Dear tedv,

Hope you're well. I can't say who made airbags used in "earlier models". The only way to be sure is to go to a salvage yard, and - if there's a 1988 740 there - access the driver's airbag, and see what label is on it. The information I provided came from an airbag used in a 1994 or 1995 model (passenger side unit, not present in pre-1994 940s).

Volvo sourced some 940 parts from Japan, e.g., Aisin-Warner transmissions, Yazaki instrument clusters, and Nippon-Denso alternators. It is, therefore, possible, that a Japanese firm supplied airbags to Volvo.

Hope this helps.

All the best for the New Year!!

Yours faithfully,

Spook

Dear Steve,

Hope you're well. Ammonium nitrate is destablized by temperature changes and exposure to moisture. The first, unavoidable, may change chemical characteristics and so gas output. The second is wholly avoidable, if the airbag's propelleant container is as air-tight as it should be.

Thus, Takata - having decided to use ammonium nitrate - needed to make propellant containers, that stayed air-tight for a couple of decades. That it seems not to have done.

Sodium azide, while somewhat more stable than is ammonium nitrate, also needs to be protected against humidity.

I suspect that Takata economized on the propellant container and its seals, much as GM economized on its ignition switches.

Brickboard posts show that the Electrolux/Autoliv airbags still work properly, 20 or more years after installation.

Hope this helps.

Happy Holidays and a Good, Healthy New Year!

Yours faithfully,

Spook