2004 Mercury Mountaineer Owner's Manuals

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 in the back
seat 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
supplemental restraint system (SRS) is provided.
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.
2004 Mountaineer(mnt)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA English(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
105

Safety belts and seats can become hot in a vehicle that has been
closed up in sunny weather; they could burn a small child. Check
seat covers and buckles before you place a child anywhere near them.
Energy Management Feature
•This vehicle has a safety belt system with an energy management
feature at the front seating positions to help further reduce the risk of
injury in the event of a head-on collision.
•This safety belt system has a retractor assembly that is designed to
extend the seat belt webbing in a controlled manner. This helps
reduce the belt force acting on the user’s chest.
BELT AND RETRACTOR ASSEMBLY MUST BE REPLACED if
the safety belt assembly automatic locking retractor 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.
Combination lap and shoulder belts
1. Insert the belt tongue into the proper buckle (the buckle closest to
the direction the tongue is coming from) until you hear a snap and feel it
latch. Make sure the tongue is securely fastened in the buckle.
•Front and rear seats
2004 Mountaineer(mnt)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA English(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
106

2. To unfasten, push the release button and remove the tongue from the
buckle.
•Front and rear seats
All safety restraints in the vehicle are combination lap and shoulder
belts. All of the passenger combination lap and shoulder belts have two
types of locking modes described below:
Vehicle sensitive mode
This is the normal retractor mode, which allows 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
The automatic locking mode is not available on the driver safety belt.
When to use the 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.
This mode should be usedany 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.
2004 Mountaineer(mnt)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA English(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
107

How to use the automatic locking mode
•Buckle the combination lap and
shoulder belt.
•Grasp the shoulder portion and
pull downward until the entire
belt is pulled out.
•Allow 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.
How to disengage the automatic locking mode
Unbuckle the combination lap and shoulder belt and allow it to retract
completely to disengage the automatic locking mode and activate the
vehicle sensitive (emergency) locking mode.
2004 Mountaineer(mnt)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA English(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
108

After any vehicle collision, the combination lap and shoulder belt
system at all passenger seating positions must be checked by a
qualified technician to verify that the “automatic locking retractor”
feature for child seats is still functioning properly, in addition to other
checks for proper seat belt system function.
BELT AND RETRACTOR ASSEMBLY MUST BE REPLACED if
the seat belt assembly “automatic locking retractor” feature or
any other seat belt function is not operating properly. In addition, all
seat belts should be checked for proper function. 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
right front passenger seating positions.
The safety belt pretensioner removes some slack from the safety belt
system at the start of a crash. The safety belt pretensioner uses the
same crash sensor system as the front airbags and Safety Canopy

system. When the safety belt pretensioner deploys, the lap and shoulder
belt are tightened.
When the Safety Canopy
system and/or the front airbags are activated,
the safety belt pretensioners for the driver and right front passenger
seating positions will be activated when the respective seatbelt is
properly buckled.
The driver and the right front passenger seat belt system
(including retractors, buckles and height adjusters) must be
replaced if the vehicle is involved in a collision that results in
deployment of front air bags or Safety Canopy
and safety belt
pretensioners.
Refer to theSafety belt maintenancesection in this chapter.
2004 Mountaineer(mnt)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA English(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
109

Safety belt height adjustment
Your vehicle has safety belt height
adjustments for the front and
second row outboard seating
positions.
Adjust the height of the shoulder
belt so the belt rests across the
middle of your shoulder.
To adjust the shoulder belt height,
squeeze the button and slide the
height adjuster up or down. Release
the button and pull down on the
height adjuster to make sure it is locked in place.
Position the safety belt height adjusters so that the belt rests
across the middle of your shoulder. Failure to adjust the safety
belt properly could reduce the effectiveness of the seat belt and
increase the risk of injury in a collision.
Safety belt extension assembly
If the safety belt is too short when fully extended, there is a 20 cm (8
inch) safety belt extension assembly that can be added (part number
611C22). This assembly can be obtained from your dealer at no cost.
Use only extensions manufactured by the same supplier as the safety
belt. Manufacturer identification is located at the end of the webbing on
the label. Also, use the safety belt extension only if the safety belt is too
short for you when fully extended.
Do not use extensions to change the fit of the shoulder belt
across the torso.
Safety belt warning light and indicator chime
The safety belt warning light illuminates in the instrument cluster and a
chime sounds to remind the occupants to fasten their safety belts.
2004 Mountaineer(mnt)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA English(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
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Conditions of operation
If... Then...
The driver’s safety belt is not
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the ON
position...The safety belt warning light
illuminates 1-2 minutes and the
warning chime sounds 4-8 seconds.
The driver’s safety belt is
buckled while the indicator
light is illuminated and the
warning chime is sounding...The safety belt warning light and
warning chime turn off.
The driver’s safety belt is
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the ON
position...The safety belt warning light and
indicator chime remain off.
BeltMinder
The BeltMinder feature is a supplemental warning to the safety belt
warning function. This feature provides additional reminders to the
driver that the driver’s safety belt is unbuckled by intermittently
sounding a chime and illuminating the safety belt warning lamp in the
instrument cluster.
If... Then...
The driver’s safety belt is not
buckled before the vehicle has
reached at least 5 km/h (3 mph)
and 1-2 minutes have elapsed
since the ignition switch has
been turned to ON...The BeltMinder feature is activated -
the safety belt warning light illuminates
and the warning chime sounds for 6
seconds every 30 seconds, repeating for
approximately 5 minutes or until safety
belt is buckled.
The driver’s safety belt is
buckled while the safety belt
indicator light is illuminated
and the safety belt warning
chime is sounding...The BeltMinder feature will not
activate.
The driver’s safety belt is
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the ON
position...The BeltMinder feature will not
activate.
2004 Mountaineer(mnt)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA English(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
111

The following are reasons most often given for not wearing safety belts:
(All statistics based on U.S. data)
Reasons given... Consider...
“Crashes are rare events”36700 crashes occur every day.The
more we drive, the more we are exposed
to “rare” events, even for good drivers.1
in 4 of us will be seriously injured in a
crash during our lifetime.
“I’m not going far”3of4fatal crashes occur within25miles
of home.
“Belts are uncomfortable” We design our safety belts to enhance
comfort. If you are uncomfortable - try
different positions for the safety belt
upper anchorage and seatback which
should be as upright as possible; this can
improve comfort.
“I was in a hurry”Prime time for an accident.BeltMinder
reminds us to take a few seconds to
buckle up.
“Safety belts don’t work”Safety belts,when used properly,
reduce risk of deathto front seat
occupants by45% in cars,and by60%
in light trucks.
“Traffic is light”Nearly 1 of 2 deaths occur in
single-vehicle crashes,many when no
other vehicles are around.
“Belts wrinkle my clothes” Possibly, but a serious crash can do much
more than wrinkle your clothes,
particularly if you are unbelted.
“The people I’m with don’t
wear belts”Set the example, teen deaths occur 4
times more often in vehicles with TWO or
MORE people. Children and younger
brothers/sisters imitate behavior they see.
“I have an air bag” Air bags offer greater protection when
used with safety belts. Frontal airbags are
not designed to inflate in rear and side
crashes or rollovers.
2004 Mountaineer(mnt)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA English(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
112