Passenger air bag panel has come ajar

[electro_boy]

Driving home on Monday evening and heard a loudish pop coming from the passenger side of dash board. 

Wondering what the sound was I pulled the car over to take a look and noticed the passenger air bag panel had popped open slightly. 

Its not fully open and doesn’t flap about but it is not in line with the dash anymore and sits proud. 

Any idea how to fix this? Can I just force it back into alignment with the dash? Any chance this might set off the air bag? 

[Cdm2018]

My 2010 NA has almost identical airbag appearance !! 

Its seems not to move or rattle so I left it alone and hope it’s not an issue ?

two lotus dealers have looked at the car in the 4 months of ownership and not reported to me there’s an issue so assume it’s just one of those quirky lotus things ?

[Del Lardo]

IIRC there's 4 clips under there to keep the cover in place that are designed to fail when the airbag goes off.  Problem is that it gets rather hot in there in the sun so they can randomly fail causing the panel to pop open a bit.  Need to remove the dash and replace the clips to fix it or just leave it and remember that it's a "quirk" of the car that makes it a Lotus 🤔

[electro_boy]

Yep it was particularly hot that evening, probably what caused it.  Removing the dash sounds like a pain in the backside.  hmm will see if I can live with it ... 

thanks all for the feedback 

Edited June 27, 2018 by electro_boy
forgot to say thank you

[Bravo73]

TADTS.

The clips are relatively cheap. The dash is £3-600 to remove & refit, depending on who is quoting. 

It is DIYable, as long as you don’t rush & follow the instructions. 

[Cdm2018]

My has been like that from when I got the car 4 months ago so not due to hot weather but could have affected in previous summer periods ???

it doesn’t seem to have got any worse in the current hot spell (fingers crossed).

so I am just going to leave it if I don’t look at it I am not going to get bothered ! Lol 

[Registered]

I replaced mine around March this year.  After 1 week of sunny weather in May the new air bag cover succumbed to the same warping. 

Lotus have today just posted another replacement for the replacement free of charge (however still need to pay again for labour) .  The part itself costs over £300 (it should cost max £50 for what is a piece of foam wrapped in leather with a bit of metal attached).  

I think all covers will eventually warp including the new ones.  Its just a joke that it is a dash out job to fix.  Its these recurring little problems thay make Evora ownership annoying not the £2k+ bill for a clutch repair.

To replace the air bag cover will cost around £700/800 including parts.  Complete joke. Air bag covers should not need replacing on any car that has not been involved in a head on crash.

My advice is just to live with it.  Just like living with broken air con and faulty windows that don't pop back up when you close the door.  These issues will just reoccur over time due to poor design/parts.

Edited June 27, 2018 by Registered

[ramjet]

What about using one of these cheap fold out windscreen covers that protect the dash from direct sunlight, or is it just ambient temperature that does it? I use one of those screens in my $3500 Holden Rodeo and it definitely keeps the plastic of the dash cooler.

Cheap solution.

[pete757]

Personally there is no way I could live with that as it is! 😬 Really ruins the look of the dash.

I would look at re-fixing it closed so it's back to being 'flush'. Perhaps open the cover and use some double sided tape on the lower inside, and then push it back to secure it closed. The force of an airbag opening would be more than enough to break any tape seal... besides airbags are a supplemental restraint after the seat belt... and how often do you carry passengers?

 

[sellman]

I have the same issue with mine it would be good if someone had a simple DIY fix for this but I don't think there is one. 

Lotus talk have a full post on this subject and the step by step removal of the dashboard to replace the clips which I have considered doing but can't justify doing it if it will happen again soon afterwards 😞.

[agentdr8]

Someone on LT just used some JB Weld and tacked the front corners of the cover down and then placed a weighted object on top. I think that would suffice to hold it down and would easily come undone if the airbag needed to deploy.

[Bravo73]

Would you really want to take that risk?

[pete757]

Not a 'risk' IMHO. Airbags are not a primary restraint. Just have the seatbelt properly fastened.

But a bit of tac on the cover is not going to stop a bag inflating! 

[Gashead1105]

This has also happened to mine. It really sets off my OCD! However it's in for a service next week and Stratton seem confident they can fix it easily

[Bravo73]

7 hours ago, pete757 said:

But a bit of tac on the cover is not going to stop a bag inflating! 

It’s not. But how do you know what effect that it will have on the trajectory of the cover if/when the airbag does fire?

I’d personally rather not take the risk and just do the job properly. It’s currently on my ‘to do list’. Just somewhere near the bottom of it. 

[Techyd]

Mine has this as well, it’s not too distracting but I’d like it fixed, I’m told it can be done under warranty (that I have from car when I purchased it). It’s amazing the dash has to come out which makes it so expensive just for the sake of a clip that’s popped due to heat!

[Gashead1105]

Mine was fixed by Stratton last week. I've still got another year of warranty left but does anyone have any suggestions for a windscreen heat reflector? I think that's a good idea...

[agentdr8]

34 minutes ago, Gashead1105 said:

Mine was fixed by Stratton last week. I've still got another year of warranty left but does anyone have any suggestions for a windscreen heat reflector? I think that's a good idea...

Covercraft makes one specifically for the Evora. 

[PaulCP]

I use this one. Goes on the outside so doesn’t heat the glass up. 

Not a perfect fit but good enough to stay in place, and it’s not as if you need to use it too often here in the UK 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MATCC-Windscreen-Protector-Windshield-Weather

 

[21gg]

I've never seen the clips or had the panel warp (yet) but it does surprise me that lotus haven't designed new clips that can be fitted from above. 

[Gashead1105]

The covercraft one seems a lot of money especially for UK postage... @PaulCP I spotted that on Amazon, but I want an internal fitting one because I'm mainly going to use it when the car is parked at the station. Any other suggestions?

[andyj007]

yup. i use 2.49 recovery blanket from go out doors 

https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-emergency-blanket-p287091?gclid=Cj0KCQjwnNvaBRCmARIsAOfZq-1DDs_KBLBkTHTwP_OtMaz07uz-GkK2WaaK3No2XjB1YPc1l_SL9I4aAuMuEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CO7A7LnHt9wCFa0w0wod9jILwA

 

these work just as good

4 for 3 quid or so 

currently got them in all our cars.. god send in this weather, but been using in the evora these past two years:)

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004O793JY/ref=asc_df_B004O793JY54225085/?tag=googshopuk-21&creative=22110&creativeASIN=B004O793JY&linkCode=df0&hvadid=218103797956&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4287252133699572574&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045039&hvtargid=pla-422851584895&th=1&psc=1

 

just cut it slightly over size and stuff in in..  the beauty of these is you can stuff it right in to the join between windowscreen and dash..  so protect it all.  then tuck it under the sun visors..

cheap, disposable..  i just stuff it back behind the seat when finished..

if mine ever goes, i will remove the dash myself, make a new new one that will be held in with griploc...  i will cut cover out of a non warping material..

 

Edited July 24, 2018 by andyj007

[Techyd]

4 hours ago, andyj007 said:

yup. i use 2.49 recovery blanket from go out doors 

https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-emergency-blanket-p287091?gclid=Cj0KCQjwnNvaBRCmARIsAOfZq-1DDs_KBLBkTHTwP_OtMaz07uz-GkK2WaaK3No2XjB1YPc1l_SL9I4aAuMuEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CO7A7LnHt9wCFa0w0wod9jILwA

 

these work just as good

4 for 3 quid or so 

currently got them in all our cars.. god send in this weather, but been using in the evora these past two years:)

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004O793JY/ref=asc_df_B004O793JY54225085/?tag=googshopuk-21&creative=22110&creativeASIN=B004O793JY&linkCode=df0&hvadid=218103797956&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4287252133699572574&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045039&hvtargid=pla-422851584895&th=1&psc=1

 

just cut it slightly over size and stuff in in..  the beauty of these is you can stuff it right in to the join between windowscreen and dash..  so protect it all.  then tuck it under the sun visors..

cheap, disposable..  i just stuff it back behind the seat when finished..

if mine ever goes, i will remove the dash myself, make a new new one that will be held in with griploc...  i will cut cover out of a non warping material..

 

Now there’s a top tip if ever there was one! Thanks Andy!