2003 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX Owners Manual

6. To tighten the belt, feed the shoulder belt back into
the retractor while you push down on the child
restraint. You may find it helpful to use your knee to
push down on the child restraint as you tighten
the belt.
7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.
To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle’s
safety belt and let it go back all the way. The safety
belt will move freely again and be ready to work for an
adult or larger child passenger.
1 -50

Supplemental Restraint
System
(SRS)
This part explains the Supplemental Restraint
System (SRS) or air bag system.
Your vehicle has air bags
- one air bag for the driver
and another air bag for the right front passenger.
Frontal air bags are designed
to help reduce the risk of
injury from the force of an inflating air bag.
But these
air bags must inflate very quickly to do their job
and comply with federal regulations.
Here are the most important things to know about the
air bag system:
You can be severely injured or killed in a crash
if you aren’t wearing your safety belt - even if
you have air bags. Wearing your safety belt
during a crash helps reduce your chance of hitting things inside the vehicle or being
ejected from
it. Air bags are designed to work
with safety belts, but don’t replace them.
CAUTION: (Continued) Air bags are designed to deploy only
in
moderate to severe frontal and near frontal
crashes.They aren’t designed to inflate at all
in
rollover, rear or low-speed frontal crashes,
or
in many side crashes. And, for some
unrestrained occupants, air bags may provide
less protection
in frontal crashes than more
forceful air bags have provided
in the past.
Everyone in your vehicle should wear a safety
belt properly
- whether or not there’s an air
bag for that person.
1-51

r bags inflate with great force, faster than
the blink of an eye. If you’re too close to an
inflating air bag, as you would be if you were
leaning forward,
it could seriously injure you.
Safety belts help keep you
in position before
and during a crash. Always wear your safety
belt, even with air bags. The driver should sit
as far back as possible while
still maintaining
control
of the vehicle.
I
Anyone who is up against, or very close to,
any air bag when
it inflates can be seriously
injured or killed. Air bags plus lap-shoulder
belts offer the best protection for adults, but not for young children and infants. Neither
the
vehicle’s safety belt system nor its air bag
system
is designedfor them. Young children
and infants need the protection that a child restraint system can provide. Always secure
children properly in your vehicle.
To read how,
see the parts of this manual called “Older
Children” and “Infants and Young Children”.
1-52

I SRS AIR BAG
I
L
United States
L
Canada
There is a air bag readiness light on the instrument
panel, which shows
SRS AIR BAG or the air bag
symbol.
The system checks the air bag electrical system for
malfunctions. The light tells you
if there is an electrical
problem. See Air Bag Readiness Light
on page 3-26
for more information.
Where Are the Air Bags?
The driver’s air bag is in the middle of the steering
wheel.
1-53

If something is between an occupant and an
air bag, the bag might not inflate properly or
it
might force the object into that person causing
severe injury or even death. The path
of an
inflating air bag must be kept clear. Don’t put
anything between an occupant and an air bag,
and don’t attach or put anything on the
steering wheel hub or on or near any other
air bag covering.
The right front passenger’s air bag is in the instrument
panel
on the passenger’s side.
1-54

When Should an Air Bag Inflate?
An air bag is designed to inflate in a moderate to severe
frontal, or near-frontal crash. The air bag will inflate
only
if the impact speed is above the system’s designed
“threshold level.”
If your vehicle goes straight into a
wall that doesn’t move or deform, the threshold level is
about
12 to 18 mph (19 to 29 km/h). The threshold
level can vary, however, with specific vehicle design,
so that it can be somewhat above or below this range.
If your vehicle strikes something that will move or
deform, such as a parked car, the threshold level will
be higher. The air bag is not designed to inflate
in
rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side impacts because
inflation would not help the occupant.
in any particular crash, no one can say whether an air
bag should have inflated simply because of the damage
to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were.
Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact
and how quickly the vehicle slows down in frontal or
near-frontal impacts.
What Makes an Air Bag Inflate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in
a crash. The
sensing system triggers a release
of gas from the
inflator, which inflates the air bag. The inflator, air bag,
and related hardware are all part of the air bag
modules inside the steering wheel and
in the instrument
panel in front of the right front passenger.
How Does an Air Bag Restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel or
the instrument panel. Air bags supplement the
protection provided by safety belts. Air bags distribute
the force of the impact more evenly over the occupant’s
upper body, stopping the occupant more gradually.
But air bags would not help you in many types of
collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts and many
side impacts, primarily because an occupant’s motion is
not toward those air bags. Air bags should never be
regarded as anything more than a supplement to safety
belts, and then only
in moderate to severe frontal or
near-frontal collisions.
1-55

What Will You See After an Air Bag
Inflates?
After an air bag inflates, it quickly deflates, so quickly that
some people may not even realize the air bag inflated.
Some components of the air bag module -the steering
wheel hub for the driver’s air bag or the instrument panel
for the right front passenger’s bag
- will be hot for a
short time. The parts of the bag that come into contact
with you may be warm, but not too hot to touch. There will
be some smoke and dust coming from the vents in the
deflated air bags. Air bag inflation doesn’t prevent the
driver from seeing or being able to steer the vehicle,
no- ”oes it sto- Teople from leaving the vehicle
When an air
,,g inflates, there is dust i.. khe
air. This dust could cause breathing problems
for people with a history of asthma or other breathing trouble.
To avoid this, everyone in
the vehicle should get out as soon as it is safe
CAUTION: (Continued) to do
so. If you hawe breath ...d prob.,.ns
butcan’t get out of the vehicle after an air bag
inflates, then get fresh air by opening a
window or a door. If you experience breathing
problems following an air bag deployment,
you should seek medical attention.
In many crashes severe enough to inflate an air bag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
right front passenger air bag.
0 Air bags are designed to inflate only once. After an
air bag inflates, you’ll need some new parts for
your air bag system. If you don’t get them, the air
bag system won’t be there to help protect you
in another crash.
A new system will include air bag
modules and possibly other parts. The service
manual for your vehicle covers the need to replace
other parts.
I
1-56

Your vehicle is equipped with a crash sensing and
diagnostic module, which records information
about the air bag system. The module records
information about the readiness of the system,
when the system commands air bag inflation and
driver’s safety belt usage at deployment.
Let only qualified technicians work on your air bag
system. Improper service can mean that your air
bag system won’t work properly. See your dealer for
service.
Notice: If you damage the covering for the driver’s
or the right front passenger’s air bag, the bag
may not work properly. You may have to replace the
air bag module in
the steering wheel or both the
air bag module and the instrument panel for
the right front passenger’s air bag.
Do not open or
break the air bag coverings.
Servicing Your Air Bag-Equipped
Vehicle
Air bags affect how your vehicle should be serviced.
There are parts of the air bag system
in several places
around your vehicle.
You don’t want the system to
inflate while someone is working on your vehicle.
Your dealer and the service manual have information
about servicing your vehicle and the air bag system.
To purchase a senlice manual, see Service Publications
Ordering Informal
7 on page 7- 10.
For up to 10 seconds afi the ignitio ’ is
turned off and the battery is disconnected,
an air bag can still inflate during improper
service. You can be injured if you are close to
an air bag when
it inflates. Avoid yellow
connectors. They are probably part of the air bag system. Be sure to follow proper service
procedures, and make sure the person
performing work for you
is qualified to do so.
The air bag system does not need regular maintenance.
1-57