April 5, 2018 NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 18V220000

Passenger Side Front Air Bag Inflator may Explode

In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger’s frontal air bag, the inflator could explode with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.

 

NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V220

Manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.

Components AIR BAGS

Potential Number of Units Affected 17,120

 

Summary

Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is recalling certain 2004-2006 Mitsubishi Lancer vehicles that previously received a like-for-like passenger side frontal air bag inflator under recall 15V321 as interim remedy. Also recalled are 2004-2006 Lancer vehicles located in Guam or Saipan that previously received or never received a new inflator under 15V321 or 17V569. These passenger side frontal air bag inflators may be susceptible to moisture intrusion which, over time, could cause the inflator to explode in the event of an air bag deployment.

 

Remedy

MMNA will notify owners, and dealers will install a final replacement passenger side frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on April 26, 2018. Owners may contact MMNA customer service at 1-888-648-7820. MMNA’s number for this recall is SR-18-005.

 

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

 

Check if your Mitsubishi has a Recall

 

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SR−18−005

April 2018

LANCER PASSENGER SIDE FRONTAL AIR BAG INFLATOR − SAFETY RECALL CAMPAIGN

 

PURPOSE

This campaign bulletin instructs dealers to replace the passenger side frontal air bag inflator with one manufactured by a different supplier, and return the subject air bag inflator per the instructions at the end of this bulletin.

BACKGROUND

Based upon a Defect Information Report submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration by TK Holdings (Takata), MMNA is recalling certain 2004-2006 Lancer and Lancer Evolutions, and certain 2004 Lancer Sportback vehicles.

Affected vehicles are those that previously received a like-for-like passenger side frontal air bag inflator under recall SR-14-012 as an interim remedy. Those vehicles are still equipped with a specific type of passenger side frontal air bag inflator provided by Takata that could be susceptible to rupture, due to excessive internal pressure, during a normal air bag deployment event. This condition is more likely to occur if the vehicle has been exposed to high levels of absolute humidity for an extended period of time.

AFFECTED VEHICLES

2004 – 2006 Lancer vehicles built August 4, 2003 – August 28, 2006

2004 – 2006 Lancer Evolution vehicles built February 11, 2004 – September 1, 2006

2004 Lancer Sportback vehicles built August 4, 2003 – January 23, 2004

IMPORTANT

Affected new or used inventory vehicles must be repaired before the vehicle is sold/delivered. Dealers must check their inventory vehicles’ VINs on the Warranty Super Screen to verify whether the vehicle is involved in this recall campaign.  It is a violation of Federal law for a dealer to sell/ deliver a new motor vehicle or any new or used item of motor vehicle equipment (including a tire) covered by the notification under a sale or lease until the defect or noncompliance is remedied.

REQUIRED OPERATIONS

Before starting this campaign procedure, CHECK THE WARRANTY SUPERSCREEN to verify if the vehicle is an affected VIN for this campaign and this campaign procedure has not already been completed.

 

REQUIRED EQUIPMENT

•  Trim stick
•  VCI (Vehicle Communication Interface) or VCI Lite – MB991824 or MB992744V.
•  MEDIC Laptop/Tablet with A/C power adapter – MIT540031 or FZG1MK2.
•  MUT-III main harness ‘A’ (blue connector at the DLC end) or MUT-III main harness ‘B’ (black connector at the DLC end) – MB992745V or MB992746V.
•  USB 2.0 cable – RRAR1MBR108GL.

 

 

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3 Affected Products

Vehicle

MITSUBISHI

LANCER

2004-2006

 

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19 Associated Documents

Defect Notice 573 Report

RCLRPT-18V220-1066.PDF 216.49KB

 

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Recall Acknowledgement

RCAK-18V220-1672.pdf 245.753KB

 

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Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)- RE: Michigan Department of State Letterhead – Takata Recalls

RCMN-18V220-9204.pdf 752.377KB

 

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Recall Quarterly Report – Report #1, 2018-2

RCLQRT-18V220-6619.PDF 214.549KB

 

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Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)- To: All Mitsubishi Dealer Principals, General Managers. Parts Managers, and Service Managers Subject: Takata Recall Completions

RCMN-18V220-6591.PDF 165.55KB

 

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Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)- ADVANCE TECHNICAL INFORMATION NOTICE – April 19, 2018 – RE: Lancer Passenger Side Frontal Air Bag Inflator Safety Recall Campaign

RCMN-18V220-3898.pdf 262.573KB

 

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Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)- PARTS BULLETIN – APRIL 19, 2018 – SUBJECT: LANCER PASSENGER SIDE FRONTAL AIR BAG INFLATOR – SAFETY RECALL CAMPAIGN

RCMN-18V220-5346.PDF 22.58KB

 

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ISSUED Owner Notification Letter(Part 577)- Saipan

RCONL-18V220-0011.pdf 51.701KB

 

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Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)- To: All Mitsubishi Dealer Principals, General Managers, Parts Managers, and Service Managers Subject: Takata Airbag Recall – UPDATE

RCMN-18V220-4192.pdf 180.49KB

 

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ISSUED Owner Notification Letter(Part 577)- Guam

RCONL-18V220-3087.pdf 154.726KB

 

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ISSUED Owner Notification Letter(Part 577)

RCONL-18V220-2331.pdf 51.388KB

 

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Recall Quarterly Report #2, 2018-3

RCLQRT-18V220-1340.PDF 211.273KB

 

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Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)- Takata Airbag Recall – Update

RCMN-18V220-5299.pdf 213.892KB

 

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Recall Quarterly Report #3, 2018-4

RCLQRT-18V220-2068.PDF 211.371KB

 

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Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)- TECHNICAL INFORMATION NOTICE November 20, 2018 TO: Mitsubishi Motors US & Puerto Rico Dealer Service and Parts Managers RE: Takata Air Bag Inflator Return Process – Issue Resolved

RCMN-18V220-4537.pdf 37.103KB

 

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Remedy Instructions and TSB – SUBJECT: LANCER PASSENGER SIDE FRONTAL AIR BAG INFLATOR − SAFETY RECALL CAMPAIGN – April 2018

RCRIT-18V220-3169.pdf 1182.828KB

 

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Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)- RE: Mississippi Department of Public Safety Letterhead – Takata Recalls

RCMN-18V220-5712.pdf 1695.573KB

 

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Recall Quarterly Report #4, 2019-1

RCLQRT-18V220-4151.PDF 211.482KB

 

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Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)- Subject: Safety Recall Re-notification Campaign

RCMN-18V220-1631.pdf 91.752KB

 

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1 Associated Investigation

Air Bag Inflator Rupture
NHTSA ID: EA15001
Dated opened: February 24, 2015

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers. All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.

During the course of PE14-016, ODI determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by Takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers. Nonetheless, at ODI’s insistence, all 10 vehicle manufacturers initiated a regional recall within approximately two weeks of the opening of the investigation. The regions recalled initially included Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, areas with high absolute humidity and climatic conditions believed to be a significant factor in the inflator ruptures. As part of the recall actions, inflators removed from remedied vehicles are to be returned to Takata for testing.

Takata’s initial test results on passenger inflators from remedied vehicles indicated a much higher than anticipated rupture frequency for inflators returned from Florida. Accordingly ODI requested all 10 manufacturers expand the regional recalls for passenger inflators to include other geographic areas where high absolute humidity conditions exist, including the Gulf States and other coastal areas. Takata’s testing of the passenger inflators to date continues to indicate this geographic area as having the highest risk, with no ruptures occurring from inflators returned from outside the expanded recall regions. During PE14-016 four additional passenger inflator field events occurred, all in vehicles from the same expanded geographic region.

Also during PE14-016 four additional driver inflator field events occurred including two in vehicles from regions not known for high absolute humidity, specifically California and North Carolina. Accordingly, ODI requested all five of the affected vehicle manufacturers currently using the subject Takata driver inflators expand to nationwide recalls. Significantly, neither of the affected vehicle manufacturers or Takata provided any explanation to account for these two driver air bag inflator ruptures outside the area of high absolute humidity. Takata testing of returned driver inflators indicates a lower rupture frequency as compared to passenger inflator testing. All test ruptures reported by Takata to date have occurred on inflators returned from high absolute humidity areas.

The investigation now includes all manufacturers and vehicles known to be affected at this time. ODI’s investigation will focus on, among other things, root cause analysis, other potential defect consequences, identification of affected vehicles scope, and adequacy of the remedy.

The five ODI reports cited above can be reviewed online at https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the following identification numbers: 10537899, 10568848, 10585224, 10605877, 10651492

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Recalls Documents

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/documentList.xhtml?docId=18V220&docType=RCL

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Last update on 2025-04-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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