The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation after receiving Nissan early warning reports (EWR) concerning supplemental restraint system (SRS) light illumination on model year (MY) 2012 Nissan Versa vehicles.Information in the reports suggested that the SRS spiral cable harness from the spiral cassette to the driver"s air bag module became pinched within the steering wheel assembly during installation.The pinching condition was apparently causing a short to ground condition. As reported by Nissan, the shorts were the result of isolated operator errors, specifically errors in the way the harness was routed in the steering wheel area.Nissan advised that a production countermeasure was implemented on December 10, 2011 in order to reduce misrouting the spiral cable harness.If an electrical short does occur, the red air bag warning light is designed to continuously flash to alert the driver.However, a shorted harness may prevent the air bag from deploying in a frontal collision.The opening resume originally identified the subject vehicle population as all 2012 Nissan Versa vehicles. It was noted by Nissan that the MY 2012 Versa Sedan and MY 2012 Versa Hatchback vehicles were built on different platforms and varied significantly in design, specifically in that they are equipped with different steering column and air bag module components.Accordingly, the subject vehicle population for analysis was limited to 2012 Nissan Versa Sedan models.Through analysis of the data Nissan provided, ODI determined that 13 manufacturer reports and 39 warranty claims submitted were potentially a result of pinched and/or shorted spiral cable assemblies. These reports occurred prior to the assembly process change on December 10, 2011.ODI notes that an additional six warranty claims occurred after the process change, but this population had a significantly lower rate of failure than those occurring beforehand.Therefore the subject vehicle population shown above covers sedan vehicles built from the start of production through December 9, 2011.ODI"s analysis indicated that this condition typically occurred early in the life of the vehicle with 40% occurring prior to vehicle sale or delivery, and 69% with less than 2 months in service.When compared to ODI investigations involving similar air bag concerns, this investigation has a low rate of failure.ODI has not yet received any related consumer complaints and no injuries or crashes have been reported that relate to the alleged problem. Therefore, a safety-related defect has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.Accordingly, this investigation is closed.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist.The agency will monitor this issue and reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.
