Vehicle LINCOLN MKX 2013 Owner's Manual
Page 28 of 453
The lower anchors at the center of the second row rear seat are spaced
18 in. (46 cm) apart. A child seat with rigid LATCH attachments cannot
be installed at the center seating position. LATCH compatible child seats
(with attachments on belt webbing) can only be used at this seating
position provided that the child seat manufacturer’s instructions permit
use with the anchor spacing stated. Do not attach a child seat to any
lower anchor if an adjacent child seat is attached to that anchor.
Each time you use the safety seat, check that the seat is properly
attached to the lower anchors and tether anchor, if applicable. Tug the
child seat from side to side and forward and back where it is secured to
the vehicle. The seat should move less than one inch when you do this
for a proper installation.
If the safety seat is not anchored properly, the risk of a child being
injured in a crash greatly increases.
Combining Safety Belt and LATCH Lower Anchors for Attaching
Child Safety Seats
When used in combination, either the safety belt or the LATCH lower
anchors may be attached first, provided a proper installation is achieved.
Attach the tether strap afterward, if included with the child seat.
INSTALLING CHILD SAFETY SEATS WITH TETHER STRAPS
Many forward-facing child safety seats include a tether strap
which extends from the back of the child safety seat and hooks
to an anchoring point called the top tether anchor. Tether
straps are available as an accessory for many older safety seats.
Contact the manufacturer of your child seat for information about
ordering a tether strap, or to obtain a longer tether strap if the tether
strap on your safety seat does not reach the appropriate top tether
anchor in the vehicle.
Once the child safety seat has been installed using either the safety belt,
the lower anchors of the LATCH system, or both, you can attach the top
tether strap.
28Child Safety
2013 MKX(mkx)
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing
USA(fus)
Page 29 of 453
The tether strap anchors in your vehicle are in the following positions
(shown from top view):
Perform the following steps to install a child safety seat with tether
anchors:
Note:If you install a child seat with rigid LATCH attachments, do not
tighten the tether strap enough to lift the child seat off the vehicle seat
cushion when the child is seated in it. Keep the tether strap just snug
without lifting the front of the child seat. Keeping the child seat just
touching the vehicle seat gives the best protection in a severe crash.
1. Route the child safety seat tether strap over the back of the seat.
For outboard seating positions, route the tether strap under the head
restraint and between the head restraint posts. For the center seating
positions, route the tether strap over the top of the head restraint. If
needed, the head restraints can also be removed.
2. Locate the correct anchor behind
the gap cover for the selected
seating position.
3. Pull the gap cover reward to
expose the anchors. Clip the tether
strap to the anchor as shown.
Child Safety29
2013 MKX(mkx)
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing
USA(fus)
Page 31 of 453
PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
WARNING:Always drive and ride with your seatback upright
and the lap belt snug and low across the hips.
WARNING:To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit
where they can be properly restrained.
WARNING: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.
WARNING:All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver,
should always properly wear their safety belts, even when an
airbag supplemental restraint system (SRS) is provided.
WARNING: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.
WARNING:In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is
significantly more likely to die than a person wearing a safety
belt.
WARNING: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.
WARNING:When possible, all children 12 years old and under
should be properly restrained in a rear seating position.
Safety Belts31
2013 MKX(mkx)
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing
USA(fus)
Page 32 of 453
WARNING:Safety belts and seats can become hot in a vehicle
that has been closed up in sunny weather; they could burn a
small child. Check seat covers and buckles before you place a child
anywhere near them.
WARNING:Front and rear seat occupants, including pregnant
women, should wear safety belts for optimum protection in an
accident.
All seating positions in this vehicle have lap and shoulder safety belts. All
occupants of the vehicle should always properly wear their safety belts,
even when an airbag supplemental restraint system is provided.
The safety belt system consists of:
•Lap and shoulder safety belts.
•Shoulder safety belt with automatic locking mode, (except driver
safety belt).
•Height adjuster at the front outboard seating positions
•Retractor and anchor pretensioner at the front outboard seating
positions.
•Belt tension sensor at the front outboard passenger seating position.
•Safety belt warning light and chime. Refer toSafety Belt
Warning Light and Indicator Chimelater in this chapter.
•Crash sensors and monitoring system with readiness
indicator. Refer toCrash Sensors and Airbag Indicatorin
theSupplemental Restraint Systemchapter.
The safety belt pretensioners are designed to activate in frontal,
near-frontal and side collisions, and in rollovers. The safety belt
pretensioners on the retractor and anchor at the front seating positions
are designed to tighten the safety belts firmly against the occupant’s
body when activated. This helps increase the effectiveness of the safety
belts. In frontal collisions, the safety belt pretensioners can be activated
alone or, if the collision is of sufficient severity, together with the front
airbags.
32Safety Belts
2013 MKX(mkx)
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing
USA(fus)
Page 33 of 453
FASTENING THE SAFETY BELTS
The front outboard and rear safety restraints in the vehicle are
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.
2. To unfasten, press the release
button and remove the tongue from
the buckle.
When in use, the rear outboard safety
belts can be used with the comfort
guides. This guide is attached to the
head restraint and is stored in a pocket
in the seatback.
Safety Belts33
2013 MKX(mkx)
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing
USA(fus)
Page 35 of 453
Safety Belt Locking Modes
WARNING:After any vehicle collision, the safety belt system at
all passenger seating positions must be checked by an authorized
dealer to verify that the automatic locking retractor feature for child
seats is still functioning properly. In addition, all safety belts should be
checked for proper function.
WARNING:BELT AND RETRACTOR ASSEMBLY MUST BE
REPLACED if the safety belt assembly automatic locking
retractor feature or any other safety belt function is not operating
properly when checked by an authorized dealer. Failure to replace the
belt and retractor assembly could increase the risk of injury in
collisions.
All safety restraints in the vehicle are combination lap and shoulder belts.
The driver safety belt has the first type of locking mode, and the front
outboard passenger and rear seat safety belts have both types of locking
modes described as follows:
Vehicle sensitive mode
This is the normal retractor mode, which allows 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 5 mph
(8 km/h) or more, the combination safety belts will lock to help reduce
forward movement of the driver and passengers.
In addition, the retractor is designed to lock if the webbing is pulled out
too quickly. If this occurs, let the belt retract slightly and pull webbing
out again in a slow and controlled manner.
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
This mode should be used any time a child safety seat, except a booster,
is installed in passenger front or rear seating positions. Children 12 years
old and under should be properly restrained in a rear seating position
whenever possible. Refer to theChild Safetychapter.
Safety Belts35
2013 MKX(mkx)
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing
USA(fus)
Page 36 of 453
How to use the automatic locking mode
1. Buckle the combination lap and shoulder
belt.
2. Grasp the shoulder portion and pull
downward until the entire belt is pulled out.
Allow 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.
Safety Belt Extension Assembly
WARNING:Do not use extensions to change the fit of the
shoulder belt across the torso.
If the safety belt is too short when fully extended, a safety belt extension
assembly can be obtained from an authorized dealer.
Use only extensions manufactured by the same supplier as the safety
belt. Manufacturer identification is located at the end of the webbing on
the label. Also, use the safety belt extension only if the safety belt is too
short for you when fully extended.
36Safety Belts
2013 MKX(mkx)
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing
USA(fus)
Page 37 of 453
SAFETY BELT HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT
Front seats
WARNING:Position the safety belt height adjusters so that the
belt rests across the middle of your shoulder. Failure to adjust
the safety belt properly could reduce the effectiveness of the seat belt
and increase the risk of injury in a collision.
Adjust the height of the shoulder belt so the
belt rests across the middle of your shoulder.
To adjust the shoulder belt height, pull on the
center button and slide the height adjuster up
or down. Release the button and pull down on
the height adjuster to make sure it is locked in
place.
SAFETY BELT WARNING LIGHT AND INDICATOR CHIME
This lamp illuminates and an audible warning will sound if the
driver’s safety belt has not been fastened when the vehicle’s
ignition is turned on.
Conditions of operation
If... Then...
The driver’s safety belt is not
buckled before the ignition switch
is turned to the on position...The safety belt warning light
illuminates 1-2 minutes and the
warning chime sounds 4-8 seconds.
The driver’s safety belt is buckled
while the indicator light is
illuminated and the warning chime
is sounding...The safety belt warning light and
warning chime turn off.
The driver’s safety belt is buckled
before the ignition switch is turned
to the on position...The safety belt warning light and
indicator chime remain off.
Safety Belts37
2013 MKX(mkx)
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing
USA(fus)
Page 38 of 453
SAFETY BELT-MINDER
This feature supplements the safety belt warning function by providing
additional reminders by intermittently sounding a chime and illuminating
the safety belt warning light when the driver’s and/or front passenger’s
seat is occupied and the safety belt is unbuckled.
The system uses information from the front passenger sensing system to
determine if a front seat passenger is present and therefore potentially in
need of a warning. To avoid activating the Belt-Minderfeature for objects
placed in the front passenger seat, warnings will only be given to large
front seat occupants as determined by the front passenger sensing system.
If the Belt-Minderwarnings have expired (warnings for approximately
five minutes) for one occupant (driver or front passenger), the other
occupant can still activate the Belt-Minderfeature.
If... Then...
The driver’s and front passenger’s
safety belts are buckled before the
ignition switch is turned to the on
position or less than 1-2 minutes
have elapsed since the ignition
switch has been turned to on...The Belt-Minderfeature will not
activate.
The driver’s or front passenger’s
safety belt is not buckled when the
vehicle has reached at least 6 mph
(9.7 km/h) and 1-2 minutes have
elapsed since the ignition switch
has been turned to on...The Belt-Minderfeature is
activated - the safety belt warning
light illuminates and the warning
chime sounds for six seconds
every 25 seconds, repeating for
approximately five minutes or until
the safety belts are buckled.
The driver’s or front passenger’s
safety belt becomes unbuckled for
approximately one minute while
the vehicle is traveling at least
6 mph (9.7 km/h) and more than
1-2 minutes have elapsed since the
ignition switch has been turned to
on...The Belt-Minderfeature is
activated - the safety belt warning
light illuminates and the warning
chime sounds for six seconds
every 25 seconds, repeating for
approximately five minutes or until
the safety belts are buckled.
38Safety Belts
2013 MKX(mkx)
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing
USA(fus)
Page 39 of 453
Deactivating/Activating the Belt-MinderFeature
WARNING:While the system allows you to deactivate it, this
system is designed to improve your chances of being safely belted
and surviving an accident. We recommend you leave the system
activated for yourself and others who may use the vehicle. To reduce
the risk of injury, do not deactivate/activate the system while driving
the vehicle.
Note:The driver and front passenger warning are deactivated/activated
independently. When deactivating/activating one seating position, do not
buckle the other position as this will terminate the process.
Read Steps1-4thoroughly before proceeding with the
deactivation/activation programming procedure.
Before following the procedure, make sure that:
•The parking brake is set
•The gearshift is in P (Park)
•The ignition is off
•The driver and front passenger safety belts are unbuckled
The system can be deactivated/activated by performing the following
procedure:
1. Turn the ignition on. DO NOT START THE ENGINE.
2. Wait until the safety belt warning light turns off (approximately
1–2 minutes).
•Step 3 must be completed within 50 seconds after the safety belt
warning light turns off.
3. For the seating position being disabled, buckle then unbuckle the
safety belt three times at a moderate speed, ending in the unbuckled
state.
•After Step 3, the safety belt warning light will be turned on for three
seconds.
Safety Belts39
2013 MKX(mkx)
Owners Guide gf, 1st Printing
USA(fus)