Module, Occupant Restraint Controller: Description

Courtesy of CHRYSLER GROUP, LLC

The Occupant Restraint Control (ORC) module (3) is located in the passenger compartment of the vehicle, where it is secured along with a stamped steel adapter bracket by a nut and two screws to a stud and two weld nuts of the mount welded to the top of the floor panel transmission tunnel under the center floor console. Concealed within a hollow in the center of the molded plastic ORC housing is the electronic circuitry of the ORC which includes a microcontroller, an electronic impact sensor, an electronic safing sensor, a rollover sensor and a energy storage capacitor. A stamped metal cover plate (1) is secured to the bottom of the ORC housing with screws to enclose and protect the internal electronic circuitry and components.

An arrow printed on a label on the top of the ORC housing provides a visual verification of the proper orientation of the unit, and should always be pointed toward the front of the vehicle. The stamped metal cover plate of the ORC has integral flanges with three mounting holes (2). A molded plastic electrical connector with two receptacles (4), each containing numerous terminal pins, exits the rearward facing side of the ORC housing. These terminal pins connect the ORC to the vehicle electrical system through dedicated take outs and connectors of both the instrument panel and the body wire harnesses.

The impact sensor and safing sensor internal to the ORC are calibrated for the specific vehicle, and are only serviced as a unit with the ORC. The ORC cannot be repaired or adjusted and, if damaged or ineffective, it must be replaced.