BUICK RAINIER 2006 Workshop Manual

{CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the right front
passenger’s airbag inates. This is because
the back of the rear-facing child restraint
would be very close to the inating airbag.
Even though the passenger sensing system is
designed to turn off the passenger’s frontal
airbag if the system detects a rear-facing child
restraint, no system is fail-safe, and no one
can guarantee that an airbag will not deploy
under some unusual circumstance, even
though it is turned off. We recommend that
rear-facing child restraints be secured in the
rear seat, even if the airbag is off.
If you need to secure a forward-facing child restraint in
the right front seat position, move the seat as far
back as it will go before securing the forward-facing
child restraint. SeePower Seats on page 1-2.If your child restraint is equipped with the LATCH
system, seeLower Anchors and Tethers for Children
(LATCH) on page 1-37.
There is no top tether anchor at the right front seating
position. Do not secure a child seat in this position
if a national or local law requires that the top tether be
anchored or if the instructions that come with the
child restraint say that the top tether must be anchored.
SeeLower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH)
on page 1-37if the child restraint has a top tether.
You will be using the lap-shoulder belt to secure the
child restraint in this position. Be sure to follow the
instructions that came with the child restraint. Secure
the child in the child restraint when and as the
instructions say.
1. Your vehicle has a right front passenger’s frontal
airbag. SeePassenger Sensing System on
page 1-56. We recommend that rear-facing
child restraints be secured in a rear seat, even
if the airbag is off. If your child restraint is
forward-facing, move the seat as far back as it
will go before securing the child restraint in this
seat. SeePower Seats on page 1-2.
When the passenger sensing system has turned off
the right front passenger’s frontal airbag, the off
indicator on the passenger airbag status indicator
should light and stay lit when you turn the ignition
to RUN or START. SeePassenger Airbag
Status Indicator on page 3-30.
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2. Put the child restraint on the seat.
3. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder
portions of the vehicle’s safety belt through or
around the restraint. The child restraint instructions
will show you how.
4. Buckle the belt. Make sure the release button is
positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly if you ever had to.5. Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of
the retractor to set the lock.
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6. To tighten the belt, push down on the child restraint,
pull the shoulder portion of the belt to tighten the
lap portion of the belt and feed the shoulder
belt back into the retractor. If you are using a
forward-facing child restraint, you may nd it
helpful to use your knee to push down on the child
restraint as you tighten the belt. You should not
be able to pull more of the belt from the retractor
once the lock has been set.7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.
8. If the airbag is off, the off indicator in the inside
rearview mirror will be lit and stay lit when the
key is turned to RUN or START.
If a child restraint has been installed and the on
indicator is lit, turn the vehicle off. Remove the child
restraint from the vehicle and reinstall the child restraint.
If after reinstalling the child restraint and restarting
the vehicle, the on indicator is still lit, check to make
sure that the vehicle’s seatback is not pressing the child
restraint into the seat cushion. If this happens, slightly
recline the vehicle’s seatback and adjust the seat
cushion if possible. Also make sure the child restraint is
not trapped under the vehicle head restraint. If this
happens, adjust the head restraint.
If the on indicator is still lit, secure the child in the child
restraint in a rear seat position in the vehicle and
check with your dealer.
To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle’s
safety belt and let it go back all the way. The safety
belt will move freely again and be ready to work for an
adult or larger child passenger.
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Airbag System
Your vehicle has a frontal airbag for the driver and a
frontal airbag for the right front passenger. Your vehicle
may also have roof-mounted side impact airbags
designed for either side impact or rollover deployment.
Roof-mounted side impact airbags are available for
the driver and the passenger seated directly behind the
driver and for the right front passenger and the
passenger seated directly behind that passenger.
If your vehicle has roof-mounted side impact airbags,
the word AIRBAG will appear on the airbag covering
on the sidewall trim near the driver’s and right front
passenger’s window.
Frontal airbags are designed to help reduce the risk
of injury from the force of an inating frontal airbag.
But these airbags must inate very quickly to do their
job and comply with federal regulations.Here are the most important things to know about the
airbag system:
{CAUTION:
You can be severely injured or killed in a crash
if you are not wearing your safety belt — even if
you have airbags. Wearing your safety belt
during a crash helps reduce your chance of
hitting things inside the vehicle or being ejected
from it. Airbags are “supplemental restraints”
to the safety belts. All airbags are designed to
work with safety belts but do not replace them.
Frontal airbags for the driver and right front
passenger are designed to deploy in moderate
to severe frontal and near frontal crashes. They
are not designed to inate in rollover, rear
crashes, or in many side crashes. And, for some
unrestrained occupants, frontal airbags may
provide less protection in frontal crashes than
more forceful airbags have provided in the past.
CAUTION: (Continued)
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CAUTION: (Continued)
Roof-mounted side impact airbags are
designed to inate in moderate to severe
crashes where something hits the side of your
vehicle. They are not designed to inate in
frontal or in rear crashes. If the vehicle is
equipped with rollover capable airbags, it has
been designed to deploy the roof-mounted
side impact airbags in the event of a vehicle
rollover. Everyone in your vehicle should wear
a safety belt properly — whether or not there
is an airbag for that person.
{CAUTION:
Both frontal and roof-mounted side impact
airbags inate with great force, faster than the
blink of an eye. If you are too close to an
inating airbag, as you would be if you were
leaning forward, it could seriously injure you.
Safety belts help keep you in position for
airbag ination before and during a crash.
Always wear your safety belt even with frontal
airbags. The driver should sit as far back as
possible while still maintaining control of the
vehicle. Occupants should not lean on or sleep
against the door.
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{CAUTION:
Anyone who is up against, or very close to,
any airbag when it inates can be seriously
injured or killed. Airbags plus lap-shoulder
belts offer the best protection for adults, but
not for young children and infants. Neither the
vehicle’s safety belt system nor its airbag
system is designed for them. Young children
and infants need the protection that a child
restraint system can provide. Always secure
children properly in your vehicle. To read how,
seeOlder Children on page 1-26orInfants and
Young Children on page 1-29.
There is an airbag
readiness light on the
instrument panel cluster,
which shows the airbag
symbol.
The system checks the airbag electrical system for
malfunctions. The light tells you if there is an electrical
problem. SeeAirbag Readiness Light on page 3-29
for more information.
Where Are the Airbags?
The driver’s airbag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.
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The right front passenger’s airbag is in the instrument
panel on the passenger’s side.If your vehicle has a roof-mounted airbag for the driver
and the person seated directly behind the driver, it
is located in the ceiling above the side windows.
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If your vehicle has a roof-mounted airbag for the right
front passenger and the person directly behind that
passenger, it is located in the ceiling above the
side windows.
{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and an
airbag, the bag might not inate properly or it
might force the object into that person causing
severe injury or even death. The path of an
inating airbag must be kept clear. Do not put
anything between an occupant and an airbag,
and do not attach or put anything on the
steering wheel hub or on or near any other
airbag covering. And, if your vehicle has
roof-mounted side impact airbags, never secure
anything to the roof of your vehicle by routing
the rope or tiedown through any door or window
opening. If you do, the path of an inating side
impact airbag will be blocked. The path of an
inating airbag must be kept clear.
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When Should an Airbag Inate?
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal airbags
are designed to inate in moderate to severe frontal or
near-frontal crashes. But they are designed to inate only
if the impact exceeds a predetermined deployment
threshold. Deployment thresholds take into account a
variety of desired deployment and non-deployment
events and are used to predict how severe a crash is
likely to be in time for the airbags to inate and help
restrain the occupants. Whether your frontal airbags will
or should deploy is not based on how fast your vehicle is
traveling. It depends largely on what you hit, the direction
of the impact and how quickly your vehicle slows down.
In addition, your vehicle has “dual stage” frontal airbags,
which adjust the restraint according to crash severity.
Your vehicle is equipped with electronic frontal sensors,
which help the sensing system distinguish between a
moderate frontal impact and a more severe frontal
impact. For moderate frontal impacts, these airbags
inate at a level less than full deployment. For
more severe frontal impacts, full deployment occurs.
If the front of your vehicle goes straight into a wall that
does not move or deform, the threshold level
for the reduced deployment is about 9 to 16 mph
(14 to 26 km/h), and the threshold level for a full
deployment is about 18 to 25 mph (29 to 40 km/h).
(The threshold level can vary, however, with specic
vehicle design, so that it can be somewhat above
or below this range.)Frontal airbags may inate at different crash speeds.
For example:If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the airbags
could inate at a different crash speed than if the
vehicle hits a moving object.
If the vehicle hits an object that deforms, the
airbags could inate at a different crash speed than
if the vehicle hits an object that does not deform.
If the vehicle hits a narrow object (like a pole) the
airbags could inate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle hits a wide object (like a wall).
If the vehicle goes into an object at an angle the
airbags could inate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle goes straight into the object.
The frontal airbags (driver and right front passenger)
are not intended to inate during vehicle rollovers,
rear impacts, or in many side impacts.
Your vehicle has seat position sensors which enable the
sensing system to monitor the position of the driver’s
seat and the right front passenger’s seat. Seat position
sensors provide information that is used to determine
if the airbags should deploy at a reduced level or at
full deployment.
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Your vehicle may or may not have a roof-mounted airbag
and a rollover sensor. SeeAirbag System on page 1-48.
These “rollover capable” airbags are intended to inate
in moderate to severe side crashes or during a rollover.
A roof-mounted airbag will inate if the crash severity is
above the system’s designed “threshold level.” The
threshold level can vary with specic vehicle design.
Roof-mounted airbags are not intended to inate in
frontal or near-frontal impacts, or rear impacts. Both
roof-mounted airbags will deploy when either side of
the vehicle is struck or during a rollover.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an
airbag should have inated simply because of the
damage to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs
were. For frontal airbags, ination is determined by
what the vehicle hits, the angle of the impact, and how
quickly the vehicle slows down. For roof-mounted
airbags, ination is determined by the location and
severity of the impact.
The airbag system is designed to work properly under
a wide range of conditions, including off-road usage.
Observe safe driving speeds, especially on rough
terrain. As always, wear your safety belt. SeeOff-Road
Driving on page 4-18for tips on off-road driving.What Makes an Airbag Inate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the airbag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. In the
case of a “rollover capable” roof-mounted side impact
airbag, the sensing system detects that the vehicle
is about to roll over. The sensing system triggers
a release of gas from the inator, which inates the
airbag. The inator, airbag, and related hardware are
all part of the airbag modules inside the steering wheel
and in the instrument panel in front of the right front
passenger. For vehicles with roof-mounted side impact
airbags, the airbag modules are located in the ceiling
of the vehicle, near the side windows.
How Does an Airbag Restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel
or the instrument panel. In moderate to severe side
collisions, even belted occupants can contact the inside
of the vehicle. The airbag supplements the protection
provided by safety belts. Airbags distribute the force of
the impact more evenly over the occupant’s upper
body, stopping the occupant more gradually. But the
frontal airbags would not help you in many types
of collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts, and many
side impacts, primarily because an occupant’s motion
is not toward the airbag.
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