When replacing your car airbags is it necessary to replace the crash sensors

There are many parts that make-up the supplemental restraint system (SRS) or airbag system. However, if you are in the process of replacing your car airbags, I want to concentrate on your car airbag sensors. DIY'ers and newbie automotive technicians often ask me whether the crash sensor must be replaced after a vehicle has been in an accident. However, before I give you my response, lets look at how airbag sensors affect the SRS system. There are many types of airbag sensors and their location varies by year, make and model. So, my general comments will be that your car airbags sensor are located where they can interpret two variables, a collision and a reduction of speed. Most importantly, both variables must be present to activate the airbags. Therefore, some impact sensors measure vibration and others measure an immediate reduction in speed, or deceleration. When both variables are detected the information is immediately relayed to the airbag module and in less than the blink of an eye the airbags deploy. So to respond to the original thesis of this article, whether or not you have to replace the airbag crash sensors after an impact, that answer is... MAYBE. It really depends on the severity of the accident. What you want to take away from this article is that impact sensors or crash sensors are reusable. In most cases they are located in areas where they are protected and therefore can be reused. So, how can you tell if they need replacing? "Key note", the airbag module or SRS diagnostic module (SDM for short), is there to detect any failures in your car airbags system. So if you're in the collision repair business and you are in the process of having to replace airbags. You only need to replace the cars airbag sensor if your scan tool detects an error codes for that sensor. So, the bottom line is, airbag impact sensor and crash sensors are reusable and your airbag module will detect whether they will need replacing or not.