Last night I was caught by the storms in Brisbane. Parked in a dry street and came back to find my 380 Series 1 sitting in water just over the axles. Drove away alright, with about three inches of water sloshing round my feet. About 500 metres down the road the driver and front passenger airbags exploded, all the seat belts locked and the horn sounded for about ten minutes. When things quietened down I realised I could drive home. The car seemed to perform at its usual high standard, no problems at all, but now I am wondering what is involved when it comes to repacking or replacing the airbags and unlocking the seat belts. I am also curious about what triggered the airbags and horn - there was certainly no sudden impact, just normal driving. Is this likely to happen again? Grateful for any suggestions.

I wouldn't know what would have caused the deployment, presumably an electrical fault, or sufficient force put on one of the sensors by water. You'll need to replace both airbags and seat belts though (sounds like the pretensioners went off), which will be far from cheap. I daresay it's worth making an insurance claim over if you can. Someone with better knowledge may be able to give you a rough $ figure.

Probably got water in the front or side collision detectors.
Contact your insurance company.

"about three inches of water sloshing round my feet"
immediate thought would be compromised integrity of electrical circuit with the seat belt pretensioners. Loom would be under seats and with that amount of water sloshing around would be sufficient to provide false signals to the SRS ECU which in turn controls SRS and the rest is history.....just my thoughts.
SRS ECU may have even copped a direct hit with water being situated on the tunnel forward of the floor console..

380 SRS side impact detectors are located at the base of the front seat belt anchorage points, IIRC - they would have been totally flooded.

. . . . I'm fairly sure the OP realises by now starting the car while the car was water flooded wasn't a smart thing to do - perhaps disconnecting the battery and organising a tow truck would have been better. Methinks insurance companies will have busy phone lines soon . . .

Car needs drying out, seat belts and air bags replaced, all sensors in the SRS checked by a dealer and possibly bits replaced, dealer documentation to show all systems are working ok. Not cheap. Insurance companies tend to write off a water damaged car due to the cost and work involved in getting it back to normal.
I was reading a Vicroads guide on what is needed to get a hail/fresh water/salt water damaged car back on the road once it's on the written off vehicle register. Scary stuff.

when we do airbag crash repairs for the panel beaters, the insurance companies demand that the airbag ecu, deployed airbags, sensors associated with said airbags, clockspring if drivers bag went off, and seatbelt pretensioners all be replaced. in the case of a water damaged vehicle then everything under the tide line/ associated with the bags going off will probably need replacing. sadly sounds like a write off.

Thanks for the replies. Yes, in retrospect a tow truck would have been a good idea, but my phone (now also lost) was on the floor of the car and the rain was pelting down with water rising. First thought was to just get out of there quick. I realise I'm up for a few dollars, and not insured so it's up to me. Certainly not ready to write the car off as it has been a great performer in all other respects. Is this a matter for Mitsubishi or can regular mechanics (with a bit of experience) deal with it?

Thanks for the replies. Yes, in retrospect a tow truck would have been a good idea, but my phone (now also lost) was on the floor of the car and the rain was pelting down with water rising. First thought was to just get out of there quick. I realise I'm up for a few dollars, and not insured so it's up to me. Certainly not ready to write the car off as it has been a great performer in all other respects. Is this a matter for Mitsubishi or can regular mechanics (with a bit of experience) deal with it?

Take it to and auto electrician, and expect to pay ~$6000 with all new parts and labour.... unless they are willing to go second hand

First step is to dry the car out. Complete interior strip down probably best. If you remove the seats and carpet you may find rubber plugs in the floor to allow water to drain out. I hope you got somewhere protected from the elements where you can leave the car with the doors, bonnet and boot open.

Unhook the battery, undo all electrical connections inside and outside the car below the flood line and dry out the connections.
You may be able to find a knowledgeable wrecker who can supply second hand belts, bags, sensors.

Big job. The more you can do, the cheaper, still going to cost though.

Good luck.

Better off getting all the parts from MADMAGNA/MITFIX

Cheers

Or buying a wreck yourself.

Or buying a wreck yourself.

Good luck finding one that hasn't popped the doggy bags or the pyrotechnics in the seat belts . . . . . . .

I would have thought mitsbits would be better with the OP in QLD?

Don't waste your money on it. Insurance will write it off and pay you out, then just buy back the wreck for cheap. Done.

Don't waste your money on it. Insurance will write it off and pay you out, then just buy back the wreck for cheap. Done.


"...I realise I'm up for a few dollars, and not insured so it's up to me."

Its not insured.

Thanks again for all the helpful suggestions. I am in the process of drying the car out, well under cover with a couple of fans. Battery is disconnected but removing seats and carpets is a bit beyond me at this stage, though I realise it may come to that. Eventually though I will have to drive it to have the extent of the damage determined, airbags repaired and so on. Is it possible to simply connect an analyser or other device, as my mechanic does during regular services, to determine what components need replacing, or is an actual physical inspection needed?

I'm pretty sure its illegal to drive with deployed airbags, and it will need to be towed. A physical inspection will be required to ascertain the extent of the damage, as DTC codes can only diagnose so much. An assessment by a smash repairer will be best and safest option (they may also take it to a dealer/auto elec as part of their assessment)

A Mitsubishi dealer would hook up analyser to check the SRS system after the deployed components have been replaced ie: new airbags, clockspring (is usually heat affected when steering wheel airbag deploys), SRS trigger module, new pretensioner type seatbelt assemblies(2 for the front seats not sure about back seats) etc. I re registered a flood damaged TJ wagon a few years ago which had about 20cm of water go through it (no airbags deployed) & had the SRS light illuminated indicating a fault. After going through & checking the wiring etc I took it to Mitsubishi who changed out the SRS trigger module then provided a printout to certify the SRS system had been checked & was in working order.

Cheers

Okies

The pass bag will have damaged the dash so aside from some looms that may be able to be cleaned you are up for

Drivers and Pass bags (dont need clock spring due to design)
Dash if yours has been damaged
Side impact sensors, fronts are water proof so will not be an issue
Seatbelts
SRS control unit

I think you did not mention seat bags going off so assuming you dont need these

I have supplied kits like this a few times to both local customers however I can only send the SRS box interstate as it is illegal to ship an explosive device thus srs bags can not be legally shipped (I know many do but I will not risk this myself)

best bet, do what you are doing thus far, take out as much as you can, dry it out as best you can and then you really need to start to determine what parts got wet, I would say 100% that the SRS box did get wet which may have been the cause of this to start with

All suggestions so far have been so helpful that my faith in the brotherhood of 380 VRX owners has been confirmed. I always gave you guys a nod and a wink at the lights, but never truly realising that I was part of a community that would so willingly help another in trouble. To have had so many practical responses in less than 24 hours is a tribute to you all.
Tomorrow, with an experienced auto-electric friend, I will take out the seats, lift the carpets and try to determine exactly what electronic parts need replacing. If we have a fine day in Brisbane all will be placed in the sun.
The idea of 'write off' is, at this stage at least, out of the question. Everything above the 'high-tide' mark remains as perfect as the day the idea of the VRX was born. At regular services my mechanic is amazed that there is not a spot of oil anywhere underbody. Not a leak in sight, which can work both ways when the tide rises.
Even with a cabin full of explosive dust, airbags and water I was able to get another ten kilometres home, zooming amongst traffic (hoping to slosh out the water) in regular VRX style. Suggestions about possible sources of parts will be very welcome.
Thanks again to all.

If all else fails.. There IS a 380 at Manheim in Eagle Farm, stolen recovered.. Airbags havent been deployed, the exterior has just been tagged with spray cans.

Food for thought..

SuFz :ninja:

I have now removed the seats and carpet and all are drying out. It looks as if the water level was not as high as first thought and the airbags were triggered by a surge of water forward when I was driving, which hit the SRS ECU. Side impact sensors were high and dry. It looks like I am up for a new SRS ECU, the complete dash as a result of the passenger airbag deploying and the parts of the steering wheel where the driver airbag deployed. I guess it's a matter of ringing round wreckers, but does anyone have other ideas about these parts, particularly in the Brisbane region? Were all 380 series cars the same with respect to dashboards and ECU units? In other words do I have to specify my Series 1 when making enquiries?
Also, the driver and passenger seatbelts are still locked. Rear ones are okay. Can these be unlocked/repaired or do I need new ones? Am I correct in assuming they are still locked as a result of the same signal that triggered the airbags?
Finally, what are the technical implications of simply ignoring the airbag problem temporarily? I was still able to drive home after the initial incident. Are correctly install airbags linked to the SRS ECU, in turn ultimately talking to a central "brain", which may get upset in the same way Windows computers crash with "cannot find file" type messages?

Seat belts have had the pre tensioners go off, they need to be replaced

SRS ECU can be used off any model 380

Dash will be the hardest part, is quite a job in the 380 to remove and refit, can be done and we have them here only killer would be cost of freight.

The wheel, generally in these the only thing needs is the bag as the clock spring does not get melted when the bag fires like they do in the Magna.

Gone suggested a complete car at Manheim, you can bid on this perhaps, get what you need and not sure if Cracka would be interested however I have on occasion purchased a car with a customer where they are needing certain parts and then when they have what they need I get the rest. Often works out well if both parties can agree on who is getting or needing what, other alternative is get the wreck, get what you need and try and sell the rest of the car of as a parts car on fleabay or similar. May be the cheapest way to go and you have then got any parts you may not have thought you needed but discover later on you need.

Lumpini..

I'm keen on the motor, if you want to talk about buying the thing, happy to entertain the idea of buying this car.

SuFz :ninja:

There you go, Gone wants the motor, you need the interior, Gone has been around for years and has never done anything wrong by any member so you could not find a better person to go into partnership with in so far as wrecking a car goes. You may be able to get some of the local members together to assist as well, given this you may be back on the road sooner than you thought

With your initial question, even if you do drive around with no bags in the car, the seat belts will need to be done regardless, you "could" install them and a new drivers bag and leave them unplugged, I would not recommend it or suggest it due to legality reasons of course however in so far as the car running there would be little impact. Just dont get caught driving the car with deployed bags as you will have a hell of a time trying to remove a defect like that lol

There you go, Gone wants the motor, you need the interior, Gone has been around for years and has never done anything wrong by any member so you could not find a better person to go into partnership with in so far as wrecking a car goes. You may be able to get some of the local members together to assist as well, given this you may be back on the road sooner than you thought
...

Such a nice thing to say Malcolm, thank you!

Lumpini.. Send me a PM if you're interested.

SuFz :ninja:

Three weeks after the disaster here's an update, and a couple of added questions for those who offered so many helpful suggestions.

The interior has been stripped bare, all carpets and seats laid out and dried in Brisbane's current heat, and returned to their rightful place. I found a wreck with intact front driver and passenger seatbelts as well as dashboard and steering-wheel airbags, and those are now installed. I reduced the interior to a shell, cleaned the lot including electrical connections and with the parts from the wrecker all polished it is like nothing ever happened - apart from a couple of points.

First, when the airbags initially deployed on that fateful night the horn also sounded for ten minutes or so while I fumbled around coming to terms with the problem. It eventually fell silent by itself and after stuffing the silly airbags away I drove off. The horn did not work again and I found today that the fuse for the horn (a 15-amp in socket 8 under the bonnet) has blown. Looking for the horn itself, no mean feat, I could only find one, while the circuit diagram indicates there are two, one called high and the other low. My question: How many horns are installed on the VRX series 1 and if there are two why can I only hear or find one?

Second, the SRS light remains persistently on. Local auto electricians say that only Mitsubishi has the codes or software or passwords or magic potion or whatever is needed to turn this light off. Secret Mitsubishi Business for sure, but my local Mitsu service manager (where I bought the car) could not contain his indifference when I explained the problem both initially three weeks ago and yesterday after all the repairs were done. I'm booked in down there next week for an hourly rate that looks bigger than their phone number, and by all accounts I must sit in a sterile waiting room suffering a loud commercial television and cannot even venture into the workshop and put a stopwatch on what they do. My question: Given that with the help of this forum, friends, research and wreckers I have got out of the experience for less than $1000 so far, what can Mitsubishi do that I cannot do myself, for example finding and cutting the cable that supplies voltage to that irritating light?

You can't cut wires

Try other places, there are many scan tools which can reset srs codes. Horns, there are 2 one under each headlight

Oh and with mits, be specific, tell them to clear codes only, nothing else. If they try more don't pay

im not sure if mitsubishi are in this camp but most modern airbag systems will permanently set the SRS light after a deployment, as the manufacturers don't believe it is a good idea to reuse the module.

Yep, the codes just need to be reset (as long as all detonated parts have been replaced).
All SRS codes remain active until physically reset.

Three weeks after the disaster here's an update, and a couple of added questions for those who offered so many helpful suggestions.

The interior has been stripped bare, all carpets and seats laid out and dried in Brisbane's current heat, and returned to their rightful place. I found a wreck with intact front driver and passenger seatbelts as well as dashboard and steering-wheel airbags, and those are now installed. I reduced the interior to a shell, cleaned the lot including electrical connections and with the parts from the wrecker all polished it is like nothing ever happened - apart from a couple of points.

First, when the airbags initially deployed on that fateful night the horn also sounded for ten minutes or so while I fumbled around coming to terms with the problem. It eventually fell silent by itself and after stuffing the silly airbags away I drove off. The horn did not work again and I found today that the fuse for the horn (a 15-amp in socket 8 under the bonnet) has blown. Looking for the horn itself, no mean feat, I could only find one, while the circuit diagram indicates there are two, one called high and the other low. My question: How many horns are installed on the VRX series 1 and if there are two why can I only hear or find one?

Second, the SRS light remains persistently on. Local auto electricians say that only Mitsubishi has the codes or software or passwords or magic potion or whatever is needed to turn this light off. Secret Mitsubishi Business for sure, but my local Mitsu service manager (where I bought the car) could not contain his indifference when I explained the problem both initially three weeks ago and yesterday after all the repairs were done. I'm booked in down there next week for an hourly rate that looks bigger than their phone number, and by all accounts I must sit in a sterile waiting room suffering a loud commercial television and cannot even venture into the workshop and put a stopwatch on what they do. My question: Given that with the help of this forum, friends, research and wreckers I have got out of the experience for less than $1000 so far, what can Mitsubishi do that I cannot do myself, for example finding and cutting the cable that supplies voltage to that irritating light?

This is on the 3rd gens and 2nd gens so 380s may be different but I thought the alarm had its own horn (in the engine bay somewhere). The low and high ones are for when you press the horn pad. These should be in front of the radiator some where.