CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO 2006 6.G Repair Manual

CAUTION: (Continued)
Frontal airbags for the driver and right front
passenger 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, 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 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.
{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. Front
occupants should not lean on or sleep against
the door.
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{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 1-29orInfants and
Young Children on page 1-32.
There is an airbag
readiness light on the
instrument panel cluster,
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 3-27
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 one, the driver’s side impact airbag
is in the side of the driver’s seatback closest to the door.
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If your vehicle has one, the right front passenger’s side
impact airbag is in the side of the passenger’s
seatback closest to the door.
{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 let seat covers block
the ination path of a side impact airbag.
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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 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. 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 18 mph (19 to 29 km/h),
and the threshold level for a full deployment is about18 to 22 mph (29 to 35.4 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 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 1-54. 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.
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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.
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 or near-frontal
impacts. For side impact airbags, ination is determined
by the location and severity of the impact.
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. The airbag supplements 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, primarily because an occupant’s motion is not
toward those airbags. 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 side impact airbags.
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What Will You See After an Airbag
Inates?
After an inates, it quickly deates, so quickly that some
people may not even realize the airbag inated. Some
components of the airbag module may be hot for a short
time. These components include the steering wheel
hub for the driver’s frontal airbag and the instrument
panel for the right front passenger’s frontal airbag.
For seating positions with side impact airbags, the side
of the seatback closest to the door may be warm.
The parts of the airbag 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 out of the windshield 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
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 and turn on the interior lamps and hazard
warning ashers when the airbags inate. You can lock
the doors again, turn the interior lamps and hazard
warning ashers off by using the controls for these
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 an
airbag inates, you will need some new parts for
your 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 7-9
Let only qualied technicians work on your airbag
system. Improper service can mean that your
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 overhead
console will be visible when you turn your ignition key
to RUN 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. SeePassenger Airbag Status Indicator
on page 3-28.
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The passenger sensing system will turn off the right
front 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 right front passenger’s seat.
The sensors are designed to detect the presence
of a properly-seated occupant and determine if the
passenger’s airbag or airbags 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. Passenger Airbag
Status Indicator –
United States
Passenger Airbag
Status Indicator –
Canada
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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 airbags deploy.
{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 and side airbag (if equipped) 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. General Motors recommends that
rear-facing child restraints be secured in the
rear seat, even if the airbag or airbags are off.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
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.
The passenger sensing system is designed to turn off
the right front passenger’s frontal airbag and side impact
airbag (if equipped) 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 if there is a critical problem with the airbag
system or the passenger sensing system.
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