2001 FORD EXPLORER SPORT Owners Manual

Adjusting the front power seat (if equipped)
Never adjust the driver's seat or seatback when the vehicle is
moving.
Do not pile cargo higher than the seatbacks to avoid injuring
people in a collision or sudden stop.
Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap
belt snug and low across the hips.
Reclining the seatback can reduce the effectiveness of the seat's
safety belt in the event of a collision.
The control is located on the outboard side of the seat cushion.
Press to raise or lower the front
portion of the seat cushion.
Press to raise or lower the rear
portion of the seat cushion.
Press the control to move the seat
forward, backward, up or down.
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Using the manual lumbar support (if equipped)
Turn the lumbar support control
toward the front of vehicle to move
the lumbar support forward for
more direct support.
Turn the lumbar support control
toward the rear of vehicle to move
the lumbar support back for less
direct support.
Tip Slide
Allows convenient access into the rear seat through the passenger door.
Do not drive the vehicle with the tip slide seat unlatched.
To operate the feature:
1. Lift the seatback control (1) on
the side of the seat. The seatback
will tilt forward.
2. Push the seatback to move the
seat assembly forward to gain access
to the rear seat.
3. Reposition the seatback to the upright position until it latches into
place. The seatback and seat track WILL NOT return to the original
position and must be manually adjusted.
1
2
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Once the tip slide feature has been activated, the seat will not re-latch
until the seatback is moved into the latched upright position by lifting
the seatback control (1). This will engage the seat track locking levers.
The tip slide feature can also be
activated from the rear seat
position. Push the lower control on
the rear outboard side of the front
seat (2) with your foot and follow
steps 2 and 3 listed previously.
REAR SEATS
Adjustable head restraints
Your vehicle's seats may be equipped with head restraints which are
vertically adjustable. The purpose of these head restraints is to help limit
head motion in the event of a rear collision. To properly adjust your head
restraints, lift the head restraint so that it is located directly behind your
head or as close to that position as possible. Refer to the following to
raise and lower the head restraints.
Push or pull the head rests to the
desired position.
1
2
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Folding rear seats
If the rear seat is equipped with adjustable head restraints, they should
be placed in the full down position before folding the seat back down.
1. Pull the release control up to
unlatch the seatback.
2. While holding latch handle, pull
up seat cushion and flip forward.
Seatback will follow and fold into
the load floor position.
3. Press down on the top outboard
area of the seatback until a click is
heard. The seat is now latched in
the floor position.
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To return the seat to the upright
position:
²Pull the release handle upward to
unlatch the seat.
²Rotate the seatback upward until
the seatback latches in the
upright position. The seatback
will click when it is locked into
position.
SAFETY RESTRAINTS
Safety restraints precautions
Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap
belt snug and low across the hips.
To reduce 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.
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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.
In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly more likely
to die than a person wearing a safety belt.
Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific safety belt
assembly which is made up of one buckle and one tongue that
are designed to be used as a pair. 1) Use the shoulder belt on the
outside shoulder only. Never wear the shoulder belt under the arm.
2) Never swing the safety belt around your neck over the inside
shoulder. 3) Never use a single belt for more than one person.
Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
Energy Management Feature
²This vehicle has a safety belt system with an energy management
feature at the front seating position to help further reduce the risk of
injury in the event of a head-on collision.
²This safety 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 safety 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, all safety belts should be checked for
proper function.
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BELT AND RETRACTOR ASSEMBLY MUST BE REPLACED if
the safety belt assembly ªautomatic locking retractorº feature or
any other safety belt function is not operating properly when checked
according to the procedures in Workshop Manual.
Failure to replace the Belt and Retractor assembly could
increase the risk of injury in collisions.
Vehicle sensitive mode
The vehicle sensitive mode is the normal retractor mode, allowing free
shoulder belt length adjustment to your movements and locking in
response to vehicle movement. For example, if the driver brakes
suddenly or turns a corner sharply, or the vehicle receives an impact of
approximately 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
²Any timea child safety seat is installed in a passenger front or
outboard rear seating position (if equipped). Children 12 years old and
under should be properly restrained in the rear seat whenever
possible. Refer toSafety Restraints for ChildrenorSafety Seats for
Childrenlater in this chapter.
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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.
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.
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