child restraint OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE 2003 Owners Manual

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The 2003 Oldsmobile Silhouette Owner Manual
Seats and Restraint Systems ........................... 1-1
Front Seats
............................................... 1-2
Rear Seats
............................................... 1-7
Safety Belts
............................................. 1-22
Child Restraints
....................................... 1-45
Air Bag Systems
...................................... 1-69
Restraint System Check
............................ 1-77
Features and Controls
..................................... 2-1
Keys
........................................................ 2-3
Doors and Locks
....................................... 2-9
Windows
................................................. 2-24
Theft-Deterrent Systems
............................ 2-27
Starting and Operating Your Vehicle
........... 2-32
Mirrors
.................................................... 2-45
Onstar@ System
...................................... 2-47
HomeLink@ Transmitter
......................... 2-49
Storage Areas
......................................... 2-54
Vehicle Personalization
............................. 2-62
Instrument Panel Overview
.......................... 3-4
Climate Controls
...................................... 3-25
Warning Lights, Gages and Indicators
......... 3-39
Driver Information Center (DIC)
.................. 3-60
Instrument Panel
............................................. 3-1
Messaye Center 5-3L n r~ .......................................
Audio
System(s) ....................................... 3-63
Your Driving, the Road, and Your Vehicle
..... 4-2
Towing
................................................... 4-32
Service
..................................................... 5-3
Fuel
......................................................... 5-5
Checking Things Under the Hood
............... 5-10
All-Wheel Drive
........................................ 5-50
Bulb Replacement
.................................... 5-52
Windshield Wiper Blade Replacement
......... 5-58
Tires
...................................................... 5-60
Appearance Care
..................................... 5-87
Vehicle Identification
................................. 5-95
Electrical System
...................................... 5-96
Capacities and Specifications
................... 5-1 03
Normal Maintenance Replacement Parts
...... 5-1 05
Maintenance Schedule
................................ 6-2
Customer Assistance Information
.................... 7-1
Customer Assistance Information
.................. 7-2
Reporting Safety Defects
............................ 7-9
Driving Your Vehicle
....................................... 4-1
Service and Appearance Care
.......................... 5-1
Maintenance Schedule
..................................... 6-1
Index
................................................................ 1

I 'hese are some examples of vehicle symbols you may find on your vehicle:
POSSIBLE A
CAUTION
INJURY
PROTECT
EYES BY
SHIELDING
CAUSTIC
BATTERY
4CID COULD
CAUSE
BURNS
AVO1 D
SPARKS
OR
FLAMES
SPARK
OR
FLAME '\I/'
COULD
EXPLODE
---I
BATERY 1
LATCH BOTH LAP AND SHOULDER BELTS TO
PROTECT OCCUPANT MASTER ENGINE
DO NOT TWIST SAFETY
TEMP
BELT WHEN ATACHING
FASTEN SEAT
BELTS
MOVE SEAT FULLY
\!$k=
REARWARD+ /z
SECURE
CHILD
SEAT
PULL BELT
COMPLETELY
THEN SECURE
CHILD SEAT AIR BAG
DO NOT INSTALL A REAR-FACING
CHILD RESTRAINT IN THIS SEATING
POSITION DO NOT INSTALLA n I
TURN
SIGNALS
PARKING LAMPS
HAZARD
WARNING FLASHER
pf
COOLANT
l.fJ
ACCESS
ENGINE
COOLANT FAN
OWNERS MANUAL
SERVICE
SERVICE
a MANUAL
V

1 Seats and Restraint Systems
Front Seats ............................... ......... 1.2
Manual Seats
............................ ............. 1 -2
Six-Way Power Seats
..................................... 1-3
Eight-Way Power Seats
................................... 1-3
Heated Seats
................................................. 1-4
Reclining Seatbacks
........................................ 1-4
Head Restraints
............................................. 1-6
Rear Seats
....................................................... 1-7
Flip and Fold Feature ..................................... 1-7
Split Bench Seats
........................................... 1-8
Captain Chairs
............................................. 1-1 3
Stowable Seat ............................................. -1 -1 8
Safety Belts: They Are for Everyone
................ 1-22
Questions and Answers About Safety Belts
...... 1-26
How
to Wear Safety Belts Properly ................. 1-27
Driver Position
.............................................. 1-28
Satety Beit use During Pregnancy
.................. 1-36
Rear Seat Operation ....................................... 1-7
Safety Belts
................................................... 1-22
Right Front Passenger Position
....................... 1-37
Center Passenger Position
............................. 1-37
Rear Seat Passengers
.................................. 1-39
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children and Small Adults
.......................... 1-42
Safety Belt Extender
..................................... 1-44
Safety Belt Pretensioners
..... ................... 1 -44 Child Restraints
............................................. 1-45
Older Children
.............................................. 1-45
Infants and Young Children
............................ 1-48
Child Restraint Systems
................................. 1-51
Where to Put the Restraint ............................. 1-54
Top Strap
.................................................... 1-55
Top Strap Anchor Location ............................. 1-56
Lower Anchorages and Top Tethers for
Securing a Child Restraint Designed for the
Securing a Child Restraint in a
Securing a Child Restraint in a Center
Securing a Child Restraint in the Right
Children (LATCH
System)
........................... 1-58
LATCH System
......................................... 1-60
Rear Outside Seat Position
......................... 1-60
Seat Position
............................................ 1-64
Front Seat Position
.................................... 1-66
Air
Bag Systems ............................................ 1-69
When Should an Air Bag Inflate? ................ 1-73
What Makes an Air Bag Inflate?
..................... 1-74
How Does an Air Bag Restrain?
..................... 1-74
What Will You See After an Air Bag Inflates?
....... 1-74
Servicing Your Air Bag-Equipped Vehicle
......... 1-76
Restraint System Check
.................................. 1-77
Where Are
the Air Bags?
........................... 1-71
Checking
Your Restraint Systems 1 -I 1 477 ...................
Replacing Restraint System Parts
After a Crash
............................................ 1-77
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 1-45
or Infants and Young Children on page 1-48. 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.
1-27

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 7-28.
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 let the belt go back all the way and
start again.
Center Passenger Position
(Bench Seat)
Lap Belt
If your vehicle has a third row rear bench seat, someone
can sit in the center position.
1-37

Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children and Small Adults
Your vehicle may have rear shoulder belt comfort
guides. This feature will provide added safety belt
comfort for older children who have outgrown booster
seats and for smaller adults. When installed on a
shoulder belt, the comfort guide better positions the belt
away from the neck and head.
If your vehicle has a split bench seat in the third row,
there is one guide for each outside passenger position.
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. Remove the guide from its storage pocket on the
side of the seatback.
1-42

Child Restraints
Older Children
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.
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.
1 -45

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 for Children
and Small Adults on page
1-42. 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 a seat that has a lap belt,
if your vehicle
has one.
1 -46

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.
I
People should never hold a baby in their arms
while riding in a vehicle.
A baby doesn’t weigh
much
-- until a crash. During a crash a baby will
become
so heavy it is not possible to hold it.
CAUTION: (Continu??)
1-4%

For example, in a crast t only 25 mph
(40 km/h), a 12-lb. (5.5 kg) baby will suddenly
become
a 240-lb. (1 10 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 -49