1998 Mercury Villager Owner's Manuals

3. Place the child in the built-in child seat. Position the crotch
belt buckle between the child's legs.
Seating and Safety Restraints
173

4. Place the left shoulder belt harness over the child's left
shoulder. Insert the left shoulder harness tongue into the left
side of the belt buckle. Confirm that the left shoulder harness
tongue indicator is green.
5. Place the right shoulder belt harness over the child's right
shoulder. Insert the right shoulder harness tongue into the
right side of the belt buckle. Confirm that the right shoulder
harness tongue indicator is green.
6. Fasten the two halves of the chest clip below the child's
shoulders. Adjust the clip to comfortably hold the shoulder belts
in place on the child's chest. Confirm that the chest clip
indicator is green.
NOTE: The chest clip can be easily pulled apart and is
designed to separate during a collision.
7. Pull the right shoulder belt fully out to put the retractor into
the locking mode. At this time, the shoulder belts are in an
automatic locking mode. Allow the safety belts to tighten snugly
against the child's shoulders. The belt will automatically
lock and cannot be pulled out.
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8. If the shoulder belts are too tight, unlatch the chest clip and
unbuckle the child from the built-in child seat. Allow the
shoulder belts to retract fully. Repeat the procedure from step
3 through step 7.
Removing the child from the built-in child seat
1. Open the chest clip by squeezing together the release tabs on
the top and bottom edges of the center of the chest clip. Pull
the two halves apart.
2. Press the release button on the crotch belt buckle.
3. Slide the shoulder belts off the child's shoulders. Remove the
child from the built-in child seat.
4. Confirm that the shoulder belts are fully retracted and resting
inside the built-in child seat recess. It is unnecessary to
reconnect the shoulder harness and belt buckle prior to storing
the built-in child seat.
5. While holding the tab, rotate the cushion upward until it fits
flush with the second row seatback pad.
Seating and Safety Restraints
175

6. Confirm that the built-in child seat is locked in the stowed
position by grasping the safety seat cushion and attempting
to lower it without pulling the cushion release strap.
7. If the built-in child seat is not locked in the stowed position,
repeat steps 4 through 6.
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The removable and adjustable seats are a convenient feature of
your vehicle. Reading this chapter will help you learn about the
various ways the seats in your vehicle can be arranged to suit
your different needs.
Your vehicle is a five or seven-passenger vehicle. As a
seven-passenger vehicle, it will have either a two-passenger
bench seat or two second-row bucket seats and the sliding
three-passenger bench seat in the third row. Read the section that
describes the type of second-row seat in your vehicle. To make
your vehicle a five-passenger vehicle, remove the second-row seats.
NOTE: When adjusting or moving any of the seats in your
vehicle, do not use any of the buckles, tongues, or
safety belt webbing to carry or move the seats. Lifting
the seats by any of the safety restraint equipment
could decrease their effectiveness.
NOTE: Your vehicle has five different kinds of floor mats:
front seat mats, a cargo area mat, a sliding door area
mat, and second and third row passenger area mats.
Whenever you remove the mats to remove or adjust
any of the seats always remember that the mats must be
reinstalled before passengers ride in your vehicle.
The floor mats are specifically designed to keep objects
out of the seat tracks.
WARNING
It is important to replace the floor mats whenever they are
removed for any reason. The floor mats are intended to
help prevent the possibility that high-heeled shoes might
become stuck in the seat tracks. Failure to replace the
floor mats might result in personal injury.
Adjustable Rear Seating
177

Floor Mats
Removable Floor Mats
Whenever you remove the mats to remove or adjust any of the
seats, always remember that the mats must be reinstalled before
passengers ride in your vehicle. The floor mats are specifically
designed to keep objects out of the seat tracks.
Be sure to keep the seat tracks clear of debris by cleaning them
periodically.
Vacuum any particles from the inside of the tracks where the
roller units are enclosed using a small crevice tool attached to a
high-powered vacuum. This will ensure that the sliding seat will
continue to slide properly during the life of your vehicle.
The removable floor mats
178

Review the following illustrations so you will know the proper
way to place the floor mats with the various seating arrangements
available in your vehicle.
Adjustable Rear Seating
179

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