belt PONTIAC GRAND AM 1998 Owners Manual

The 1998 Pontiac Grand Am Owner’s Manual
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Seats and Restraint Systems
This section tells you how to use your seats and safety belts properly. It also explains the “SRS” system.
Features and Controls
This section explains how to start and operate your vehicle.
Comfort Controls and Audio Systems
This section tells you how to adjust the ventilation and comfort co\
ntrols and how to operate your audio system.
Your Driving and the Road
Here you’ll find helpful information and tips about the road\
and how to drive under different conditions.
Problems on the Road
This section tells what to do if you have a problem while driving,\
such as a flat tire or overheated engine, etc.
Service and Appearance Care
Here the manual tells you how to keep your vehicle running properly and looking good.
Maintenance Schedule
This section tells you when to perform vehicle maintenance and what fluids and lubrica\
nts to use.
Customer Assistance Information
This section tells you how to contact Pontiac for assistance and ho\
w to get service and owner publications.
It also gives you information on “Reporting Safety Defects” on page
8-10.
9-1 Index
Here’s an alphabetical listing of almost every subject in th\
is manual. You can use it to quickly find
something you want to read.
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Vehicle Symbols
These are some of the symbols you may find on your vehicle.
For example,
these symbols
are used on an
original battery:
POSSIBLE A
CAUTION
INJURY
PROTECT EYES BY
SHIELDING
CAUSTlC
ACID COULD x
BAllERY
CAUSE
.~ .. ~
BURNS
AVOID
SPARKS
OR
FLAMES
FLAME
EXPLODE BAllERY
These symbols are important
for you and
your passengers
whenever your vehicle is
driven:
FASTEN
SEAT
BELTS
POWER
WINDOW
These symbols
have
to do with
your lamps:
SIGNALS 6
TURN
PARKING
PC
LAMPS
FOG LAMPS # 0
These symbols
are on some
of
your controls:
WINDSHIELD
DEFROSTER
WINDOW
DEFOGGER
VENTILATING
These symbols are used on
warning and
indicator lights:
COOLANT -
TEMP -
CHARGING I-1
BATTERY
SYSTEM
BRAKE
(a)
COOLANT a
ENGINE OIL w,
PRESSURE
ANTI-LOCK
(e)
BRAKES
Here are some
other symbols
you
may see:
FUSE
LIGHTER
n
HORN )tr
SPEAKER
b
FUEL p3
V

Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
Here you’ll find information about the seats in your Pontiac\
and how to use your safety belts properly. You can also
learn about
some things you should not do with air bags and safety belts.
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Seats and Seat Controls
Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
Here Are Questions Many People
Ask About
Safety Belts
-- and the Answers
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
Driver Position
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
Right Front Passenger Position
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
Rear Seat Passengers
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Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for Children
and Small Adults
Center Passenger Position
Children
Child Restraints
Larger Children Safety Belt Extender
Checking Your Restraint Systems
Replacing Restraint System
Parts
After a Crash
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Sitting in a reclined position when your vehicle is
in motion can be dangerous. Even if you buckle
up, your safety belts can’t do their job when
you’re reclined like this.
The shoulder belt can’t do
its job because it
won’t be against your body. Instead, it will be in
front of you.
In a crash you could go into it,
receiving neck
or other injuries.
The lap belt can’t do
its job either. In a crash the
belt could
go up over your abdomen. The belt
forces would
be there, not at your pelvic bones.
This could cause serious internal injuries.
For proper protection when the vehicle is in
motion, have the seatback upright.. Then sit well
back
in the seat and wear your dety belt properly.
Head Restraints
Slide the head restraint up or down so that the top of the
restraint is closest to
the top of your ears. This position
reduces the chance of a neck injury in a crash.
Seatback Latches (2-Door Models)
The front seatback folds forward to let people get into
the back seat.
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Rear Seats
Folding the Rear Seat (If Equipped)
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To open, pull forward on the seat tab.
To close, push the seatback up to its original position.
Push the seatback completely up against the back plate
to ensure
that the latch will hook.
Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
This part of the manual tells you how to use safety belts
properly. It also tells you some things
you should not do
with safety belts.
And it explains the Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS), or air bag system.
A CAUTION:
A
Don’t let anyone ride where he or she can’t wear
a safety belt properly. If you are in a crash and
you’re not wearing
a safety belt, your injuries
can be much
worse. You can hit things inside the
vehicle or be ejected from it. You can be seriously
injured or killed. In the same crash, you might
not be
if you are buckled up. Always fasten your
safety belt, and check
that your passengers’ belts
are fastened properly
too.
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A CAUTION:
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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. Your
vehicle has a light
that comes
on as a reminder
to buckle up. (See “Safety
Belt Reminder Light” in
the Index.)
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In most states and Canadian provinces, the law says to
wear safety belts. Here’s why:
They work.
You never know if you’ll be in a crash. If you do have a
crash, you don’t
know if it will be a bad one.
A few crashes are mild, and some crashes can be so
serious that even buckled up a person wouldn’t survive.
But most crashes are in between.
In many of them,
people who buckle up can survive and sometimes walk away. Without belts they could have been badly hurt
or killed.
After more than
30 years of safety belts in vehicles,
the facts are clear. In most crashes buckling up does
matter
... a lot!
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Why Safety Belts Work
When you ride in or on anything, you go as fast as
it
goes.
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Take the simplest vehicle. Suppose it's just a seat
on wheels.
P-
Put someone on it.
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or the instrument panel . . . or the safety belts!
With safety belts, you slow down as the vehicle does.
You get more time to stop. You stop over more distance,
and your strongest bones take the forces. That’s why
safety belts make such good sense.
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Here Are Questions Man ‘~ople Ask
About Safety Belts -- and the Answers
Q.? Won’t I be trapped in the vehicle after an
accident if
I’m wearing a safety belt?
A: You could be -- whether you’re wearing a safety
belt or not. But
you can unbuckle a safety belt,
even if you’re upside down. And your chance
of
being conscious during and after an accident, so
you can unbuckle and get out, is much greater if
you
are belted.
Q.” If my vehicle has air bags, why should I have to
wear
safety belts?
A: Air bags are in many vehicles today and will be in
most
of them in the future. But they are
supplemental systems only;
so they work with
safety belts -- not instead of them. Every air bag
system ever offered for sale has required the use of
safety belts. Even if you’re in
a vehicle that has air
bags, you still have to buckle up to get the most
protection. That’s true not only in frontal collisions, but especially in side and other collisions.
@ 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 kmk).
Safety belts are for everyone.
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How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
Adults
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 Merent rules for smaller
children and babies. If a child will be riding in your
vehicle,
see the part of this manual called “Children.”
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.
Driver Position
This part describes the driver’s restraint system.
Lap-Shoulder Belt
The driver has a lap-shoulder belt. Here’s how to wear
it properly.
1. Close and lock the door.
2. Adjust the seat (to see how, see “Seats” in the Index)\

so you can sit up straight.
3. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
Don’t let it get twisted.
4. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
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