Table 1 shows three common air bag related problems of the 1997 Ford E-350.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Side/window Air Bag problems | |
| Air Bag problems | |
| Air Bag Light On problems |
My vehicle had been parked for about three or four weeks and I went to start it up to run the engine and charge the batteries as I did not plan to use it for another few weeks. When I turned the key the driver side airbag deployed and hit me hard. Also the passenger side seat belt buckle pretensioner fired off breaking the housing. The vehicle was stationary before, during, and after the incident. There has never been an accident and I can see no damage to the outside at all. I have contacted Ford and they will not assign a case number until it is inspected and checked by a Ford dealer. The closest Ford dealer that said they were capable of doing this is booked up and can not look at it for two weeks and they did make an appointment for 10/25/17. The dealership is about 35 miles and I will have to drive it there with the airbag hanging out of the steering wheel. I am so thankful this happened while parked in storage and not on the highway as I the result may have been fatal to my self and/or others. My injuries are some bruising, headaches, and a sore neck. The miles I entered are approximate, I will verify the exact number later.
This year both the airbags in my 1997 Ford e350 van have spontaneously deployed on two separate occasions--each occurring while the van was in 'park'. On 1/31/18 the driver's bag deployed when the van was warming up in a parking lot. My adult daughter started the van, plugged her phone into the top car adapter, and about a minute later (the van was still parked) there was a big 'boom' from under her seat and her seatbelt tightened. With the seatbelt still on, she leaned to her right to see what was causing the smoke from under her seat when suddenly the driver's steering wheel airbag deployed. Thankfully she was spared any injury. She had the van towed to a Ford dealership, but they could not diagnose the root of the problem so I did not have them do any work on it [they wanted to replace the airbag and a few other things which I felt was a 'band-aid' solution since they admitted they were guessing]. We drove the car home. On 4/13/18 my adult daughter was sitting in the first bench row in the van to have a quiet place to talk on the phone. After a while on the phone, she plugged her phone into the same charger and less than a minute later the passenger airbag exploded. This occurred in my driveway when there was no key in the ignition and no one was sitting in either front seat! again, my daughter escaped injury, but now the van will not even start. At this point, my local Ford dealership (a different one) and my personal repair shop are refusing to touch the van because of potential liability regarding this kind of malfunction. My insurance can't help because the van was not in an accident when the airbags deployed and "electrical and mechanical malfunctions are excluded from comprehensive coverage. " Ford customer care service has told me repeatedly that they don't have a protocol for this and there is nothing they can do to help me.
Air bag light came on and brake light came on.