CADILLAC XLR 2005 1.G Service Manual

6. To tighten the belt, feed the shoulder belt back into
the retractor while you push down on the child
restraint. You may nd it helpful to use your knee to
push down on the child restraint as you tighten
the belt.
7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.
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.If you were using a rear-facing child restraint, turn on
the passenger’s airbags when you remove the
rear-facing child restraint from the vehicle unless the
person who will be sitting there is a member of a
passenger airbag risk group. SeeAirbag Off Switch on
page 1-44.
{CAUTION:
If the passenger’s airbags are turned off for a
person who is not in a risk group identied by
the national government, that person will not
have the extra protection of the airbags. In a
crash, the airbags would not be able to inate
and help protect the person sitting there. Do
not turn off the passenger’s airbags unless the
person sitting there is in a risk group. See
Airbag Off Switch on page 1-44for more on
this, including important safety information.
1-35

Airbag System
Your vehicle has four airbags — a frontal airbag for the
driver, another frontal airbag for the passenger, a
side impact airbag for the driver, and another side
impact airbag for the passenger.
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 designed to work
with safety belts but do not replace them.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
Frontal airbags for the driver and passenger
are designed to deploy only in moderate to
severe frontal and near frontal crashes. They
are not designed to inate in rollover, rear or
low-speed frontal 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.
The side impact airbags for the driver and
passenger are designed to inate only in
moderate to severe crashes where something
hits the side of your vehicle. They are not
designed to inate in frontal, in rollover or in
rear crashes.
Everyone in your vehicle should wear a safety
belt properly — whether or not there is an
airbag for that person.
1-36

{CAUTION:
Both frontal and 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. Front
occupants should not lean on or sleep against
the door.
{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 1-19orInfants and
Young Children on page 1-21.
1-37

There is an airbag
readiness light on the
instrument panel, 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 3-49
for more information.Where Are the Airbags?
The driver’s frontal airbag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.
1-38

The passenger’s frontal airbag is in the instrument panel
on the passenger’s side.The driver’s side impact airbag is in the side of the
driver’s seatback closest to the door.
1-39

The passenger’s side impact airbag is in the side of the
passenger’s seatback closest to the door.
{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and an
airbag, the airbag 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. Do not let seat covers block
the ination path of a side impact airbag.
1-40

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 12 to 16 mph (19 to 26 km/h), and
the threshold level for a full deployment is about 18 to
24 mph (29 to 38.5 km/h). (The threshold level can vary,
however, with specic vehicle design, so that it can be
somewhat above or below this range.)Airbags may inate at different crash speeds. For
example:If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the airbag
could inate at a different crash speed than if
the object were moving.
If the object deforms, the airbag could inate at
a different crash speed than if the object does
not deform.
If the vehicle hits a narrow object (like a pole) the
airbag 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
airbag 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 because ination
would not likely help the occupants.
The side impact airbags are designed to inate in
moderate to severe side crashes. A side impact airbag
will inate if the crash severity is above the system’s
designed “threshold level.” The threshold level can vary
with specic vehicle design. Side impact airbags are
not designed to inate in frontal or near-frontal impacts,
rollovers or rear impacts, because ination would not
likely help the occupant. A side impact airbag will
only deploy on the side of the vehicle that is struck.
1-41

Vehicles with dual stage airbags are also equipped with
seat position sensors which enable the sensing
system to monitor the position of the driver’s and
passenger’s seats. The seat position sensor provides
information which is used to determine if the airbags
should deploy at a reduced level or at full deployment.
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
the angle of the impact and how quickly the vehicle
slows down in frontal and near-frontal impacts. For side
impact airbags, ination is determined by the location
and severity of the impact.
What Makes an Airbag Inate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the airbag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. For both
frontal and side impact airbags, the sensing system
triggers a release of gas from the inator, which inates
the airbag. The inator, the airbag and related hardware
are all part of the airbag modules inside the steering
wheel, the instrument panel, and the side of the front
seatbacks closest to the door.
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. Side impact airbags would not help you in many
types of collisions, including frontal or near frontal
collisions, rollovers, and rear impacts, primarily because
an occupant’s motion is not toward those airbags.
Airbags should never be regarded as anything more than
a supplement to safety belts, and then only in moderate
to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions for the driver’s
and passenger’s frontal airbags, and only in moderate to
severe side collisions for the driver’s and passenger’s
side impact airbag.
1-42

What Will You See After an Airbag
Inates?
After the airbag inates, it quickly deates, so quickly that
some people may not even realize the airbag inated.
Some components of the airbag module — the steering
wheel hub for the driver’s airbag, the instrument panel for
the passenger’s bag, the side of the seatback closest to
the door for the driver’s and passenger’s side impact
airbags — will be hot for a short time. The parts of the
bag that come into contact with you may be warm, but not
too hot to touch. There will be some smoke and dust
coming from the vents in the deated airbags. Airbag
ination does not prevent the driver from seeing or being
able to steer the vehicle, nor does it stop people from
leaving the vehicle.
{CAUTION:
When an airbag inates, there is dust in the
air. This dust could cause breathing problems
for people with a history of asthma or other
breathing trouble. To avoid this, everyone in
the vehicle should get out as soon as it is safe
to do so. If you have breathing problems but
can not get out of the vehicle after an airbag
inates, then get fresh air by opening a
window or a door. If you experience breathing
problems following an airbag deployment, you
should seek medical attention.
1-43

In many crashes severe enough to inate the airbag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
passenger airbag.
Airbags are designed to inate only once. After an
airbag inates, you will need some new parts for
your airbag system. If you do not get them,
the airbag system will not be there to help protect
you in another crash. A new system will include
airbag modules and possibly other parts. The
service manual for your vehicle covers the need to
replace other parts.
Your vehicle is equipped with a crash sensing and
diagnostic module which records information after
a crash. SeeVehicle Data Collection and Event
Data Recorders on page 8-9.
Let only qualied technicians work on your airbag
system. Improper service can mean that an
airbag system will not work properly. See your
dealer for service.
Notice:If you damage the covering for the driver’s
or the passenger’s airbags, the bags may not
work properly. You may have to replace the airbag
module in the steering wheel or both the airbag
module and the instrument panel for the
passenger’s airbags. Do not open or break the
airbag coverings.
Airbag Off Switch
Your vehicle has a switch in the glove box that you can
use to turn off the passenger’s airbags. Your vehicle
will either have the Canadian switch design (A) or
the United States switch design (B).
A. Canadian Switch
B. United States Switch
This switch should only be turned to the off position if
the person in the passenger’s position is a member of a
passenger risk group identied by the national
government as follows:
1-44