1999 Mercury Sable child restraint

ICONS
Indicates a safety alert.
Read the following
section onWarnings.
Indicates vehicle
information related to
recycling and other
environmental
concerns will follow.
Correct vehicle usage and the authorized disposal of
waste cleaning and lubrication materials are
significant steps towards protecting the
environment.
Indicates a message
regarding child safety
restraints. Refer to
Seating and safety
restraintsfor more information.
Indicates that this
Owner Guide contains
information on this
subject. Please refer to
the Index to locate the appropriate section which
will provide you more information.
WARNINGS
Warnings provide information which may reduce the
risk of personal injury and prevent possible damage
to others, your vehicle and its equipment.
BREAKING-IN YOUR VEHICLE
There are no particular breaking-in rules for your
vehicle. During the first 1 600 km (1 000 miles) of
driving, vary speeds frequently. This is necessary to
give the moving parts a chance to break in.
Introduction
2

SAFETY RESTRAINTS
Safety restraints precautions
Always drive and ride with your seatback
upright and the lap belt snug and low across
the hips.
To prevent the risk of injury, make sure
children sit where they can be properly
restrained.
Never let a passenger hold a child on his or
her lap while the vehicle is moving. The
passenger cannot protect the child from injury in a
collision.
All occupants of the vehicle, including the
driver, should always properly wear their
safety belts, even when an air bag SRS is provided.
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.
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74

suddenly or turns a corner sharply, or the vehicle
receives an impact of 8 km/h (5 mph) or more, the
combination safety belts will lock to help reduce
forward movement of the driver and passengers.
Automatic locking mode
In this mode, the shoulder belt is automatically
pre-locked. The belt will still retract to remove any
slack in the shoulder belt.
The automatic locking mode is not available on the
driver safety belt.
When to use the automatic locking mode
²When a tight lap/shoulder fit is desired.
²Anytimea child safety seat is installed in the
vehicle. Refer toSafety Restraints for Children
orSafety Seats for Childrenlater in this chapter.
How to use the automatic locking mode
²Buckle the
combination lap and
shoulder belt.
²Grasp the shoulder
portion and pull
downward until the
entire belt is
extracted.
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²Allow the belt to retract. As the belt retracts, you
will hear a clicking sound. This indicates the
safety belt is now in the automatic locking mode.
How to disengage the automatic locking mode
Disconnect the combination lap/shoulder belt and
allow it to retract completely to disengage the
automatic locking mode and activate the vehicle
sensitive (emergency) locking mode.
²This vehicle has a seat belt system with an energy
management feature at the front seating positions
to help further reduce the risk of injury in the
event of a head-on collision.
²This seat belt system has a retractor assembly
that is designed to pay out webbing in a
controlled manner. This feature is designed to
help reduce the belt force acting on the
occupant's chest.
After any vehicle collision, the seat belt
system at all outboard seating positions
(except driver, which has no ªautomatic locking
retractorº feature) must be checked by a qualified
technician to verify that the ªautomatic locking
retractorº feature for child seats is still functioning
properly, in addition to other checks for proper
seat belt system function.
BELT AND RETRACTOR ASSEMBLY MUST
BE REPLACED if the seat belt assembly
ªautomatic locking retractorº feature or any other
seat belt function is not operating properly when
checked according to the procedures in Workshop
Manual.
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77

Shorten and fasten the
belt when not in use.
Safety belts for rear-facing occupants
(wagon only)
Never use child safety seats in the third seat
of a wagon.
Your vehicle is equipped with safety belts containing
an adjust tongue at the rear-facing seating positions.
When the adjust tongue of the lap/shoulder
combination seat belt is latched into the buckle, the
tongue will allow the lap portion to become shorter,
but locks the webbing in place to restrict it from
becoming longer.
Before you reach and latch a combination lap and
shoulder belt having an adjust tongue into the
buckle, you may have to lengthen the lap belt
portion of it. To lengthen the lap belt, pull some
webbing out of the shoulder belt retractor. While
holding the webbing below the tongue, grasp the
tongue so that it is parallel to the webbing and slide
the tongue upward. Provide enough length so that
the tongue can reach the buckle.
To fasten the belt, pull the combination lap and
shoulder belt from the retractor so that the shoulder
belt portion of the safety belt crosses your shoulder
and chest. Be sure the belt is not twisted. If the belt
is twisted, remove the twist. Insert the tongue into
the proper buckle for your seating position until you
hear a snap and feel it latch. Make sure the tongue
is securely fastened to the buckle by pulling on the
tongue.
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80

Safety belt maintenance
Inspect the safety belt systems periodically to make
sure they work properly and are not damaged.
Inspect the safety belts to make sure there are no
nicks, wears or cuts, replacing if necessary. All
safety belt assemblies, including retractors, buckles,
front seat belt buckle assemblies (slide bar)(if
equipped), shoulder belt height adjusters (if
equipped), child safety seat tether bracket
assemblies (if equipped), and attaching hardware,
should be inspected after a collision. Ford
recommends that all safety belt assemblies used in
vehicles involved in a collision be replaced. However,
if the collision was minor and a qualified technician
finds that the belts do not show damage and
continue to operate properly, they do not need to be
replaced. Safety belt assemblies not in use during a
collision should also be inspected and replaced if
either damage or improper operation is noted.
Failure to inspect and if necessary replace
the safety belt assembly under the above
conditions could result in severe personal injuries
in the event of a collision.
Refer toCleaning and maintaining the safety
beltsin theMaintenance and caresection.
AIR BAG SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM
(SRS)
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ENGINE
SOONLOW
COOLANTTHEFT102030405060
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1202060100
140
180P R N D 2 1MPH km/h0000000000P!
BRAKE+ –110CRUISERPMx1000ABSO/D
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78
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83

Important supplemental restraint system (SRS)
precautions
The supplemental
restraint system is
designed to work with
the safety belt to help
protect the driver and
right front passenger
from certain upper
body injuries.
Air bags DO NOT
inflate slowly or gently
and the risk of injury
from a deploying air bag is greatest close to the trim
covering the air bag module.
All occupants of the vehicle including the
driver should always properly wear their
safety belts even when air bag SRS is provided.
Always transport children 12 years old and
under in the back seat and always use
appropriate child restraints.
NHTSA recommends a minimum distance of
at least 25 cm (ten [10] inches) between an
occupant's chest and the air bag module.
Steps you can take to properly position yourself
away from the airbag:
²Move your seat to the rear as far as you can while
still reaching the pedals comfortably.
²Recline the seat slightly (one or two degrees)
from the upright position.
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84

Do not put anything on or over the air bag
module. Placing objects on or over the air
bag inflation area may cause those objects to be
propelled by the air bag into your face and torso
causing serious injury.
Do not attempt to service, repair, or modify
the Air Bag Supplemental Restraint System
or its fuses. See your Ford or Lincoln-Mercury
dealer.
Children and air bags
For additional
important safety
information, read all
information on safety
restraints in this guide.
Children must always
be properly restrained.
Accident statistics
suggest that children
are safer when
properly restrained in
the rear seating
positions than in the front seating position. Failure
to follow these instructions may increase the risk of
injury in a collision.
Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child
seat.NEVERplace a rear-facing child seat
in front of an active air bag. If you must use a
forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move
the seat all the way back.
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85