child restraint Oldsmobile Alero 2003 Owner's Manuals

The 2003 Oldsmobile Alero Owner Manual a
Seats and Restraint Systems ........................... 1-1
Front Seats
............................................... 1-2
Rear Seats
............................................... 1-8
Safety Belts
.............................................. 1-9
Child Restraints
....................................... 1-32
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
...................................... 1-53
Restraint System Check
............................ 1-60
Keys
........................................................ 2-2
Doors and Locks
....................................... 2-7
Windows
................................................. 2-1 4
Theft-Deterrent Systems ............................ 2-1 6
Starting and Operating Your Vehicle
........... 2-17
Mirrors
.................................................... 2-32
Siorage Areas
......................................... 2-34
Sunroof .................................................. 2-35
Instrument Panel Overview
.......................... 3-4
Climate Controls
...................................... 3-1 9
.w .arning Lights, Gages and indicators ......... 3-23
Audio System(s) ....................................... 3-38
Features and Controls
..................................... 2-1
Instrument Panel
............................................. 3-1 Driving Your Vehicle
....................................... 4-1
Your Driving, the Road, and Your Vehicle
..... 4-2
Towing
................................................... 4-31
Service
..................................................... 5-3
Fuel ......................................................... 5-5
Checking Things Under
the
Hood ............................................... 5-9
Headlamp Aiming
..................................... 5-47
Bulb Replacement .................................... 5-49
Windshield Wiper Blade Replacement
......... 5-52
Tires
...................................................... 5-53
Appearance Care
..................................... 5-72
Vehicle Identification
................................. 5-80
Electrical System
...................................... 5-81
Zapai;iiit=s at-tii ~J~LIIIL~LIUI I> 5-w~
Normal Maintenance Replacement Parts ...... 5-88
Maintenance Schedule ........................... ... 6-1
Maintenance Schedule
................................ 6-2
Customer Assistance Information
.................... 7-1
Customer
Assistance iniorrnation .................. 7-2
Index ................................................................. 1
Service
and Appearance Care
.......................... 5-1
n.- - -:I: - -1: - .- - .....................

These are some examples of vehicle symbols you may find on your vehicle:
POSSIBLE A
CAUTION
INJURY
PROTECT EYES BY
SHIELDING
CAUSTIC
BATTERY
ACID COULD CAUSE
BURNS
AVO1 D
1 SPARKS OR
1 FLAMES
1 BATTERY LATCH BOTH LAP AND
SHOULDER BELTS TO
PROTECT OCCUPANT
48: @
DO NOT TWIST SAFETY
BELT WHEN ATTACHING
FASTEN SEAT
BELTS
MOVE SEAT FULLY
\!$
REARWARD+ /z
SECURE
CHILD SEAT
PULL BELT
COMPLETELY
THEN SECURE CHILD SEAT
I
1
DO NOT INSTALL
A REAR-FACING
CHILD RESTRAINT IN THIS SEATING
POSITION
DO NOT INSTALL A
'ORWARD-FACING CHILD RESTRAINT
IN THIS SEATING
POSITION
--,.-. ,.,.,, a uvun Luun
UNLOCK JGHTING
- MASTER SWITCH B- / ,
SIGNALS @+
TURN
PARKING
pf
LAMPS
DAYTIME
**a
RUNNING y.:
LAMPS 0
ENGINE
COOLANT TEMP
CHARGING
I-]
BATTERY SYSTEM
COOLANT
d
ENGINE OIL
PRESSURE
Wb
ENGINE
COOLANT FAN
OWNERS MANUAL
SERVICE
SFRVICF
MANUAL
V

Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
Front Seats .......................... ...... 1-2
Manual Seats
............................... ...... 1-2
Six-Way Power Driver Seat
............. , ......... 1-3
Reclining Seatbacks
........................................ 1-3
Head Restraints
............................................. 1-5
Seatback Latches ........................................... 1-5
Easy Entry Seat
............................................. 1-6
Power Lift Seat
.............................................. 1-6
Rear Seats
...................................................... .l -8
Rear Seat Operation ....... ........................ -1 -8
Safety Belts
..................................................... 1-9
Safety Belts: They Are for Everyone
................. 1-9
Questions and Answers About Safety Belts
...... 1-13
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
................. 1-14
Driver Position
.............................................. 1-1 5
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy .................. 1-22
Right Front Passenger Position
....................... 1-23
Rear Seat Passengers
.................................. 1-23
Lenter Hear passenger Posltion
i -z
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for Children
_I .....................
and Small Adults ....................................... 1-29
Safety Belt Extender
..................................... 1-31
Child Restraints
............................................. 1-32
OIder Children .............................................. 1-32
Infants and Young Children
............................ 1-34
Child Restraint Systems
................................. 1-38 Where
to Put the Restraint
........ ...... 1-41
Top Strap
................................................ -1 -41
Top Strap Anchor Location
............................. 1-42
Children (LATCH System)
........................... 1-43
Lower Anchorages
and Top Tethers for
Securing a Child Restraint Designed for the
Securing
a Child Restraint in a Rear Outside
Securing a Child Restraint in a Center Rear
Securing a Child Restraint in the Right Front
LATCH System
......................................... 1-45
Seat Position
............................................ 1-45
Seat Position
............................................ 1-48
Seat Position
......................................... 1-50
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
............................................. 1-53
Where Are the Air Bags?
............................... 1-55
When Should an Air Bag Inflate?
.................... 1-56
What Makes an Air Bag Inflate?
..................... 1-57
What Will You See After an Air Bag Inflates?
... 1-57
Servicing Your Air Bag-Equipped Vehicle
......... 1-59
I I - ... n--- -- n., ne- n-e4v-:-q I IUVV uut;a a1 I r\ll uay 1ca11all I : ..................... 157
Restraint System Check .................................. 1-60
Checking Your Restraint Systems ................... 1-60
Replacing Restraint System Parts After
a
Crash ...................................................... 1 -60
1-1

Q: If I’m a good driver, and I never drive far from
home, why should
I wear safety belts?
A: You may be an excellent driver, but if you’re in an
accident
- even one that isn’t your fault - you and
your passengers can be hurt. Being a good
driver doesn’t protect you from things beyond your
control, such
as bad drivers.
Most accidents occur within 25 miles (40 km) of
home. And the greatest number of serious injuries
and deaths occur at speeds of less than
40 mph
(65 km/h).
Safety belts are for everyone.
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
This part is only for people of adult size.
Be aware that there are special things
to know about
safety belts and children. And there are different
rules for smaller children and babies.
If a child will be
riding in your vehicle, see
Older Children on page 7-32
or Infants and Young Children on page 7-34. Follow
those rules for everyone’s protection.
First, you’ll want
to know which restraint systems your
vehicle has.
We’ll start with the driver position.
1-14

The best way to protect the fetus is to protect the
mother. When a safety belt is worn properly, it’s more
likely that the fetus won’t be hurt
in a crash. For
pregnant women, as for anyone, the key to making
safety belts effective is wearing them properly.
Right Front Passenger Position
To learn how to wear the right front passenger’s safety
belt properly, see
Driver Position on page 1-75.
The right front passenger’s safety belt works the same
way as the driver’s safety belt
- except for one
thing.
If you ever pull the shoulder portion of the belt out
all the way, you will engage the child restraint locking
feature.
if this happens, just iet the beit go back aii
the way and start again.
Rear Seat Passengers
It’s very important for rear seat passengers to buckle
up! Accident statistics show that unbelted people in the
rear seat are hurt more often in crashes than those
who are wearing safety belts.
Rear passengers who aren’t safety belted can be
thrown out of the vehicle in a crash. And they can strike
others in the vehicle who are wearing safety belts.
Rear Seat Outside Passenger Positions
1-23

Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children
and Small Adults
Your vehicle may have this feature already. If it doesn’t,
you can get it from any
GM dealer.
Rear shoulder belt comfort guides will provide added
safety belt comfort for older children who have outgrown
booster seats and for small adults. When installed on
a shoulder belt, the comfort guide better positions
the belt away from the neck and head.
There is one guide available for each outside passenger
position in the rear seat.
To provide added safety belt
comfort for children who have outgrown child restraints
and booster seats and for smaller adults, the comfort
guides may be installed on the shoulder belts. Here’s
how to install a comfort guide and use the safety belt:
1. Pull the elastic cord out from between the edge of
the seatback and the interior body to remove the
guide from its storage clip.
1-29

Child Restraints
Older Children
Q: What is the proper way to wear safety belts?
A: If possible, an older child should wear a
lap-shoulder belt and get the additional restraint a
shoulder belt can provide. The shoulder belt
should not cross the face or neck. The lap belt
should
fit snugly below the hips, just touching the
top
of the thighs. It should never be worn over
the abdomen, which could cause severe or even
fatal internal injuries in a crash.
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear seat.
In a crash, children who are not buckled up can strike
other people who are buckled up, or can be thrown
out of the vehicle. Older children need
to use safety
belts properly.
Older children who have outgrown booster seats should
wear the vehicle’s safety belts.
If you have the choice, a child should sit next to a
window
so the child can wear a lap-shoulder belt and
get the additional restraint a shoulder belt can provide.
1-32

Never do this.
Here two children are wearing the same belt.
The belt can’t properly spread the impact
forces.
In a crash, the two children can be
crushed together and seriously injured.
A belt
must be used by only one person at
a time.
Q: What if a child is wearing a lap-shoulder belt,
but the child is so small that the shoulder belt
is very close to the child’s face or neck?
A: Move the child toward the center of the vehicle, but
be sure that the shoulder belt still
is on the child’s
shoulder,
so that in a crash the child’s upper
body would have the restraint that belts provide.
If the child is sitting in a rear seat outside position,
see “Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides” in the
Index.
If the child is so small that the shoulder belt is still
very close to the child’s face or neck, you might
want to place the child in the center seat position,
the one that has only a lap belt.
1-33

Here a child is sitting in a seat that has a
lap-shoulder belt, but the shoulder part
is
behind the child. If the child wears the belt in
CAUTION: (Continued) this --ay,
in a crash the child might slide under
the belt. The belt’s force would then be applied right on the child’s abdomen. That could cause
serious or fatal injuries.
Wherever the child sits, the lap portion of the belt
should be worn low and snug on the hips, just touching
the child’s thighs. This applies belt force
to the child’s
pelvic bones in a crash.
Infants and Young Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! This includes
infants and all other children. Neither the distance
traveled nor the age and size of the traveler changes
the need, for everyone, to use safety restraints. In fact,
the law in every state in the United States and in
every Canadian province says children up to some age
must be restrained while in a vehicle.
Every time infants and young children ride in vehicles,
they should have the protection provided by appropriate
restraints. Young children should not use the vehicle’s
adult safety belts alone, unless there is no other choice.
Instead, they need to use a child restraint.
1 -34

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
CAUTION: (Continued)
a oldel Iren, I t not for yo- g 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.
Q: What are the different types of add-on child
A: Add-on child restraints, which are purchased by the
restraints?
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.
1-36