warning FORD FLEX 2010 1.G Repair Manual

Driver’s seat position sensor
The driver’s seat position sensor allows your Personal Safety System™ to
tailor the deployment level of the driver dual-stage airbag based on seat
position. The system is designed to help protect smaller drivers sitting
close to the driver airbag by providing a lower airbag output level.
Front passenger sensing system
For airbags to do their job they must inflate with great force, and this
force can pose a potentially deadly risk to occupants that are very close
to the airbag when it begins to inflate. For some occupants, this occurs
because they are initially sitting very close to the airbag. For other
occupants, this occurs when the occupant is not properly restrained by
safety belts or child safety seats and they move forward during pre-crash
braking. The most effective way to reduce the risk of unnecessary
injuries is to make sure all occupants are properly restrained. Accident
statistics suggest that children are much safer when properly restrained
in the rear seating positions than in the front.
WARNING:Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
NEVERplace a rear-facing child seat in front of an active air
bag. If you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move
the seat all the way back.
WARNING:When possible, all children 12 years old and under
should be properly restrained in a rear seating position.
The front passenger sensing system can automatically turn off the
passenger front airbag. The system is designed to help protect small
(child size) occupants from airbag deployments when they are
improperly seated or restrained in the front passenger seat contrary to
proper child-seating or restraint usage recommendations. Even with this
technology, parents areSTRONGLYencouraged to always properly
restrain children in the rear seat. The sensor also turns off the passenger
front airbag and seat-mounted side airbag when the passenger seat is
empty to prevent unnecessary replacement of airbag(s) after a collision.
Front safety belt usage sensors
The front safety belt usage sensors detect whether or not the driver and
front outboard passenger safety belts are fastened. This information
allows your Personal Safety System™ to tailor the airbag deployment
and safety belt pretensioner activation depending upon safety belt usage.
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Front safety belt pretensioners
The safety belt pretensioners at the front outboard seating positions are
designed to tighten the safety belts firmly against the occupant’s body
during frontal collisions, and in side collisions and rollovers. This helps
increase the effectiveness of the safety belts. In frontal collisions, the
safety belt pretensioners can be activated alone or, if the collision is of
sufficient severity, together with the front airbags.
Front safety belt energy management retractors
The front outboard safety belt energy management retractors allow
webbing to be pulled out of the retractor in a gradual and controlled
manner in response to the occupant’s forward momentum. This helps
reduce the risk of force-related injuries to the occupant’s chest by
limiting the load on the occupant. Refer toEnergy management
feature- front outboardsection in this chapter.
Determining if the Personal Safety System™ is operational
The Personal Safety System™ uses a warning light in the instrument
cluster or a back-up tone to indicate the condition of the system. Refer
to theWarning lights and chimessection in theInstrument Cluster
chapter. Routine maintenance of the Personal Safety System™ is not
required.
The Restraints Control Module (RCM) monitors its own internal circuits
and the circuits for the airbag supplemental restraints, crash sensor(s),
safety belt pretensioners, front safety belt buckle sensors, driver seat
position sensor, and front passenger sensing system. In addition, the
RCM also monitors the restraints warning light in the instrument cluster.
A difficulty with the system is indicated by one or more of the following.
•The warning light will either flash or stay lit.
•The warning light will not illuminate immediately after ignition is
turned on.
•A series of five beeps will be heard. The tone pattern will repeat
periodically until the problem and warning light are repaired.
If any of these things happen, even intermittently, have the Personal
Safety System™ serviced at an authorized dealer immediately. Unless
serviced, the system may not function properly in the event of a
collision.
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Safety belt precautions
WARNING:Always drive and ride with your seatback upright
and the lap belt snug and low across the hips.
WARNING:To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit
where they can be properly restrained.
WARNING:Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap
while the vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the
child from injury in a collision.
WARNING:All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver,
should always properly wear their safety belts, even when an air
bag supplemental restraint system (SRS) is provided.
WARNING:It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area,
inside or outside of a vehicle. In a collision, people riding in
these areas are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not
allow people to ride in any area of your vehicle that is not equipped
with seats and safety belts. Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a
seat and using a safety belt properly.
WARNING:In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is
significantly more likely to die than a person wearing a seat belt.
WARNING:Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific
safety belt assembly which is made up of one buckle and one
tongue that are designed to be used as a pair. 1) Use the shoulder belt
on the outside shoulder only. Never wear the shoulder belt under the
arm. 2) Never swing the safety belt around your neck over the inside
shoulder. 3) Never use a single belt for more than one person.
WARNING:When possible, all children 12 years old and under
should be properly restrained in a rear seating position.
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WARNING:Front and rear seat occupants, including pregnant
women, should wear safety belts for optimum protection in an
accident.
Combination lap and shoulder belts
1. Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle (the buckle closest to
the direction the tongue is coming
from) until you hear a snap and feel
it latch. Make sure the tongue is
securely fastened in the buckle.
2. To unfasten, press the release
button and remove the tongue from
the buckle.
All restraints in the vehicle are combination lap and shoulder belts.
While you are fastened in the safety belt, the combination lap/shoulder
belt adjusts to your movement. However, if you brake hard, turn hard, or
if your vehicle receives an impact of 5 mph (8 km/h) or more, the safety
belt will become locked and help reduce your forward movement.
Energy management feature — front outboard
•This vehicle has a safety belt system with an energy management
feature at the front seats to help further reduce the risk of injury in
the event of a head-on collision.
•The energy management feature has a retractor assembly that is
designed to extend the safety belt webbing in a controlled manner.
This helps reduce the belt force acting on the user’s chest.
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WARNING:Failure to inspect and replace if necessary the belt
and retractor assembly after an accident could increase the risk
of injury in a collision.
All safety restraints in the vehicle are combination lap and shoulder
belts. All of the passenger combination lap and shoulder belts have three
types of locking modes described below:
Vehicle sensitive mode
This is the normal retractor mode, which allows free shoulder belt length
adjustment to your movements and locking in response to vehicle
movement. For example, if the driver brakes suddenly or turns a corner
sharply, or the vehicle receives an impact of approximately 5 mph
(8 km/h) or more, the combination safety belts will lock to help reduce
forward movement of the driver and passengers.
Webbing extraction sensitive mode
The webbing sensitive locking mode locks the webbing and prevents
more belt from being pulled out if the belt is pulled out too quickly. The
belt will unlock when you stop pulling on it.
Automatic locking mode
When to use the automatic locking mode
In this mode, the shoulder belt is automatically pre-locked. The belt will
still retract to remove any slack in the shoulder belt. The automatic
locking mode is not available on the driver safety belt.
This mode should be usedany timea child safety seat (except a
booster) is installed in a passenger front or rear seating position with a
combination lap/shoulder safety belt. Children 12 years old and under
should be properly restrained in a rear seating position whenever
possible. Refer toSafety restraints for childrenorSafety seats for
childrenlater in this chapter.
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How to use the automatic locking mode
•Buckle the combination lap and
shoulder belt.
•Grasp the shoulder portion and
pull downward until the entire
belt is pulled out.
•Allow the belt to retract. As the belt retracts, you will hear a clicking
sound. This indicates the safety belt is now in the automatic locking
mode.
How to disengage the automatic locking mode
WARNING:Ford Motor Company recommends that all
passenger safety belt assemblies and attaching hardware should
be inspected by an authorized dealer after any collision to verify that
theautomatic locking retractorfeature for child seats is still working
properly. Safety belt assemblies should be inspected by an authorized
dealer and must be replaced if either damage or improper operation is
noted. Failure to replace the belt and retractor assembly could
increase the risk of injury in a collision.
Unbuckle the combination lap/shoulder belt and allow it to retract
completely to disengage the automatic locking mode and activate the
vehicle sensitive (emergency) locking mode.
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Front safety belt height adjustment
Your vehicle has safety belt height
adjustments at the front outboard
seating positions. Adjust the height
of the shoulder belt so the belt rests
across the middle of your shoulder.
To adjust the shoulder belt height,
squeeze and hold the buttons on the
side and slide the height adjuster up
or down. Release the buttons and
pull down on the height adjuster to
make sure it is locked in place.
WARNING:Position the safety belt height adjusters so that the
belt rests across the middle of your shoulder. Failure to adjust
the safety belt properly could reduce the effectiveness of the safety
belt and increase the risk of injury in a collision.
Safety belt pretensioner
Your vehicle is equipped with safety belt pretensioners at the driver and
front outboard passenger seating positions.
The safety belt pretensioner tightens the safety belts firmly against the
occupant’s body at the start of the crash.
WARNING:The driver and front passenger safety belt system
(including retractors, buckles and height adjusters) must be
replaced if the vehicle is involved in a collision that results in
deployment of front airbags, seat-mounted side airbags and Safety
Canopy, and safety belt pretensioners.
Safety belt extension assembly
If the safety belt is too short when fully extended, there is an 8 inch
(20 cm) safety belt extension assembly that can be added (part number
611C22). This assembly can be obtained from an authorized dealer.
Use only extensions manufactured by the same supplier as the safety
belt. Manufacturer identification is located at the end of the webbing on
the label. Also, use the safety belt extension only if the safety belt is too
short for you when fully extended.
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WARNING:Do not use extensions to change the fit of the
shoulder belt across the torso.
Safety belt warning light and indicator chime
The safety belt warning light illuminates in the instrument cluster and a
chime sounds to remind the occupants to fasten their safety belts.
Conditions of operation
If... Then...
The driver’s safety belt is not
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the on
position...The safety belt warning light
illuminates 1-2 minutes and the
warning chime sounds 4-8 seconds.
The driver’s safety belt is
buckled while the indicator
light is illuminated and the
warning chime is sounding...The safety belt warning light and
warning chime turn off.
The driver’s safety belt is
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the on
position...The safety belt warning light and
indicator chime remain off.
Belt-Minder
The Belt-Minderfeature is a supplemental warning to the safety belt
warning function. This feature provides additional reminders by
intermittently sounding a chime and illuminating the safety belt warning
light in the instrument cluster when the driver’s and front passenger’s
safety belt is unbuckled.
The Belt-Minderfeature uses information from the front passenger
sensing system to determine if a front seat passenger is present and
therefore potentially in need of a warning. To avoid activating the
Belt-Minderfeature for objects placed in the front passenger seat,
warnings will only be given to large front seat occupants as determined
by the front passenger sensing system
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.
Both the driver’s and passenger’s safety belt usages are monitored and
either may activate the Belt-Minderfeature. The warnings are the same
for the driver and the front passenger. If the Belt-Minderwarnings have
expired (warnings for approximately five minutes) for one occupant
(driver or front passenger), the other occupant can still activate the
Belt-Minderfeature.
Note:If you are using MyKey™, the Belt-Minderwarning will not
expire. Refer toMyKey™in theLocks and securitychapter.
If... Then...
The driver’s and front
passenger’s safety belts are
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the on
position or less than
1-2 minutes have elapsed since
the ignition switch has been
turned to on...The Belt-Minderfeature will not
activate.
The driver’s or front
passenger’s safety belt is not
buckled when the vehicle has
reached at least 3 mph
(5 km/h) and 1-2 minutes have
elapsed since the ignition
switch has been turned to on...The Belt-Minderfeature is activated
- the safety belt warning light
illuminates and the warning chime
sounds for six seconds every
30 seconds, repeating for
approximately five minutes or until
the safety belts are buckled.
The driver’s or front
passenger’s safety belt becomes
unbuckled for approximately
one minute while the vehicle is
traveling at least 3 mph
(5 km/h) and more than
1-2 minutes have elapsed since
the ignition switch has been
turned to on...The Belt-Minderfeature is activated
- the safety belt warning light
illuminates and the warning chime
sounds for six seconds every
30 seconds, repeating for
approximately five minutes or until
the safety belts are buckled.
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WARNING:Do not sit on top of a buckled safety belt or insert a
latchplate into the buckle to avoid the Belt-Minderchime. To
do so may adversely affect the performance of the vehicle’s airbag
system.
Deactivating/activating the Belt-Minderfeature
The driver and front passenger Belt-Minderare
deactivated/activated independently. When deactivating/activating
one seating position, do not buckle the other position as this will
terminate the process.
Read Steps1-5thoroughly before proceeding with the
deactivation/activation programming procedure.
Note: The driver and front passenger Belt-Minderfeatures must be
disabled/enabled separately. Both cannot be disable/enabled during the
same key cycle.
Note:If you are using MyKey™, the Belt-Mindercannot be disabled.
Also, if the Belt-Minderhas been previously disabled, it will be
re-enabled during the use of MyKey™. Refer toMyKey™in theLocks
and securitychapter.
The driver and front passenger Belt-Minderfeatures can be
deactivated/activated by performing the following procedure:
Before following the procedure, make sure that:
•The parking brake is set
•The gearshift is in P (Park)
•The ignition switch is in the off position
•The driver and front passenger safety belts are unbuckled
WARNING:While the design allows you to deactivate your
Belt-Minder, this system is designed to improve your chances of
being safely belted and surviving an accident. We recommend you
leave the Belt-Mindersystem activated for yourself and others who
may use the vehicle. To reduce the risk of injury, do not
deactivate/activate the Belt-Minderfeature while driving the vehicle.
1. Turn the ignition switch to the on position. DO NOT START THE
ENGINE.
2. Wait until the safety belt warning light turns off (Approximately one
minute).
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