CHEVROLET CORVETTE 2007 6.G Workshop Manual

With seat-mounted side impact airbags, the word
AIRBAG will appear on the side of the seatback
closest to the door.
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.
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:
Frontal 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.
Seat-mounted side impact airbags are
designed to inate 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:
Airbags inate with great force, faster
than the blink of an eye. Anyone who is
up against, or very close to, any airbag
when it inates can be seriously injured
or killed. Do not sit unnecessarily close to
the airbag, as you would be if you were
sitting on the edge of your seat or leaning
forward. 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.
Occupants should not lean on or sleep
against the door or side windows in
seating positions with seat-mounted
airbags.
{CAUTION:
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 31orInfants and Young Children
on page 34.
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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 191for more information.Where Are the Airbags?
The driver’s frontal airbag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.
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The passenger’s frontal airbag is in the instrument
panel on the passenger’s side.
If your vehicle has seat-mounted side impact
airbags for the driver and right front passenger,
they are in the side of the seatbacks closest to
the door.Driver Side shown, Passenger Side similar
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{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.
Do not use seat accessories that block
the ination path of a seat-mounted
side impact airbag.
When Should an Airbag Inate?
The driver’s and 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 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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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
10 to 12 mph (16 to 19.3 km/h), and the threshold
level for a full deployment is about 18 to 21 mph
(28.9 to 33.8 km/h). The threshold level can vary,
however, with specic vehicle design, so that
it can be somewhat above or below this range.
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 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 50for 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 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. 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
seating positions with side impact airbags, there
are also airbag modules in the side of the
seatbacks closest to the door.
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 an 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
frontal airbag, the instrument panel for the
right front passenger’s frontal airbag, and for
seating positions with side impact airbags, the side
of the seatback closest to the door — 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 on the hazard warning ashers when the
airbags inate. You can lock the doors, turn the
interior lamps off, and turn the hazard warning
ashers off by using the controls for those
features.
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In many crashes severe enough to inate an
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 they inate, 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 Recording and
Privacy on page 470andEvent Data
Recorders on page 470.
Let only qualied technicians work on your
airbag system. Improper service can mean
that an airbag system will not work properly.
See your dealer/retailer for service.
Passenger Sensing System
Your vehicle has a passenger sensing system.
The passenger airbag status indicator in the
rearview mirror will be visible when you start the
vehicle.
The words ON and OFF, or the symbol for on and
off, will be visible during the system check.
United States
Canada
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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. SeePassenger
Airbag Status Indicator on page 192.
The passenger sensing system will turn off the
passenger’s frontal airbag and side impact airbag
(if equipped) under certain conditions. The
driver’s airbags are not part of the passenger
sensing system.
The passenger sensing system works with
sensors that are part of the passenger’s seat and
safety belt. The sensors are designed to detect
the presence of a properly seated occupant
and determine if the passenger’s frontal airbag
and side impact airbag (if equipped) 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 rear-facing child
restraints not be transported in your vehicle, even
if the airbag is off.Your vehicle has a label on the sun visor that
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.
Never put a child in a rear-facing child restraint
in the passenger’s seat unless the passenger
airbag status indicator shows off and the airbags
are off.
{CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint
can be seriously injured or killed if the
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.
CAUTION: (Continued)
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