PONTIAC G6 2007 Manual Online

If your vehicle has a seat-mounted side impact
airbag for the right front passenger, it is in the side
of the passenger’s seatback closest to the door.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.
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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.
{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. 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 airbag will
be blocked. Do not let seat covers block
the ination path of a side impact airbag.
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 has electronic
frontal sensors which helps 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.
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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.
Frontal airbags (driver and right front passenger)
are not intended to inate during vehicle
rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side impacts.Your vehicle may or may not have side impact
airbags. SeeAirbag System on page 76for more
information. Side impact airbags are intended
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 intended
to inate in frontal or near-frontal impacts,
rollovers, or rear impacts. A side impact airbag is
intended to deploy on the side of the vehicle
that is struck.
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 side impact airbags, ination is
determined by the location and severity of the
impact.
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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. Frontal
airbag modules are located inside the steering
wheel and the instrument panel. For vehicles with
seat-mounted side impact airbags, there are
also airbag modules in the side of the front
seatbacks closest to the door. For vehicles with
roof-mounted side impact airbags, there are
also airbag modules in the ceiling of the vehicle,
near the side window.
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.
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What Will You See After an Airbag
Inates?
After the frontal and seat-mounted side impact
airbags inate, they quickly deate, so quickly that
some people may not even realize an 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 bag, the side of the seatback closest to
the door for the seat-mounted side impact airbags
(if equipped), and the garnish trim and the area
along the ceiling of your vehicle near the side
windows for the roof–mounted side impact airbags
(if equipped) — 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 the hazard warning ashers on, when the
airbags inate. You can lock the doors, turn the
interior lamps off, and turn the hazard warning
ashers off again by using the controls for those
features.
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In many crashes severe enough to inate the
airbag, windshields are broken by vehicle
deformation. Additional windshield breakage may
also occur from the right front passenger
airbag.
Airbags are designed to inate only once.
After an airbag inates, you will need
some new parts for the 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 has a crash sensing and
diagnostic module which records information
after a crash. SeeVehicle Data Collection and
Event Data Recorders on page 461.
Let only qualied technicians work on the
airbag system. Improper service can mean that
the airbag system will not work properly.
See your dealer for service.
Passenger Sensing System
Your vehicle has a passenger sensing system.
The passenger airbag status indicator on the
instrument panel will be visible when you turn your
ignition key to ON or START. The words ON
and OFF or the symbol for on and off, will
be visible during the system check. If you use
remote start to start your vehicle from a distance,
if equipped, you may not see the system check.
When the system check is complete, either
the word ON or the word OFF, or the symbol for
on or the symbol for off will be visible. See
Passenger Airbag Status Indicator on page 197.
The passenger sensing system will turn off the
right front passenger’s frontal airbag under certain
conditions. The driver’s airbags are not part of
the passenger sensing system.
United StatesCanada
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The passenger sensing system works with
sensors that are part of the right front passenger’s
seat. The sensors are designed to detect the
presence of a properly-seated occupant and
determine if the passenger’s frontal airbag should
be enabled (may inate) or not.
Accident statistics show that children are safer if
they are restrained in the rear rather than the front
seat. We recommend that child restraints be
secured in a rear seat, including an infant riding in
a rear-facing infant seat, a child riding in a
forward-facing child seat and an older child riding
in a booster seat.
Your vehicle has a rear seat that will accommodate
a rear-facing child restraint. A label on your sun
visor says, “Never put a rear-facing child seat
in the front.” This is because the risk to the
rear-facing child is so great, if the airbag deploys.
{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,
always move the front passenger seat as
far back as it will go. It is better to secure
the child restraint in a rear seat.
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The passenger sensing system is designed to turn
off the right front passenger’s frontal airbag if:
The right front passenger seat is unoccupied.
The system determines that an infant is
present in a rear-facing infant seat.
The system determines that a small child is
present in a forward-facing child restraint.
The system determines that a small child is
present in a booster seat.
A right front passenger takes his/her weight off
of the seat for a period of time.
The right front passenger seat is occupied by
a smaller person, such as a child who has
outgrown child restraints.
Or, there is a critical problem with the airbag
system or the passenger sensing system.
When the passenger sensing system has turned
off the right front passenger’s frontal air bag,
the off indicator on the instrument panel will light
and stay lit to remind you that the airbag is off.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 following the child restraint
manufacturer’s directions and refer toSecuring a
Child Restraint in the Right Front Seat Position
on page 71.
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.
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The passenger sensing system is designed to
enable (may inate) the right front passenger’s
frontal airbag anytime the system senses
that a person of adult size is sitting properly in the
right front passenger’s seat. When the passenger
sensing system has allowed the airbag to be
enabled, the on indicator will light and stay lit to
remind you that the airbag is active.
For some children who have outgrown child
restraints and for very small adults, the passenger
sensing system may or may not turn off the
right front passenger’s frontal airbag, depending
upon the person’s seating posture and body build.
Everyone in your vehicle who has outgrown
child restraints should wear a safety belt
properly — whether or not there is an airbag for
that person.
If a person of adult-size is sitting in the right front
passenger’s seat, but the off indicator is lit, it
could be because that person is not sitting properly
in the seat. If this happens, turn the vehicle off
and ask the person to place the seatback inthe fully upright position, then sit upright in the
seat, centered on the seat cushion, with the
person’s legs comfortably extended. Restart the
vehicle and have the person remain in this position
for about two minutes. This will allow the system
to detect that person and then enable the
passenger’s airbag.
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