| Subject: Takata NADI Airbag Inflators |
Summary: In a part 573 defect information report (dir) dated december 3, 2019, takata (tk global llc) notified nhtsa of a safety-related defect in certain non-azide driver air bag inflators (nadi), produced between may 1, 1995 and august 31, 1999, which lead to nhtsa safety recall 19e080.according to takata, nadi inflators produced during this period have the potential to experience moisture ingress due to a defect with the foil seal applied (for hermiticity purposes) at the exit orifices of the inflator housing.nadi inflators do not contain phase stabilized ammonium nitrate (psan) propellant. when deployed, the presence of elevated moisture in the inflator can result in slow deployment, which could lead to insufficient occupant protection provided by the air bag.in the event of propellant degradation, abnormal propellant combustion creating excessive internal pressure.high internal pressure could result in the body of the inflator rupturing, potentially injuring or killing the driver.takata did not provide details on the affected makes, models and model years of vehicles that may have been manufactured with the defective inflators and sold in the us, however the dir named five automobile manufacturers that the defective inflators were sold to, including audi (vw), bmw, honda, mitsubishi and toyota.based on the dates of inflator production, it's likely all affected vehicles would have been produced as model year 1995 through 2000 vehicles.on november 26, 2019, bmw filed three dirs announcing nhtsa safety recalls 19v851, 19v852 and 19v853.the dirs stated that bmw had determined takata produced nadi inflators manufactured before march 15, 1999 were defective due to a tape seal concern. bmw also discussed field incidents that occurred in foreign markets as part of the company's rationale for reaching the defect determination.one of bmw's recalls was intended to address vehicles originally manufactured with known defective inflators, another was to address a distinct population of vehicles manufactured with inflators believed to be at higher risk (bmw issued a do not drive recommendation for this population), and the third was issued to address vehicles originally manufactured with inflators not deemed to be defective, but they may have subsequently had a defective inflator installed as part of a service repair procedure.the bmw recalls involved certain model year 1999 to 2000 3-series vehicles.the purpose of the eq is: 1) to obtain information from the five companies named in takata's dir to establish the specific makes, models and model years that were produced with defective takata driver inflators, 2) to ensure that, if they are not already, all vehicles manufactured with defective inflators are recalled on a timely basis, and 3) to ensure that any vehicle which could have had a defective inflator installed in conjunction with a service repair procedure is inspected to ensure it does not contain a defective inflator.
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