2004 Mercury Mountaineer lock

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
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Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA English(fus)
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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.
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Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
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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
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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
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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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•Put the safety belt in the automatic locking mode. Refer toAutomatic
locking mode(passenger side front and outboard rear seating
positions) (if equipped) section in this chapter.
•LATCH lower anchors are recommended for use by children up to
22 kg (48 pounds) in a child restraint. Top tether anchors can be used
for children up to 27 kg (60 pounds) in a child restraint, and to
provide upper torso restraint for children up to 36 kg (80 pounds)
using an upper torso harness and a belt-positioning booster.
Ford recommends the use of a child safety seat having a top tether strap.
Install the child safety seat in a seating position with LATCH and tether
anchors. For more information on top tether straps and anchors, refer to
Attaching safety seats with tether strapsin this chapter. For more
information of LATCH anchors refer toAttaching safety seats with LATCH
(Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) attachmentsin this chapter.
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.
Rear-facing child seats or infant carriers should never be placed
in the front seats.
Installing child safety seats with combination lap and shoulder belts
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.
Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in the rear
seat whenever possible.
2004 Mountaineer(mnt)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
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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
pulled out 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.
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.
2004 Mountaineer(mnt)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA English(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
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8. Allow the safety belt to retract to
remove any slack in the belt.
9. Before placing the child in the
seat, forcibly move 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. 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.
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 rear seats of your vehicle are equipped with built-in tether strap
anchors located behind the seats as shown below.
The tether strap anchors in your vehicle are in the following positions
(shown from top view):
•5 passenger vehicle
For the center seat, use either of
the two tether anchors/cargo
tie-downs in the scuff plate along
the back edge of the floor.
2004 Mountaineer(mnt)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA English(fus)
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