PONTIAC G6 2006 Repair Manual

7. To tighten the belt, push down on the child restraint,
pull the shoulder portion of the belt to tighten the
lap portion of the belt and feed the shoulder
belt back into the retractor. If you are using a
forward-facing child restraint, you may nd it helpful
to use your knee to push down on the child
restraint as you tighten the belt. You should not be
able to pull more of the belt from the retractor
once the lock has been set.
8. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.
9. If the airbag is off, the off indicator on the instrument
panel will be lit and stay lit when the key is turned
to ON or START.If a child restraint has been installed and the on
indicator is lit, turn the vehicle off. Remove the child
restraint from the vehicle and reinstall the child restraint.
If after reinstalling the child restraint and restarting
the vehicle, the on indicator is still lit, check to make
sure that the vehicle’s seatback is not pressing the child
restraint into the seat cushion. If this happens, slightly
recline the vehicle’s seatback and adjust the seat
cushion if possible. Also make sure the child restraint is
not trapped under the vehicle head restraint. If this
happens, adjust the head restraint.
If the on indicator is still lit, secure the child in the child
restraint in a rear seat position in the vehicle and
check with your dealer.
To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle’s
safety belt and let it go back all the way. The safety
belt will move freely again and be ready to work for an
adult or larger child passenger. If your vehicle has a
retractable hardtop or is a coupe, insert the safety belt
into the guide on the head restraint by sliding the
webbing through the opening on the guide.
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Airbag System
Your vehicle has a frontal airbag for the driver and
another frontal airbag for the right front passenger. Your
vehicle may also have a seat-mounted side impact
airbag for the driver and for the right front passenger.
Your vehicle may also have roof mounted side
impact airbags. Roof mounted side impact airbags are
available for the driver and the passenger seated directly
behind the driver and for the right front passenger
and the passenger seated directly behind that
passenger.
If your vehicle has seat-mounted side impact airbags,
the word AIRBAG will appear on the airbag covering on
the side of the front seatback closest to the door. If
your vehicle has roof-mounted side impact airbags, the
word AIRBAG will appear on the airbag covering on
the ceiling near the side windows.
Frontal airbags are designed to help reduce the risk of
injury from the force of an inating frontal airbag.
But these airbags must inate very quickly to do their
job and comply with federal regulations.
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 designed to work
with safety belts but do not replace them.
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 or low-speed frontal 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.
CAUTION: (Continued)
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CAUTION: (Continued)
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. Occupants
should not lean on or sleep against the door.
{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 1-30orInfants and
Young Children on page 1-33.
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 3-33
for more information.
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Where Are the Airbags?
The driver’s frontal airbag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.The right front passenger’s frontal airbag is in the
instrument panel on the passenger’s side.
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If your vehicle has a seat-mounted side impact airbag
for the driver, it is in the side of the driver’s seatback
closest to the door.If your vehicle has a seat-mounted side impact airbag
for the right front passenger, it is in the side of the
passenger’s seatback closest to the door.
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If your vehicle has a roof-mounted side impact airbag
for the driver and the person seated directly behind the
driver, it is in the ceiling above the side windows.If your vehicle has a roof-mounted side impact airbag
for the right front passenger and the person seated
directly behind that passenger, it is in the ceiling above
the side windows.
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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. If your vehicle has
roof-mounted side impact airbags, never
secure anything to the roof of your vehicle by
routing the rope or tie-down through any door
or window opening. If you do, the path of an
inating airbag will be blocked. Do not let seat
covers block the ination path of a side impact
airbag. The path of an inating airbag must be
kept clear.
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.
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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 12 to 16 mph
(19 to 26 km/h), and the threshold level for a full
deployment is about 18 to 24 mph (29 to 38.5 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
object were moving.
If the vehicle hits an object that deforms, the
airbags could inate at a different crash speed than
if the vehicle hits an object 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 1-56. 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. 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, airbag
and related hardware are all part of the airbag modules.
Frontal airbag modules are located inside the steering
wheel and the instrument panel. For vehicles with
seat-mounted side impact airbags, there are also airbag
modules in the side of the front seatbacks closest to
the door. For vehicles with roof-mounted side impact
airbags, there are also airbag modules in the ceiling of
the vehicle, near the side window.
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 the 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 airbag, the
instrument panel for the right front passenger’s bag, the
side of the seatback closest to the door for the
seat-mounted side impact airbags (if equipped) and the
area along the ceiling of your vehicle near the side
windows for the roof–mounted side impact airbags
(if equipped) — will be hot for a short time. The parts of
the bag 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 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 may have a feature that will automatically
unlock the doors, turn the interior lamps on, turn the
hazard warning ashers on, and turn off the HVAC,
when the airbags inate (if battery power is available).
You can lock the doors, turn the interior lamps off,
turn the hazard warning ashers off and turn the HVAC
on by using the controls for those features.
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