ECU CHEVROLET ASTRO 2003 Owners Manual

These are some examples of vehicle symbols you may find on your vehicle:
POSSIBLE A
CAUTION INJURY
PROTECT EYES BY
SHIELDING
CAUSTIC
BATTERY
KID COULD
CAUSE
BURNS
AVOID
SPARKS OR FLAMES
SPARK OR COULD
EXPLODE FLAME
\\I/'
BAlTERY I
LATCH BOTH LAP AND
SHOULDER BELTS TO
PROTECT OCCUPANT
*&: @
DO NOT TWIST SAFETY
BELT WHEN AlTACHING
FASTEN SEAT
BELTS
MOVE SEAT FULLY
\!$!
REARWARD /a
SECURE
CHILD
SEAT
PULL BELT
COMPLETELY
rHEN SECURE CHILD SEAT
POWER
WINDOW DO NOT INSTALL
A REAR-FACING
CHILD RESTRAINT IN THIS SEATING POSITION
DO NOT INSTALL A
'ORWARD-FACING CHILD RESTRAINT IN THIS SEATING POSITION
DOOR LOCK UNLOCK LIGHTING
- MASTER SWITCH u- 0 ,
SIGNALS
TURN
LAMPS
Pf
RUNNING ***o
DAYTIME 0.0
LAMPS ea.
LAMPS $0
ENGINE
COOLANT
cc
TEMP
CHARGING
I-1
BATTERY SYSTEM
BRAKE
(a)
ENGINE OIL PRESSURE
Wb
ANTI-LOCK (@)
BRAKES COOLANT
FAN
OWNERS MANUAL
SERVICE
MANUAL
V

Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
Front Seats ...................................................... 1-2
Manual Seats
................................................ 1-2
Power Seat
................................................... 1-3
Manual Lumbar
.............................................. 1-3
Reclining Seatbacks
........................................ 1.4
Head Restraints
............................................. 1.5
Seatback Latches
........................................... 1.6
Rear Seats ....................................................... 1-7
Rear Seat Operation
....................................... 1-7
Bench Seat
.................................................. 1-1 1
Bucket Seats ............................................... 1-1 2
Safety Belts ................................................... 1-1 3
Safety Belts: They Are for Everyone
................ 1-13
Questions and Answers About Safety Belts
...... 1-17
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
................. 1-18
Driver Position
.............................................. 1.18
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
.................. 1-26
Right Front Passenger Position
....................... 1.27
Center Passenger Position
............................. 1.27
Rear Seat Passengers
................................. -1-29
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children and Small Adults
...................... 1.32
Safety Belt Extender
..................................... 1-34
Child Restraints ............................................. 1-35
Older Children
.............................................. 1-35
Child Restraint Systems
................................. 1.44
Infants and Young
Children
.......... ....... 1.38 Where
to Put the Restraint
............................. 1-47
Top Strap
.................................................... 1-48
Top Strap Anchor Location ............................. 1-50
Lower Anchorages and Top Tethers for
Children (LATCH System)
........................... 1-52
Securing a Child Restraint Designed for
the LATCH System
.................................... 1-54
Securing a Child Restraint in a Rear
Outside Seat Position
............................ 1-54
Securing a Child Restraint in a Center
Seat Position
............................................ 1-57
Securing a Child Restraint in the Right
Front Seat Position
................................... -1 -59
Air Bag System .............................................. 1-62
Where Are the Air Bags?
............... ..... 1-64
When Should an Air Bag Inflate?
.................... 1-66
What Makes an Air Bag Inflate?
..................... 1-67
How Does an Air Bag Restrain?
..................... 1-67
What Will You See After an
Air Bag Inflates?
....................................... 1.68
Servicing Your Air Bag-Equipped Vehicle
......... 1.69
Adding Equipment to Your
Air Bag-Equipped Vehicle
........................... 1.70
Restraint System Check ................................. -1-71
Checking Your Restraint Systems ... ..... 1-71
Replacing Restraint System Parts
After a Crash
............................................ 1-71
1-1

3. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
4. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
Pull up on the latch plate to make sure it is
secure. If the belt isn’t long enough, see
Safety
Belt Extender on page 1-34.
Make sure the release button on the buckle is
positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly
if you ever had to.
Don’t let it get twisted.
The lap part of the belt should
be worn
low and snug on
the hips, just touching the thighs. In a crash, this applies
force to the strong pelvic bones. And you’d be less likely
to slide under the lap belt. If you slid under it, the belt
would apply force at your abdomen. This could cause
serious or even fatal injuries. The shoulder belt should go
over the shoulder and across the chest. These parts of
the body are best able
to take belt restraining forces.
The safety belt locks
if there’s a sudden stop or crash,
or
if you pull the belt very quickly out of the retractor.
1-19

If the belt stops before it reaches the buckle, tilt the
latch plate and keep pulling until you can buckle it.
Pull up on the latch plate to make sure
it is secure.
If the belt is not long enough, see
Safety Belt
Extender
on page 1-34.
Make sure the release button on the buckle is
positioned
so that you would be able to unbuckle
the safety belt quickly
if you ever had to.
3. To make the lap part tight, pull down on the buckle
end of the belt as you pull up on the shoulder part.
1-30

-
For example, in a crash at only 25 mph
(40 km/h),
a 12-lb. (5.5 kg) baby will suddenly
become a 240-lb. (110 kg) force on a person’s
arms.
A baby should be secured in an
appropriate restraint. Children who are
up against, or very close to,
any air bag when
it inflates can be seriously
injured or killed. Air bags plus lap-shoulder
belts offer outstanding protection for adults
and older children, but not for young children
and infants. Neither
the vehicle’s safety belt
system nor its air bag system is designed for
them. Young children and infants need the
protection that a child restraint system can
provide.
1-39

Q: What are the different types of add-on child
restraints?
A: Add-on child restraints, which are purchased by the
vehicle’s owner, are available in four basic types.
Selection of a particular restraint should take
into consideration not only the child’s weight, height
and age but also whether or not the restraint will
be compatible with the motor vehicle in which it will
be used.
For most basic types of child restraints, there are
many different models available. When purchasing a
child restraint, be sure
it is designed to be used
in a motor vehicle.
If it is, the restraint will have a
label saying that it meets federal motor vehicle
safety standards.
The restraint manufacturer’s instructions that come
with the restraint state the weight and height
limitations for a particular child restraint. In addition,
there are many kinds of restraints available for
children with special needs.
Newborn infants need complete support,
including support for the head and neck. This
is
necessary because a newborn infant’s neck is
weak and its head weighs so much compared
with the rest of its body. In a crash, an infant
in a
rear-facing seat settles into the restraint,
so the
crash forces can be distributed across the
strongest part of an infant’s body, the back and
shoulders. Infants always should be secured in
appropriate infant restraints.
1-40

The .- Ddy st. -.- re of a young -.1ild is quite
unlike that of an adult or older child, for whom
the safety belts are designed. A young child’s
hip bones are still
so small that the vehicle’s
regular safety belt may not remain low on
thehip bones, as
it should. Instead, it may
settle up around the child’s abdomen.
In a
crash, the belt would apply force on a body
area that’s unprotected by any bony structure.
This alone could cause serious or fatal
injuries. Young children always should be
secured in appropriate child restraints. Children who are
L against,
or very close to,
any air bag when
it inflates can be seriously
injured or killed. Air bags plus lap-shoulder
belts offer outstanding protection for adults
and older children, but not for young children
and infants. Neither the vehicle’s safety belt
system nor
its air bag system is designed for
them. Young children and infants need the
protection that a child restraint system can
provide.
1-41

. __ born infants need complete support,
including support for the head and neck.
This
is necessary because a newborn infant’s
neck
is weak and its head weighs so much
compared with the rest of
its body. In a crash,
an infant in a rear-facing seat settles into the
restraint,
so the crash forces can be distributed
across the strongest part of an infant’s body,
the back and shoulders. Infants always should
be restrained in appropriate infant restraints.
However, infants, who should be restrained
in
a rear-facing child restraint, cannot ride safely
in this vehicle. The
body structure of a young cf
I is qi !
unlike that of an adult or older child, for whom
the safety belts are designed.
A young child’s
hip bones are
still so small that the vehicle’s
regular safety belt may not remain low on the
hip bones, as
it should. Instead, it may settle
up around the child’s abdomen.
In a crash,
the belt would apply force on a body area
that’s unprotected by any bony structure.
This alone could cause serious or fatal
~ injuries. Young children always should be
~ secured in appropriate child restraints.
~
1-42

Q: How do child restraints work?
A: A child restraint system is any device designed for
use
in a motor vehicle to restrain, seat, or position
children.
A built-in child restraint system is a
permanent part of the motor vehicle. An add-on
child restraint system is a portable one, which
is purchased by the vehicle’s owner.
For many years, add-on child restraints have used
the adult belt system in the vehicle.
To help
reduce the chance of injury, the child also has to
be secured within the restraint. The vehicle’s
belt system secures the add-on child restraint in the
vehicle, and the add-on child restraint’s harness
system holds the child in place within the restraint.
One system, the three-point harness, has straps that
come down over each of the infant’s shoulders and
buckle together at the crotch. The five-point harness
system has two shoulder straps, two hip straps and
a crotch strap. A shield may take the place of hip
straps. A T-shaped shield has shoulder straps that
are attached to a flat pad which rests low against the
child’s body.
A shelf- or armrest-type shield has
straps that are attached to a wide, shelf-like shield
that swings up or to the side. When
choosing a child restraint, be sure the child
restraint is designed to be used in a vehicle.
If it is,
it will have a label saying that it meets federal motor
vehicle safety standards.
Then follow the instructions for the restraint. You may
find these instructions on the restraint itself or in a
booklet, or both. These restraints use the belt system
in your vehicle, but the child also has to be secured
within the restraint to help reduce the chance of personal
injury. When securing an add-on child restraint, refer
to the instructions that come with the restraint which may
be on the restraint itself or in a booklet, or both, and
to this manual. The child restraint instructions are
important,
so if they are not available, obtain a
replacement copy from the manufacturer.
1-46

Where to Put the Restraint
Except Cargo Vans
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear rather than the front seat.
General Motors, therefore, recommends 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.
Never put a rear-facing child restraint
in the fro
’ passenger seat. Here’s why:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the right front passenger’s air bag inflates. This
is because
the back of the rear-facing child restraint
would be very close to the inflating air bag. Always secure a rear-facing child restraint
in
a rear seat.
CAUTION: (Continued)
You may secure a forward-facing child restraint
in the right front seat, but before you do, always
move the front passenger seat as far back as it
will go. It’s better to secure the child restraint in
a rear seat.
Wherever you install it, be sure
to secure the child
restraint properly.
Keep in mind that an unsecured child restraint can
move around in a collision or sudden stop and injure
people in the vehicle. Be sure to properly secure
any child restraint in your vehicle
- even when no
child is in it.
1-47