FORD ESCAPE 2001 1.G Owners Manual
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The head restraints can be moved
up and down.
Push control to lower head restraint.
Folding down rear seats
1. Raise the rear seat head restraint
and remove.
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2. Place the head restraint under
the front seat for storage.
3. Pull the seat release control.
NOTE:Make sure the floor is clear of all objects before folding the seat.
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4. Flip seat forward.
5. Pull the seatback release strap
toward the front seat. Make sure the
seat belt buckle heads are fully
extended towards the front of the
vehicle and are away from the
seatback.
NOTE:When the seatback release
strap is pulled use your other hand
to guide the seatback.
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6. Rotate seatback down into load
floor position.
Make sure seat belt buckle
heads are not trapped
underneath the seatback and that
the seat belt buckle heads are
fully extended towards the front
of the vehicle. Seat belt buckle
heads may break if they are
trapped underneath the seatback
as the seatback is rotated down.
Returning the rear seats to upright position
1. Pull seatback up and into upright
position making sure seatback locks
into place. While holding the
seatback, pull the release and push
seatback backward into the desired
position.
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2. Rotate seat cushion down into the
seating position making sure that
the seat cushion is locked into place
and that the seat belt buckles are
exposed.
3. Remove the head restraint stored
under the front seat and return it to
the original position on the seat
back.
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To remove the rear cushion
1. Pull the Yellow tab
2. Pull the cushion to the outboard
side of the vehicle.
To install the rear cushion
1. Push the cushion to the inboard
side of the vehicle.
2. Make sure that the hinges are
locked into place.
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SAFETY RESTRAINTS
Safety restraints precautions
Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap
belt snug and low across the hips.
To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit where they
can be properly restrained.
Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap while the
vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the child from
injury in a collision.
All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, should always
properly wear their safety belts, even when an air bag (SRS) is
provided.
It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area, inside or
outside of a vehicle. In a collision, people riding in these areas
are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not allow people to
ride in any area of your vehicle that is not equipped with seats and
safety belts. Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and using a
safety belt properly.
In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly more likely
to die than a person wearing a safety belt.
Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific safety belt
assembly which is made up of one buckle and one tongue that
are designed to be used as a pair. 1) Use the shoulder belt on the
outside shoulder only. Never wear the shoulder belt under the arm. 2)
Never swing the safety belt around your neck over the inside shoulder.
3) Never use a single belt for more than one person.
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Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
Energy Management Feature
²This vehicle has a safety belt system with an energy management
feature at the front seating positions to help further reduce the risk of
injury in the event of a head-on collision.
²This safety belt system has a retractor assembly that is designed to
pay out webbing in a controlled manner. This feature is designed to
help reduce the belt force acting on the occupant's chest.
After any vehicle collision, the safety belt system at all outboard
seating positions (except driver, which has no ªautomatic locking
retractorº feature) must be checked by a qualified technician to verify
that the ªautomatic locking retractorº feature for child seats is still
functioning properly. In addition, all safety belts should be checked for
proper function.
BELT AND RETRACTOR ASSEMBLY MUST BE REPLACED if
the safety belt assembly ªautomatic locking retractorº feature or
any other safety belt function is not operating properly when checked
according to the procedures in Workshop Manual.
Failure to replace the Belt and Retractor assembly could
increase the risk of injury in collisions.
Combination lap and shoulder belts
1. Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle (the buckle closest to
the direction the tongue is coming
from) until you hear a snap and feel
it latch. Make sure the tongue is
securely fastened in the buckle.
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2. To unfasten, push the release
button and remove the tongue from
the buckle.
The front and rear outboard safety restraints in the vehicle are
combination lap and shoulder belts. The front passenger and rear seat
outboard safety belts have two types of locking modes described below:
Vehicle sensitive mode
The vehicle sensitive mode is the normal retractor mode, allowing free
shoulder belt length adjustment to your movements and locking in
response to vehicle movement. For example, if the driver brakes
suddenly or turns a corner sharply, or the vehicle receives an impact of
approximately 8 km/h (5 mph) or more, the combination safety belts will
lock to help reduce forward movement of the driver and passengers.
Automatic locking mode
In this mode, the shoulder belt is automatically pre-locked. The belt will
still retract to remove any slack in the shoulder belt.
The automatic locking mode is not available on the driver safety belt.
When to use the automatic locking mode
²Any timea child safety seat is installed in a passenger front or
outboard rear seating position (if equipped). Children 12 years old and
under should be properly restrained in the rear seat whenever
possible. Refer toSafety Restraints for ChildrenorSafety Seats for
Childrenlater in this chapter.
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How to use the automatic locking mode
²Buckle the combination lap and
shoulder belt.
²Grasp the shoulder portion and
pull downward until the entire
belt is extracted.
²Allow the belt to retract. As the belt retracts, you will hear a clicking
sound. This indicates the safety belt is now in the automatic locking
mode.
How to disengage the automatic locking mode
Disconnect the combination lap/shoulder belt and allow it to retract
completely to disengage the automatic locking mode and activate the
vehicle sensitive (emergency) locking mode.
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