roof CHEVROLET IMPALA 2007 9.G Owners Manual

Seats and Restraint Systems
........................ 7
Front Seats
.............................................. 9
Rear Seats
............................................. 15
Safety Belts
............................................ 18
Child Restraints
...................................... 41
Airbag System
........................................ 68
Restraint System Check
......................... 84
Features and Controls
................................. 87
Keys
....................................................... 89
Doors and Locks
.................................... 98
Windows
............................................... 104
Theft-Deterrent Systems
....................... 107
Starting and Operating Your Vehicle
..... 111
Mirrors
.................................................. 126
OnStar
®System
................................... 128
Universal Home Remote System
.......... 132
Storage Areas
...................................... 144
Sunroof
................................................ 145Instrument Panel
........................................ 147
Instrument Panel Overview
................... 150
Climate Controls
................................... 168
Warning Lights, Gages,
and Indicators
................................... 174
Driver Information Center (DIC)
............ 190
Audio System(s)
................................... 215
Driving Your Vehicle
.................................. 247
Your Driving, the Road, and
Your Vehicle
..................................... 248
Towing
................................................. 282
Service and Appearance Care
................... 293
Service
................................................. 296
Fuel
...................................................... 298
Checking Things Under the Hood
......... 304
Headlamp Aiming
................................. 343
Bulb Replacement
................................ 343
Windshield Wiper Blade Replacement
... 349
2007 Chevrolet Impala Owner ManualM
1

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. 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 ceiling near the
side windows.
Airbags are designed to supplement the protection
provided by safety belts. Even though today’s
airbags are also designed to help reduce the risk
of injury from the force of an inating bag, all
airbags must inate very quickly to do their job.
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.
68

{CAUTION:
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.
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, 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.
{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.
Occupants should not lean on or sleep
against the door.
69

If your vehicle has a roof-mounted side impact
airbag for the driver and the person seated directly
behind the driver, it is in the ceiling above the
side windows.If your vehicle has a roof-mounted side impact
airbag for the right front passenger and the person
seated directly behind that passenger, it is in
the ceiling above the side windows.
72

{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 tie down 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.
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 has 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.
73

What Makes an Airbag Inate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the airbag
sensing system detects that the vehicle is
in a crash. 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, there are also airbag modules 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.
Airbags supplement 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 many frontal or
near frontal collisions, rollovers, and rear impacts.
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
right front passenger’s frontal airbags, and
only in moderate to severe side collisions for
vehicles with side impact airbags.
75

What Will You See After an
Airbag Inates?
After a frontal airbag inates, it quickly deates,
so quickly that some people may not even realize
the airbag inated. Roof-mounted side impact
airbags may still be at least partially inated
minutes after the vehicle comes to rest. Some
components of the airbag module — the steering
wheel hub for the driver’s airbag, the instrument
panel for the right front passenger’s airbag, or the
garnish trim and ceiling of your vehicle near
the side windows for vehicles with roof–mounted
side impact airbags — may be hot for a short time.
The parts of the airbag that come into contact
with you may be warm, but not too hot to touch.
There may be some smoke and dust coming from
the vents in the deated airbags. Airbag ination
does not prevent the driver from seeing out of
the windshield or being able to steer the vehicle,
nor does it prevent people from leaving the vehicle.
{CAUTION:
When an airbag inates, there may be
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 cannot 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.
Your vehicle has a feature that may automatically
unlock the doors, turn the interior lamps on,
and turn on the hazard warning ashers when
the airbags inate. You can lock the doors again,
turn the interior lamps off, and turn the hazard
warning ashers off by using the controls for
those features.
76

Adding Equipment to Your
Airbag-Equipped Vehicle
Q:Is there anything I might add to the front
or sides of the vehicle that could keep the
airbags from working properly?
A:Yes. If you add things that change your
vehicle’s frame, bumper system, height,
front end or side sheet metal, they may keep
the airbag system from working properly.
Also, the airbag system may not work properly
if you relocate any of the airbag sensors.
If you have any questions about this,
you should contact Customer Assistance
before you modify your vehicle. The phone
numbers and addresses for Customer
Assistance are in Step Two of the Customer
Satisfaction Procedure in this manual.
SeeCustomer Satisfaction Procedure
on page 426.
Q:Because I have a disability, I have to get
my vehicle modied. How can I nd out
whether this will affect my airbag system?
A:Changing or moving any parts of the
front seats, safety belts, the airbag sensing
and diagnostic module, steering wheel,
instrument panel, ceiling headliner, ceiling
and pillar garnish trim, roof-mounted airbag
modules, or airbag wiring can affect the
operation of the airbag system. If you
have questions, call Customer Assistance.
The phone numbers and addresses for
Customer Assistance are in Step Two of
the Customer Satisfaction Procedure in this
manual. SeeCustomer Satisfaction Procedure
on page 426.
83

Restraint System Check
Checking the Restraint Systems
Now and then, make sure the safety belt reminder
light and all your belts, buckles, latch plates,
retractors and anchorages are working properly.
Look for any other loose or damaged safety
belt system parts. If you see anything that might
keep a safety belt system from doing its job, have
it repaired. SeeCare of Safety Belts on page 390
for more information.
Torn or frayed safety belts may not protect you in
a crash. They can rip apart under impact forces.
If a belt is torn or frayed, get a new one right away.Also look for any opened or broken airbag covers,
and have them repaired or replaced. The airbag
system does not need regular maintenance.
Notice:If you damage the covering for
the driver’s or the right front passenger’s
airbag, or the side impact airbag covering
(if equipped) on the ceiling near the side
windows, the airbag may not work properly.
You may have to replace the airbag module
in the steering wheel, both the airbag module
and the instrument panel for the right front
passenger’s airbag, or side impact airbag
module and ceiling covering for roof-mounted
side impact airbags (if equipped.) Do not
open or break the airbag coverings.
84

OnStar®System.......................................... 128
Universal Home Remote System................ 132
System Identication.................................. 132
Universal Home Remote System............... 133
Universal Home Remote System Operation
(With One Triangular LED)...................... 133
Universal Home Remote System
Operation (With Three Round LED)....... 137Storage Areas............................................. 144
Glove Box................................................. 144
Cupholder(s).............................................. 144
Sunglasses Storage Compartment............. 144
Center Console Storage Area.................... 144
Rear Storage Area.................................... 144
Rear Seat Armrest.................................... 144
Convenience Net....................................... 145
Sunroof....................................................... 145
Section 2 Features and Controls
88