airbag PONTIAC SOLSTICE 2007 Owners Manual

Seats and Restraint Systems
....................... 7
Front Seats
.............................................. 8
Safety Belts
............................................ 12
Child Restraints
...................................... 27
Airbag System
........................................ 42
Restraint System Check
......................... 56
Features and Controls
................................ 59
Keys
....................................................... 60
Doors and Locks
.................................... 65
Windows
................................................ 70
Theft-Deterrent Systems
......................... 72
Starting and Operating Your Vehicle
....... 76
Mirrors
.................................................... 93
OnStar
®System
..................................... 94Storage Areas
........................................ 98
Convertible Top
...................................... 99
Instrument Panel
....................................... 105
Instrument Panel Overview
................... 108
Climate Controls
................................... 122
Warning Lights, Gages, and
Indicators
.......................................... 127
Driver Information Center (DIC)
............ 145
Audio System(s)
................................... 157
Driving Your Vehicle
................................. 189
Your Driving, the Road, and
Your Vehicle
..................................... 190
Towing
................................................. 231
2007 Pontiac Solstice Owner ManualM
1

Front Seats..................................................... 8
Manual Seats................................................ 8
Reclining Seatbacks...................................... 9
Seatback Latches........................................ 11
Power Lift Seat........................................... 12
Safety Belts.................................................. 12
Safety Belts: They Are for Everyone........... 12
Questions and Answers About
Safety Belts............................................. 17
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly............. 18
Driver Position............................................. 18
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy.............. 25
Passenger Position...................................... 26
Safety Belt Pretensioners............................ 26
Safety Belt Extender................................... 26
Child Restraints............................................ 27
Older Children............................................. 27
Infants and Young Children......................... 30
Child Restraint Systems.............................. 33Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children
(LATCH).................................................. 37
Securing a Child Restraint in the
Passenger Seat Position.......................... 38
Airbag System.............................................. 42
Where Are the Airbags?.............................. 45
When Should an Airbag Inate?.................. 47
What Makes an Airbag Inate?................... 48
How Does an Airbag Restrain?................... 48
What Will You See After an
Airbag Inates?........................................ 48
Passenger Sensing System......................... 50
Servicing Your Airbag-Equipped Vehicle...... 54
Adding Equipment to Your
Airbag-Equipped Vehicle.......................... 55
Restraint System Check............................... 56
Checking the Restraint Systems.................. 56
Replacing Restraint System Parts After
a Crash................................................... 57
Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
7

Questions and Answers About
Safety Belts
Q:Will I be trapped in the vehicle after an
accident if I am wearing a safety belt?
A:Youcouldbe — whether you are wearing a
safety belt or not. But you can unbuckle a
safety belt, even if you are upside down. And
your chance of being conscious during and
after an accident, so youcanunbuckle and get
out, ismuchgreater if you are belted.
Q:If my vehicle has airbags, why should I
have to wear safety belts?
A:Airbags are supplemental systems only; so
they workwithsafety belts — not instead of
them. Every airbag system ever offered
for sale has required the use of safety belts.
Even if you are in a vehicle that has airbags,
you still have to buckle up to get the most
protection. That is true not only in frontal
collisions, but especially in side and other
collisions.
Q:If I am a good driver, and I never drive far
from home, why should I wear safety belts?
A:You may be an excellent driver, but if you are
in an accident — even one that is not your
fault — you and your passenger can be hurt.
Being a good driver does not protect you
from things beyond your control, such as
bad drivers.
Most accidents occur within 25 miles (40 km)
of home. And the greatest number of
serious injuries and deaths occur at speeds
of less than 40 mph (65 km/h).
Safety belts are for everyone.
17

{CAUTION:
Children who are up against, or very close
to, any airbag when it inates can be
seriously injured or killed. Airbags plus
lap-shoulder belts offer protection for
adults and older children, 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.
31

Your vehicle does not have lower anchors or top
tether anchors to secure a child restraint with
the LATCH system. If a national or local law
requires that your top tether be anchored, do not
use a child restraint in this vehicle because a
top tether cannot be properly anchored. You must
use the safety belts to secure your child restraint
in this vehicle, unless a national or local law
requires that the top tether be anchored. Refer to
your child restraint instructions and instructions
in this manual for securing a child restraint
using the vehicle’s safety belts.Securing a Child Restraint in the
Passenger Seat Position
Your vehicle has a passenger’s airbag. A rear
seat is a safer place to secure a forward-facing
child restraint.
In addition, your vehicle has the passenger
sensing system. The passenger sensing system
is designed to turn off the passenger’s frontal
airbag when an infant in a rear-facing infant
seat or a small child in a forward-facing child
restraint or booster seat is detected. See
Passenger Sensing System on page 50and
Passenger Airbag Status Indicator on page 132
for more information on this including important
safety information.
38

{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. Be sure the airbag is off
before using a rear-facing child restraint
in the passenger’s position.
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.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
We recommend that rear-facing child
restraints be transported in vehicles with
a rear seat that will accommodate a
rear-facing child restraint, whenever
possible.
There is no top strap anchor in your vehicle.
Do not secure a child seat in your vehicle
if a national or local law requires that the top strap
be anchored, or if the instructions that come
with the child restraint say that the top strap must
be anchored. SeeLower Anchors and Tethers
for Children (LATCH) on page 37for more
information.
If you need to secure a forward-facing child
restraint in the passenger’s position, move the
seat as far back as it will go before securing the
forward-facing child restraint. SeeManual Seats
on page 8.
39

You will be using the lap-shoulder belt to secure
the child restraint in this position. Be sure to follow
the instructions that came with the child restraint.
Secure the child in the child restraint when and as
the instructions say.
1. Your vehicle has a passenger’s frontal airbag.
SeePassenger Sensing System on page 50.
We recommend that rear-facing child
restraints not be transported in your vehicle,
even if the airbag is off. If your child restraint is
forward-facing, move the seat as far back
as it will go before securing the child restraint
in this seat. SeeManual Seats on page 8.
When the passenger sensing system
has turned off the passenger’s frontal airbag,
the off indicator in the passenger airbag
status indicator should light and stay lit when
the vehicle is started. SeePassenger
Airbag Status Indicator on page 132.
2. Put the child restraint on the seat.
3. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and
shoulder portions of the vehicle’s safety belt
through or around the restraint. The child
restraint instructions will show you how.4. Buckle the belt. Make sure the release button
is positioned so you would be able to unbuckle
the safety belt quickly if you ever had to.
40

7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.
8. If the airbag is off, the off indicator on the
instrument panel will be lit and stay lit
when the vehicle is started.
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.
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.
A thick layer of additional material such as a
blanket, or aftermarket equipment such as
seat covers, seat heaters and seat massagers,
located between the seat cushion and the
child restraint or small occupant, can affect
how the passenger sensing system operates.Remove any additional material from the seat
cushion before reinstalling or securing the
child restraint and before a small occupant,
including a small adult, sits in the passenger
position.
If the on indicator is still lit, do not install a child
restraint in this vehicle and check with your dealer.
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.
Airbag System
Your vehicle has an airbag for the driver and an
airbag for the right front passenger.
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.
42

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.
{CAUTION:
Airbags 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, airbags may provide less
protection in frontal crashes than more
forceful airbags have provided in the past.
Everyone in your vehicle should wear a
safety belt properly — whether or not
there is an airbag for that person.
43

{CAUTION:
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 before and during a
crash. Always wear your safety belt, even
with airbags. The driver should sit as far
back as possible while still maintaining
control of the vehicle.
{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 27andInfants and Young Children
on page 30.
44