009.CHEVROLET SILVERADO 2007, manufactured by GENERAL MOTORS CORP. had a problem with SEAT BELTS . I WAS DRIVING MY 2007 CHEVROLET SILVERADO ON A HIGHWAY AT APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH DURING A LIGHT RAIN SHOWER WHEN THERE WAS A LOUD BANG SOUND SIMILAR TO A SHOT GUN BLAST AND THE SEATBELT PRE-TENSIONERS PULLED MYSELF AND MY PASSENGER HARD BACK INTO THE SEATS. THE HAZARD LIGHTS BEGAN FLASHING IMMEDIATELY AND THE AIRBAG SENSOR LIGHT CAME ON. CONTACTED ONSTAR TO RUN A DIAGNOSTIC AND THEY SHOWED THERE WAS A COLLISION DETECTED WHICH FIRED THE SEAT BELT PRE-TENSIONERS. THERE WAS NO COLLISION, NOT EVEN A BUMP IN THE ROAD THAT CAUSED THIS. THIS WAS A VERY STARTLING EVENT THAT EASILY COULD HAVE CAUSED A PANIC REACTION AND AN ACCIDENT. THERE WAS A SMELL OF SPENT GUNPOWDER IN THE CABIN OF THE VEHICLE AFTER THIS OCCURRED. WE UNLATCHED OUR SEAT BELTS TO RELIEVE THE PRESSURE AGAINST OUR BODIES AND NOTICED THEY WOULD NOT RETRACT OR PULL BACK OUT. THEY ARE NOW USELESS. THE INJURY WAS A BRUISE TO MY LEFT COLLAR BONE WHERE THE SEATBELT RETRACTED. THE VEHICLE IS NOW NOT SAFE TO DRIVE SINCE THE SEAT BELTS DON'T WORK AND FOR FEAR OF THE AIRBAGS DEPLOYING. *TR.1 person(s) were injured. Mileage was 109129 miles. CHEVROLET SILVERADO 2007 problem was reported in PAOLA, KS. Vehicle was not using ANTI-LOCK BRAKES. Vehicle was not using Cruise Control. VEHICLE SPEED: 65 mph.

[Silverado4x4]

A friend of mine who has a 2008 3500 DD ECLB was sitting in his truck yesterday when a loud bang or explosion happened in his truck, he said it sounded like someone shot a gun inside the truck. Turns out it was the seatbelt retractor on the drivers side, I had never heard of this and did a google search and found the incident below.

 

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

 

 

CHEVROLET SILVERADO 2007 Safety Review #10289818

 

CHEVROLET SILVERADO 2007 car safety problem was reported on Oct 25, 2009.CHEVROLET SILVERADO 2007, manufactured by GENERAL MOTORS CORP. had a problem with SEAT BELTS . I WAS DRIVING MY 2007 CHEVROLET SILVERADO ON A HIGHWAY AT APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH DURING A LIGHT RAIN SHOWER WHEN THERE WAS A LOUD BANG SOUND SIMILAR TO A SHOT GUN BLAST AND THE SEATBELT PRE-TENSIONERS PULLED MYSELF AND MY PASSENGER HARD BACK INTO THE SEATS. THE HAZARD LIGHTS BEGAN FLASHING IMMEDIATELY AND THE AIRBAG SENSOR LIGHT CAME ON. CONTACTED ONSTAR TO RUN A DIAGNOSTIC AND THEY SHOWED THERE WAS A COLLISION DETECTED WHICH FIRED THE SEAT BELT PRE-TENSIONERS. THERE WAS NO COLLISION, NOT EVEN A BUMP IN THE ROAD THAT CAUSED THIS. THIS WAS A VERY STARTLING EVENT THAT EASILY COULD HAVE CAUSED A PANIC REACTION AND AN ACCIDENT. THERE WAS A SMELL OF SPENT GUNPOWDER IN THE CABIN OF THE VEHICLE AFTER THIS OCCURRED. WE UNLATCHED OUR SEAT BELTS TO RELIEVE THE PRESSURE AGAINST OUR BODIES AND NOTICED THEY WOULD NOT RETRACT OR PULL BACK OUT. THEY ARE NOW USELESS. THE INJURY WAS A BRUISE TO MY LEFT COLLAR BONE WHERE THE SEATBELT RETRACTED. THE VEHICLE IS NOW NOT SAFE TO DRIVE SINCE THE SEAT BELTS DON'T WORK AND FOR FEAR OF THE AIRBAGS DEPLOYING. *TR.1 person(s) were injured. Mileage was 109129 miles. CHEVROLET SILVERADO 2007 problem was reported in PAOLA, KS. Vehicle was not using ANTI-LOCK BRAKES. Vehicle was not using Cruise Control. VEHICLE SPEED: 65 mph.

 

I find it total BS on that.

[montyss]

No its true.... most of the newer cars and trucks have a explosive on the set belt to retract it in something like 4" in a accident . Just before the air bags deploy the set belt charge goes off to hold you back in the seat then the bags blow....

video explanation that shows it

[8.1HD/ALLISON]

Very true on the pretensioner part. My question is if the vehicle showed a collision and fired the pretensioners, why did it not fire the air bags also? Also on a side note I have seen a vehicle that got hit by lightning while the person was driving down the road and blew the passenger side air bag. Maybe lightning had somthing to do with it?

[redsled2007]

If, what you described is the pretensioners firing, then he needs to file a report with the National Transportation Board. This is most defiantly a safety issue. More then likely after they fire they have to be replaced (like air bags) and his won't function as they should in an accident and he could be seriously injured! He needs to get to a dealer ASAP!!

[DwayneJ]

Not all accidents will trigger an airbag but all but the most minor impacts you do want the seatbelts to work so maybe the seatbelts intentionally trigger much easier than the airbag.

[dataspng]

I was told that the new airbag / safety systems can trigger for multiple reasons, not just impact. Weight in the seat(s), tension on the seat belts, sudden deceleration and forward / side impacts. Not an expert and maybe someone can jump in that knows the system better.

 

It was explained to me by the dealer after a panic slam on the brakes to a full stop and having a deer hit us (ran into the passenger side of the truck), it triggered the air bag warning lights (above the mirror and on the dash) and pulled the seat belts tight, it did not fire any airbags or pre-tensioners (I hope? I did not know we had them until this thread, but I don’t remember any loud bangs, but it was kinda hard to hear at that moment with the wife screaming DEER!!!!). The dealer ran a check on it, didn’t find anything wrong with the system and said it the panic stop combined with the impact on the side was enough to "arm the system", which I translated as we almost fired the side airbag.

[sc4808]

Let me clarify, the report on the bottom of my post was one that I found doing a Google search after my friend had his incident, if you read that report, that guy was driving down the road at 65 when his fired and on his both seatbelt tensioners fired.

 

What happened on my friends truck is a little different, he was sitting in his truck with it in Park in his driveway and the engine running. The truck was still warming up (engine idleing) when the seatbelt tensioner fired on the driver side only, he said it sounded like a gunshot and even smelled like gun powder, he jumped out of the truck thinking that someone had shot at him, once he realized that he had not been shot at he went back and looked inside the truck and smoke was coming from the driver side seatbelt tensioner. I saw him and the truck about an hour after it happened and the seatbelt seemed fine other than some melted plastic.

 

He has made an appointment with the dealer to get it checked as it is still under waranty, the truck only has 40K miles on it.

 

The truck has had many trips to the dealer for waranty work since new, most for electrical problems, I am afraid that he may have gotten a little bit of a lemon, I did not think about snapping a couple of pictures today but if I can catch him tomorrow before he takes it to the dealer I will snap a few.

[kdixer]

Let me clarify, the report on the bottom of my post was one that I found doing a Google search after my friend had his incident, if you read that report, that guy was driving down the road at 65 when his fired and on his both seatbelt tensioners fired.

 

What happened on my friends truck is a little different, he was sitting in his truck with it in Park in his driveway and the engine running. The truck was still warming up (engine idleing) when the seatbelt tensioner fired on the driver side only, he said it sounded like a gunshot and even smelled like gun powder, he jumped out of the truck thinking that someone had shot at him, once he realized that he had not been shot at he went back and looked inside the truck and smoke was coming from the driver side seatbelt tensioner. I saw him and the truck about an hour after it happened and the seatbelt seemed fine other than some melted plastic.

 

He has made an appointment with the dealer to get it checked as it is still under waranty, the truck only has 40K miles on it.

 

The truck has had many trips to the dealer for waranty work since new, most for electrical problems, I am afraid that he may have gotten a little bit of a lemon, I did not think about snapping a couple of pictures today but if I can catch him tomorrow before he takes it to the dealer I will snap a few.

 

Yup, could be the problem....

[Mazer18]

No way.....

 

Two days ago coming home from class I was sitting in traffic at a red light. Light turned green and we started to move an out of nowhere BANG! Sounded just like my one of my .45's but it sounded like it was outside of the truck. I looked around and expected traffic to stop but everybody else kept moving like they never heard it. Then came the burning smell.

 

I had thought maybe a vehicle in front of me had a loud exhaust kickback or something but this really make me wonder now because the description in the first post sounds almost identical to my experience.

 

The only differences would be that I didn't have any seat belt pretensioners tightening, hazard lights, or OnStar. I'll try to visually inspect it in a little while here.

 

Do you think I should look at having a dealer trip scheduled?

[sc4808]

No way.....

 

Two days ago coming home from class I was sitting in traffic at a red light. Light turned green and we started to move an out of nowhere BANG! Sounded just like my one of my .45's but it sounded like it was outside of the truck. I looked around and expected traffic to stop but everybody else kept moving like they never heard it. Then came the burning smell.

 

I had thought maybe a vehicle in front of me had a loud exhaust kickback or something but this really make me wonder now because the description in the first post sounds almost identical to my experience.

 

The only differences would be that I didn't have any seat belt pretensioners tightening, hazard lights, or OnStar. I'll try to visually inspect it in a little while here.

 

Do you think I should look at having a dealer trip scheduled?

 

Sounds like you may have had the same issue. I would get it checked.

[dataspng]

Let me clarify, the report on the bottom of my post was one that I found doing a Google search after my friend had his incident, if you read that report, that guy was driving down the road at 65 when his fired and on his both seatbelt tensioners fired.

 

What happened on my friends truck is a little different, he was sitting in his truck with it in Park in his driveway and the engine running. The truck was still warming up (engine idleing) when the seatbelt tensioner fired on the driver side only, he said it sounded like a gunshot and even smelled like gun powder, he jumped out of the truck thinking that someone had shot at him, once he realized that he had not been shot at he went back and looked inside the truck and smoke was coming from the driver side seatbelt tensioner. I saw him and the truck about an hour after it happened and the seatbelt seemed fine other than some melted plastic.

 

He has made an appointment with the dealer to get it checked as it is still under waranty, the truck only has 40K miles on it.

 

The truck has had many trips to the dealer for waranty work since new, most for electrical problems, I am afraid that he may have gotten a little bit of a lemon, I did not think about snapping a couple of pictures today but if I can catch him tomorrow before he takes it to the dealer I will snap a few.

 

Yup, could be the problem....

 

 

I agree with Kdixer - you would think the odds would be very high that a electrical problem tripped the sensors in what was explained to me as a complex chain of events GM looks for to decide a collision has occured and all while sitting in the driveway, but the odds for the lottery are high and people keep winning that every week.

 

The part of this thread that worries me in your situation is you cant tell the tensioner has been fired after the fact by a warning light or the belts being too tight or too loose. You would think if it renders the belts un-safe a warning light would nag you to replace them.. How would you know if buying a used truck if they have been fired etc.? Keep us posted on what he finds out.

[sc4808]

Let me clarify, the report on the bottom of my post was one that I found doing a Google search after my friend had his incident, if you read that report, that guy was driving down the road at 65 when his fired and on his both seatbelt tensioners fired.

 

What happened on my friends truck is a little different, he was sitting in his truck with it in Park in his driveway and the engine running. The truck was still warming up (engine idleing) when the seatbelt tensioner fired on the driver side only, he said it sounded like a gunshot and even smelled like gun powder, he jumped out of the truck thinking that someone had shot at him, once he realized that he had not been shot at he went back and looked inside the truck and smoke was coming from the driver side seatbelt tensioner. I saw him and the truck about an hour after it happened and the seatbelt seemed fine other than some melted plastic.

 

He has made an appointment with the dealer to get it checked as it is still under waranty, the truck only has 40K miles on it.

 

The truck has had many trips to the dealer for waranty work since new, most for electrical problems, I am afraid that he may have gotten a little bit of a lemon, I did not think about snapping a couple of pictures today but if I can catch him tomorrow before he takes it to the dealer I will snap a few.

 

Yup, could be the problem....

 

 

I agree with Kdixer - you would think the odds would be very high that a electrical problem tripped the sensors in what was explained to me as a complex chain of events GM looks for to decide a collision has occured and all while sitting in the driveway, but the odds for the lottery are high and people keep winning that every week.

 

The part of this thread that worries me in your situation is you cant tell the tensioner has been fired after the fact by a warning light or the belts being too tight or too loose. You would think if it renders the belts un-safe a warning light would nag you to replace them.. How would you know if buying a used truck if they have been fired etc.? Keep us posted on what he finds out.

 

 

I will, and yes that is my concern as well, other than a little bit if deformed plastic I could not tell anything had happened and I saw the truck no more than 2 hours after it happened. The seatbelt felt fine to me.

 

He did say that he has had an intermittant "AirBag" light in that truck for the last 6 months and it has been to the dealer to correct it twice and each time after a couple of weeks it would come back on.

[ChevyTech77]

Very true on the pretensioner part. My question is if the vehicle showed a collision and fired the pretensioners, why did it not fire the air bags also? Also on a side note I have seen a vehicle that got hit by lightning while the person was driving down the road and blew the passenger side air bag. Maybe lightning had somthing to do with it?

Pretensioners can light without an airbag deployement.

 

I would suspect a corrosion issue at the air bag module connector.

[dataspng]

Very true on the pretensioner part. My question is if the vehicle showed a collision and fired the pretensioners, why did it not fire the air bags also? Also on a side note I have seen a vehicle that got hit by lightning while the person was driving down the road and blew the passenger side air bag. Maybe lightning had somthing to do with it?

Pretensioners can light without an airbag deployement.

 

I would suspect a corrosion issue at the air bag module connector.

 

 

Thanks ChevyTech77 - Any way to tell if your pretensioner has been fired after the fact? Would that trip a service light?