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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 (the
buckle closest to the direction the
tongue is coming from).
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.
²Put the safety belt in the automatic locking mode. Refer toAutomatic
locking mode(passenger side front and outboard rear seating
positions-Regular Cab and SuperCab) (passenger side front and rear
seating positions-SuperCrew) (if equipped).
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.
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Installing child safety seats in combination lap and shoulder belt
seating positions
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.
1. Position the child safety seat in a
seat with a combination lap and
shoulder belt.
Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in the rear
seat whenever possible.
2. Pull down on the shoulder belt
and then grasp the shoulder belt
and lap belt together.
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3. While holding the shoulder and
lap belt portions together, route the
tongue through the child seat
according to the child seat
manufacturer's instructions. Be sure
the belt webbing is not twisted.
4. Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle (the buckle closest to
the direction the tongue is coming
from) for that seating position until
you hear a snap and feel the latch
engage. Make sure the tongue is
latched securely by pulling on it.
5. To put the retractor in the
automatic locking mode, grasp the
shoulder portion of the belt and pull
downward until all of the belt is
extracted and a click is heard.
6. Allow the belt to retract. The belt will click as it retracts to indicate it
is in the automatic locking mode.
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7. Pull the lap belt portion across
the child seat toward the buckle and
pull up on the shoulder belt while
pushing down with your knee on the
child seat.
8. Allow the safety belt to retract to
remove any slack in the belt.
9. Before placing the child in the
seat, forcibly tilt the seat forward
and back to make sure the seat is
securely held in place. To check
this, grab the seat at the belt path
and attempt to move it side to side
and forward and back. There should
be no more than one inch of
movement for proper installation.
10. Try to pull the belt out of the retractor to make sure the retractor is
in the automatic locking mode (you should not be able to pull more belt
out). If the retractor is not locked, unbuckle the belt and repeat steps
two through nine.
Check to make sure the child seat is properly secured before each use.
Installing child safety seats in the front row 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.
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.
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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.
Installing child safety seat in the second row center seating
position with an automatic locking retractor
1. Place the child safety seat in the center seating position.
2. In a continuous motion, pull out enough webbing from the retractor to
route the tongue through the child seat.
3. While holding the webbing to prevent it from retracting, route the
webbing through the child seat according to the child seat
manufacturer's instructions. Be sure the belt webbing is not twisted.
4. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle for that seating position until
you hear and feel the buckle engage. Make sure the buckle is latched
securely by pulling on the webbing.
5. If you have not pulled out enough webbing to reach, allow the
webbing to fully retract before attempting to pull it out again and repeat
steps 2 through 4.
6. Pull the webbing through the child seat toward the buckle while
pushing down with your knee on the child seat.
7. Allow the safety belt to retract to remove any slack in the belt. It will
make a clicking noise while doing this.
8. Before placing the child in the seat, forcibly tilt the seat forward and
back to make sure the seat is securely held in place.
9.
Check to make sure the child seat is properly secured before each use.
Attaching child safety seats with tether straps
Most new forward-facing child safety seats include a tether strap which
goes over the back of the seat and hooks to an anchoring point. Tether
straps are available as an accessory for many older safety seats. Contact
the manufacturer of your child seat for information about ordering a
tether strap.
The passenger seats of your vehicle are equipped with built-in tether
strap anchors located behind the seats as described below.
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²Rear seats (SuperCrew only)
If the tether strap is clipped
incorrectly, the child safety
seat may not be retained properly
in the event of a collision.
5. Refer to theInstalling child
safety seats in combination lap
and shoulder belt seating
positionssection of this chapter for
further instructions to secure the
child safety seat.
6. Tighten the child safety seat
tether strap according to the
manufacturer's instructions.
If the safety seat is not anchored properly, the risk of a child
being injured in a collision greatly increases.
Tether strap attachment rear SuperCab only
There are three loops of webbing just above the back of the rear seat
(along the bottom edge of the rear window) in the SuperCab. These
loops are to be used as both routing loops and anchor loops for child
safety seat tether straps. For example, the center loop can be used as a
routing loop for a child safety seat in the center rear seat and as an
anchoring loop for child seats installed in the outboard rear seats.
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Many tether straps cannot be tightened if the tether strap is hooked to
the loop directly behind the child seat. To provide a tight tether strap:
1. Route the tether strap through
the loop directly behind the child
seat.
2. Attach the strap hook onto the
loop behind an adjacent seating
position.
3. Install the child safety seat tightly
using the safety belts. Follow the
instructions in this chapter.
4. Tighten the tether strap
according to the child seat
manufacturer's instructions.
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Do not start your vehicle in a closed garage or in other enclosed
areas. Exhaust fumes can be toxic. Always open the garage door
before you start the engine. SeeGuarding against exhaust fumesin
this chapter for more instructions.
If you smell exhaust fumes inside your vehicle, have your dealer
inspect your vehicle immediately. Do not drive if you smell
exhaust fumes.
Important safety precautions
A computer system controls the engine's idle revolutions per minute
(RPM). When the engine starts, the idle RPM runs faster to warm the
engine. If the engine idle speed does not slow down automatically, have
the vehicle checked. Do not allow the vehicle to idle for more than 10
minutes at high engine RPM.
Before starting the vehicle:
1. Make sure all vehicle occupants have buckled their safety belts. For
more information on safety belts and their proper usage, refer to the
Seating and safety restraintschapter.
2. Make sure the headlamps and vehicle accessories are off.
If starting a vehicle with an automatic transmission:
²Make sure the parking brake is
set.
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