1998 Mercury Villager Owner's Manuals

3. Pull on the belt until all of the stored belt is out of the retractor
and a click is heard.
4. Allow the belt to retract. A clicking sound will be heard as the
belt retracts. This indicates that the retractor is in the
automatic locking mode.
Routing the safety belt tongue through the child seat (captain's chair shown)
Seating and Safety Restraints
157

5. Pull up on the shoulder belt to remove slack in the belt while
you push down on the child seat. Make sure there is tension
in the belt.
Removing slack from the safety belt (captain's chair shown)
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6. Before placing the child in the child seat or infant carrier, use
force to tilt the seat from side to side, and tug it forward to
make sure that the seat is securely held in place.
7. Check that the retractor is in the automatic locking mode.
Try to pull more belt out of the retractor. If you cannot, the belt
is in the automatic locking mode.
8. Check to make sure the child seat or infant carrier is properly
secured prior to each use. If the safety belt is not locked,
repeat steps 3 through 6.
NOTE: When the lap/shoulder belt is unbuckled and allowed
to retract completely, the retractor will switch to the
vehicle sensitive (emergency) locking mode.
Testing the security of the child seat
Seating and Safety Restraints
159

The automatic locking mode is activated whenever all of the belt
webbing is pulled out of the retractor.
While in this mode, the belt will retract or tighten but cannot be
pulled back out to obtain more length. To disengage the
automatic locking mode, unbuckle the belt and allow the webbing
to retract fully.
Attaching Safety Seats With Tether Straps
Some manufacturers make safety seats that include a tether strap
that goes over the back of the vehicle seat and attaches to an
anchoring point. Other manufacturers offer the tether strap as an
accessory. Contact the manufacturer of your child safety seat
for information about ordering a tether strap.
All vehicles built for sale in Canada include tether anchor
hardware for use with Canadian child safety seats. The tether
anchor hardware is located in the tire changing tool kit. Additional
tether anchor hardware can be obtained at no charge from any
Ford or Lincoln-Mercury dealer.
Vehicles built for sale in the USAdo notinclude tether anchor
hardware, but it can be obtained at no charge from any Ford or
Lincoln-Mercury dealer (Part number F3XY-12613D20-A).
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The chart below specifies, for each seat type and position, where
the tether strap must be attached to the vehicle and the
section containing the appropriate instructions for tethering.
Seating and Safety Restraints
161

Tethering to floor anchor
Ford recommends placing tethered safety seats in a rear seating
position with the tether strap attached to the tether anchor bolt as
shown in the following illustration.
To gain access to the anchoring bolt, cut through the plastic
along the U-shaped tether location outlines on the carpet of the
luggage area. Remove the bolt that is currently in the anchor
location. The tether anchor hardware has been preassembled.
To attach it, orient the tab in the bracket toward the front of the
vehicle and securely tighten the bolt. Follow the child safety
seat directions for attaching the tether strap to the anchor bracket.
Tether anchor point locations
162

WARNING
Only use the tether attachment hole locations shown in
the illustrations. The tether anchor may not perform
properly if the wrong mounting location is used.
WARNING
Follow these precautions to decrease the chance of injury
in an accident.
WARNING
If the anchor bolt(s) is ever removed, the hole(s) in the
floor must be sealed to prevent the possibility of exhaust
fumes entering the passenger compartment.
Seating and Safety Restraints
163

Tethering to lap/shoulder belt tongue
To attach a tether strap to a lap/shoulder belt:
1. Route the tether strap under the headrest and between the
head restraint supports.
2. Hook the tether strap hook into the large hole at the end of the
tongue of the lap/shoulder belt directly behind the child seat
position.
3. Adjust the tether strap length until the hook is about one foot
behind the seatback.
4. Pull the shoulder belt until all of the belt is fully extended and
a click is heard. At this time the belt is in automatic locking
mode (child restraint mode.)
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