PONTIAC VIBE 2005 Workshop Manual

6. To tighten the belt, push down on the child restraint,
pull the shoulder portion of the belt to tighten the
lap portion of the belt and feed the shoulder
belt back into the retractor. If you are using a
forward-facing child restraint, you may nd it helpful
to use your knee to push down on the child
restraint as you tighten the belt. You should not be
able to pull more of the belt from the retractor
once the lock has been set.7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.
8. If the passenger sensing system has turned off
the right front passenger’s frontal airbag and
seat-mounted side impact airbag (if equipped),
the off indicator in the passenger airbag status
indicator will be lit and stay lit when the key
is turned to ON.
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
with the ignition key in the ACC or LOCK position.
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.
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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.
If the airbag readiness light and the OFF light in the
passenger airbag status indicator come on together,
it may mean there is a malfunction in the passenger
sensing system. Secure the child in the child restraint
in a rear seat position in the 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 a frontal airbag for the driver and a
frontal airbag for the right front passenger. Your vehicle
may also have seat-mounted side impact airbags for
the driver and right front passenger. Your vehicle
may also have roof-mounted side impact airbags 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 side impact airbags, it will say
SRS-SIDE AIR BAG on a label on the side of the driver’s
and right front passenger’s seat closest to the door.
If your vehicle has roof-mounted side impact airbags,
it will say SRS CURTAIN AIRBAG on the trim on
the side of the windshield.
Frontal airbags are designed to help reduce the risk of
injury from the force of an inating frontal airbag.
But these airbags must inate very quickly to do their
job and comply with federal regulations.
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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 designed to work
with safety belts but do not replace them.
Frontal airbags for the driver and right front
passenger are designed to deploy only in
moderate to severe frontal and near frontal
crashes. They are not designed to inate in
rollover, rear or low-speed frontal crashes,
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
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.
Side impact airbags are designed to inate
only 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.
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{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.
{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 1-26orInfants and
Young Children on page 1-28.
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There is an airbag
readiness light on the
instrument panel, which
shows the airbag symbol.
The system checks the airbag electrical system for
malfunctions. The light tells you if there is an electrical
problem. SeeAirbag Readiness Light on page 3-29
for more information.Where Are the Airbags?
The driver’s frontal airbag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.
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The right front passenger’s frontal airbag is in the
instrument panel on the passenger’s side.
If your vehicle has a seat-mounted side impact airbag
for the driver, it is in the side of the driver’s seatback
closest to the door.
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.
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 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. Do not let seat covers block
the ination path of a side impact airbag.
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{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 side
impact airbags, never secure anything to the
roof of your vehicle by routing the rope or
tiedown 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 is equipped with 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.
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Airbags may inate at different crash speeds.
For example:
If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the airbag
could inate at a different crash speed than if
the object were moving.
If the object deforms, the airbag could inate at
a different crash speed than if the object does
not deform.
If the vehicle hits a narrow object (like a pole)
the airbag 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
airbag could inate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle goes straight into the object.
The frontal airbags for the driver and right front
passenger may also deploy if a serious impact occurs
to the underside of your vehicle such as hitting a
curb, falling into a deep hole, or landing hard.
The frontal airbags (driver and right front passenger)
are not intended to inate during vehicle rollovers, rear
impacts, or in many side impacts because ination
would not likely help the occupants.The side impact airbags are designed 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
designed to inate in frontal or near-frontal impacts,
rollovers or rear impacts, because ination would not
likely help the occupant. Your vehicle has sensors which
detect side impacts. These sensors signal the
appropriate side airbag to inate. A side impact airbag will
only deploy on the side of the vehicle that is struck.
It is possible that, in a crash involving the front of your
vehicle, only one of the two frontal airbags in your vehicle
will deploy. This is rare, but it can happen in a crash just
severe enough to make a frontal airbag inate.
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
the angle of the impact and how quickly the vehicle
slows down in frontal and near-frontal impacts. 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.
For both frontal and side impact airbags, the sensing
system triggers a release of gas from the inator,
which inates the airbag. The inator, the airbag and
related hardware are all part of the airbag modules.
Frontal airbag modules are located inside the steering
wheel and instrument panel. For vehicles with
seat-mounted side impact airbags, the airbag modules
are located in the seatback closest to the driver’s
and/or right front passenger’s door. For vehicles with
roof-mounted side impact airbags, the airbag modules
are located 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 a
frontal airbag 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 a frontal airbag. A side impact airbag
would not help you in many types of collisions, including
frontal or near frontal collisions, rollovers, and rear
impacts, primarily because an occupant’s motion is
not toward a side airbag. 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 frontal airbags,
and only in moderate to severe side collisions for
side impact airbags.
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What Will You See After an
Airbag Inates?
After the airbag inates, it quickly deates, so quickly that
some people may not even realize the airbag inated.
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 front doors for the seat-mounted side
impact airbags (if equipped), and the ceiling of your
vehicle near the side windows for the roof-mounted side
impact airbags (if equipped) – will be hot for a short time.
The parts of the bag that come into contact with you may
be warm, but not too hot to touch. There will be some
smoke and dust coming from the vents in the deated
airbags. Airbag ination does not prevent the driver from
seeing or being able to steer the vehicle, nor does it stop
people from leaving the vehicle.
{CAUTION:
When an airbag inates, there is 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
can not 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.
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