2001 Mercury Sable air condition

3. Lift the remote latch release on
the left side of the compartment
and fold the remaining floor panel
until it latches. Make sure the
seatback is locked in the upright
position.
To close the seat, make sure the safety belts are properly stowed, then
lift the remote latch release and push the seat down until it latches. Pull
up on the handle and push the floor panel into place.
SAFETY RESTRAINTS
Personal Safety System
The Personal Safety System provides an improved overall level of frontal
crash protection to front seat occupants and is designed to help further
reduce the risk of air bag-related injuries. The system is able to analyze
different occupant conditions and crash severity before activating the
appropriate safety devices to help better protect a range of occupants in
a variety of frontal crash situations.
Your vehicle's Personal Safety System consists of:
²Driver and passenger dual-stage air bag supplemental restraints. Refer
to theAir bag supplemental restraintssection in this chapter.
²Front safety belts with pretensioners, energy management retractors,
and safety belt usage sensors. Refer to theSafety beltssection in this
chapter.
²Driver's seat position sensor.
²Front crash severity sensor.
²Restraints Control Module (RCM) with impact and safing sensors.
²An indicator light and back-up tone.
²The electrical wiring for the air bags, crash sensor(s), safety belt
pretensioners, front safety belt usage sensors and driver's seat position
sensor.
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How does the personal safety system work?
The Personal Safety System uses a collection of sensors to gather
information about the driver's seat position, driver and front outboard
passenger's safety belt usage and accident severity. Then, dual-stage
inflating air bags are combined with safety belt pretensioners and energy
management retractors to help provide enhanced occupant protection in
frontal crashes.
The driver's seat position sensor determines if the seat is fore or aft of a
reference position. Similarly, the safety belt usage sensors determine if
the driver and front outboard passenger safety belts are fastened. These
sensors provide the ability to tailor the air bag deployment based upon
how close the driver's seat is to the steering wheel and whether or not
the safety belts are fastened.
The dual-stage air bags offer the ability to tailor the air bag inflation with
two energy levels. A lower, less forceful energy level is provided for more
common, moderate-severity impacts. A higher energy level is provided
for the most severe impacts. Whether or not the air bag deploys at all
can also be different for the driver versus the passenger based upon
driver's seat position and safety belt usage allowing further tailoring of
the system.
Determining if the personal safety system is operational
The Personal Safety System uses a warning indicator light in the
instrument cluster or a back-up tone to indicate the condition of the
system. Refer to theRestraints Warning Indicatorsection in the
Instrumentationchapter. Routine maintenance of the Personal Safety
System is not required.
The RCM (restraints control module) monitors its own internal circuits
and the circuits for the air bag supplemental restraints, crash sensor(s),
safety belt pretensioners, front safety belt usage sensors and driver's seat
position sensor. In addition, the RCM also monitors the restraints
warning indicator light in the instrument cluster. A difficulty with the
system is indicated by one or more of the following:
²The indicator light will either
flash or stay lit.
²The indicator light will not
illuminate immediately after
ignition is turned on.
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²A series of five beeps will be heard. The tone pattern will repeat
periodically until the problem and indicator light are repaired.
If any of these things happen, even intermittently, have the Personal
Safety System serviced at your dealership or by a qualified technician
immediately. Unless serviced, the system may not function properly in
the event of a collision.
When are the front air bags and pretensioners deployed?
Front air bags and pretensioners are
designed to activate in frontal and
near-frontal collisions, not rollover,
side-impacts, or rear-impacts unless
the collision causes sufficient
longitudinal deceleration. The fact
that the pretensioners or air bags
did not activate in a collision does
not mean that something is wrong
with the system. Rather, it means
the Personal Safety System
determined the occupant conditions
or crash severity were not appropriate to activate these safety devices.
Safety belt 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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83

After any vehicle collision, the front passenger outboard seat belt
system 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 seat belts should be checked for
proper 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.
Failure to replace the Belt and Retractor assembly could
increase the risk of injury in collisions.
Safety belt pretensioner
Your vehicle is equipped with safety belt pretensioners at the driver and
front outboard passenger seating positions.
The safety belt pretensioners are designed to activate only when the
safety belts are fastened during certain frontal or near-frontal collisions
with sufficient longitudinal deceleration. A safety belt pretensioner is a
device which tightens the webbing of the lap and shoulder belts in such
a way that they fit more snugly against the body.
The driver and front outboard passenger safety belt system (including
retractors, buckles and height adjusters) must be replaced if the vehicle is
involved in a collision that results in the activation of the safety belt
pretensioners. Refer to theSafety belt maintenancesection in this chapter.
Failure to replace the safety belt assembly under the above
conditions could result in severe personal injuries in the event of
a collision.
Safety belt usage sensors
The driver and front outboard passenger safety belt buckles are
equipped with sensors that detect if the safety belts are fastened. The
sensors provide information to the Personal Safety System which can
then adapt the air bag deployment or safety belt pretensioner activation
based upon safety belt usage.
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there are no nicks, wears or cuts. Replace if necessary. All safety belt
assemblies, including retractors, buckles, front seat belt buckle
assemblies, buckle support assemblies (slide bar-if equipped), shoulder
belt height adjusters (if equipped), shoulder belt guide on seatback (if
equipped), child safety seat tether bracket assemblies (if equipped),
LATCH child seat tether anchors and lower anchors (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 the
Maintenance and caresection.
AIR BAG SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM
Your vehicle is equipped with a crash sensing and diagnostic module
which records information about the air bag and sensor systems. In the
event of a collision this module may save information related to the
collision including information about the air bag system and impact
severity. This information will assist Ford in the servicing of your vehicle
and may help Ford better understand real world collisions and further
improve the safety of future vehicles.
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96

The air bag supplemental restraint system is designed to work in
conjunction with the safety belts to help protect the driver and front
outboard passenger from certain upper body injuries. The term
ªsupplemental restraintº means the air bags are intended as a
supplement to the safety belts. Air bags alone cannot protect as well as
air bags plus safety belts in impacts for which the air bags are designed
to deploy, and air bags do not offer any protection in crashes for which
they do not deploy.
HOW DO THE AIR BAG SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINTS WORK?
The air bag supplemental restraint system consists of:
²driver and passenger dual stage air bag modules (which include the
inflators and air bags).
²side air bags (if equipped). Refer toSide air bag systemlater in this
chapter.
²one or more impact and safing sensors.
²the same indicator light, RCM (restraints control module) and
diagnostic unit used for the Personal safety system.
The air bag supplemental restraints are an intergral part of the Personal
Safety System. They are designed to be deployed in cases where the
Personal Safety System has determined the occupant conditions and
crash severity are appropriate to activate these devices. Refer to the
Personal Safety Systemsection in this chapter.
Important supplemental restraint system precautions
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.
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97

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.
Determining if the system is operational
The supplemental restraint system uses a warning indicator in the
instrument cluster or a back-up tone to indicate the condition of the
system. Refer to theRestraints Warning Indicatorsection in the
Instrumentationchapter. Routine maintenance of the air bag is not
required.
A difficulty with the system is indicated by one or more of the following:
²The readiness light (same light
for front and side air bag system)
will either flash or stay lit.
²The readiness light will not
illuminate immediately after ignition is turned on.
²A series of five beeps will be heard. The tone pattern will repeat
periodically until the problem and/or light are repaired.
If any of these things happen, even intermittently, have the supplemental
restraint system serviced at your dealership or by a qualified technician
immediately. Unless serviced, the system may not function properly in
the event of a collision.
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Important ventilating information
If the engine is idling while the vehicle is stopped in an open area for
long periods of time, open the windows at least 2.5 cm (one inch).
Adjust the heating or air conditioning (if equipped) to bring in fresh air.
Improve vehicle ventilation by keeping all air inlet vents clear of snow,
leaves and other debris.
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