Mazda has issued a second recall for about 12,700 B-Series trucks from model years 2004 through 2006 because technicians may have replaced their airbag inflators incorrectly.
The recall is the latest twist in the ongoing Takata airbag affair — history’s largest automotive recall.
Airbag inflators are tiny metal capsules filled with chemicals that combine to create a rapidly inflating gas when triggered by an accident. The gas squirts out of a nozzle, inflating the folded airbag almost instantly. But some inflators manufactured by the now-defunct Takata company could explode instead, sending hot metal fragments like shrapnel into a car’s cabin.
Automakers recalled more than 67 million vehicles sold under dozens of brands to replace the inflators with safer models. But Mazda now says technicians may have performed the procedure wrong for the passenger side front airbag in some trucks. Those replacement inflators may not function in an accident, the company says.
Mazda says it is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the problem.
Dealers will inspect the inflators and reinstall them if needed.
Automakers recall many cars to fix safety defects, sometimes more than once. They try to notify every owner to ask them to bring the vehicle in for repair, but they rarely reach them all. Millions of vehicles on American roads need free recall repairs. To find out if your car is one of them, check the easy VIN tool at our recall center.
