2001 FORD WINDSTAR Owners Manual

SAFETY SEATS FOR CHILDREN
Child and infant or child safety seats
Use a safety seat that is recommended for the size and weight of the
child. Carefully follow all of the manufacturer's instructions with the
safety seat you put in your vehicle. If you do not install and use the
safety seat properly, the child may be injured in a sudden stop or
collision.
When installing a child safety seat:
²Review and follow the information
presented in theAir Bag
Supplemental Restraint System
section in this chapter.
²Use the correct safety belt buckle
for that seating position.
²Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle until you hear a
snap and feel it latch. Make sure
the tongue is securely fastened in
the buckle.
²Keep the buckle release button
pointing up and away from the
safety seat, with the tongue
between the child seat and the
release button, to prevent
accidental unbuckling.
²Place seat back in upright position.
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Ford recommends the use of a child safety seat having a top tether
strap. Install the child safety seat in a seating position which is capable
of providing a tether anchorage. For more information on top tether
straps, refer toAttaching safety seats with tether straps.
Carefully follow all of the manufacturer's instructions included
with the safety seat you put in your vehicle. If you do not install
and use the safety seat properly, the child may be injured in a sudden
stop or collision.
Installing child safety seats in cinch tongue combination lap and
shoulder belt seating positions
The belt webbing below the tongue is the lap portion of the combination
lap/shoulder belt, and the belt webbing above the tongue is the shoulder
belt portion of the combination lap/shoulder belt.
1. Position the child safety seat in a
seat with a combination lap and
shoulder belt.
Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child seat. If you must use
a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move seat all the
way back.
Rear facing seats should NEVER be placed in the front seats.
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2. Grasp the belt webbing below the
tongue and pull as much of the belt
out of the retractor as possible. Hold
the belt out.
3. With your other hand, grasp the
tip (metal portion) of the tongue
(not the cover) and slide the tongue
up the webbing as far as it will go.
Release the tongue, but do not let
go of the lap portion of the belt
webbing.
4. While holding the shoulder and
lap portions together, route the
tongue and webbing through the
child seat according to the child
seat manufacturer's instructions. Be
sure that the belt webbing is not
twisted.
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5. Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle for that seating
positions until you hear a snap and
feel it latch. Make sure the tongue is
securely latched to the buckle by
pulling on the tongue.
6. While pushing down with your
knee on the child seat pull up on
the shoulder belt portion to tighten
the lap belt portion of the
combination lap and shoulder belt.
7. Allow the safety belt to retract
and remove any slack in the belt to
securely tighten the child safety seat
in the vehicle.
8. Before placing the child into the child seat, forcibly tilt the child seat
forward and back to make sure that the seat is held securely in place.
9. Check from time to time to be sure that there is no slack in the
lap/shoulder belt. The shoulder belt must be snug to keep the lap belt
tight during a collision.
Installing child safety seats in the lap belt seating positions
1. Lengthen the lap belt. To lengthen the belt, hold the tongue so that its
bottom is perpendicular to the direction of webbing while sliding the
tongue up the webbing.
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2. Place the child safety seat in the center seating position.
3. Route the tongue and webbing through the child seat according to the
child seat manufacturer's instructions.
4. Insert the belt tongue into the proper buckle for the center seating
position until you hear a snap and feel it latch. Make sure the tongue is
securely fastened to the buckle by pulling on tongue.
5. Push down on the child seat while pulling on the loose end of the lap
belt webbing to tighten the belt.
6. Before placing the child into the child seat, forcibly tilt the child seat
from side to side and in forward direction to make sure that the seat is
held securely in place. If the child seat moves excessively, repeat steps 5
through 6, or properly install the child seat in a different position.
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.
Tether anchorage hardware
Children should be placed in the rear in an appropriate child
safety seat that is properly secured to the vehicle.
Tether strap anchorage locations
have been provided in your vehicle.
The left side of the figure is the
front of the vehicle.
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The tether can be attached directly to the rear of all passenger seating
except the front passenger seat equipped with power adjustment. The
front passenger seat with manual adjustment does have a tether anchor.
Front passenger seating position (manual adjusting seats only)
1. Position the child safety seat on
the passenger seat cushion.
2. Route the child safety seat tether
strap over the back of the seat.
3. Grasp the tether strap and
position it to the seat frame.
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4. Rotate the tether strap.
5. Clip the tether strap to the seat
frame.
If the tether strap is clipped
incorrectly (as shown) the child
safety seat may not be retained
properly in the event of a
collision.
6. Rotate the tether strap clip.
7. Refer to the instructions in this
section underInstalling child
safety seats in cinch tongue
combination lap and shoulder belt
seating positionsto secure the
child safety seat.
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8. Tighten the child safety seat
tether strap according to the
manufacturer's instructions.
Rear seating positions
Follow steps 1±8 as described above for the following available seats:
²2nd row bucket
²2nd row bench
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