2006 Mercury Grand Marquis airbag

When the front passenger seat is occupied and the sensing system has
turned off the passenger’s frontal airbag, the “pass airbag off” indicator
will light and stay lit to remind you that the front passenger frontal
airbag is off. SeeFront passenger sensing systemin the airbags section
of this chapter.
Front safety belt usage sensors
The front safety belt usage sensors detect whether or not the driver and
front outboard passenger safety belts are fastened. This information
allows your Personal Safety System
to tailor the airbag deployment and
safety belt pretensioner activation depending upon safety belt usage.
Refer toSafety beltsection in this chapter.
Front safety belt pretensioners
The safety belt pretensioners at the front outboard seating positions are
designed to tighten the safety belts firmly against the occupant’s body
during a frontal or near-frontal collision, and in side collisions when the
vehicle is equipped with side airbags. This maximizes the effectiveness of
the safety belts and helps properly position the occupant relative to the
airbag to improve protection. In frontal collisions, the safety belt
pretensioners can be either activated alone or, if the collision is of
sufficient severity, together with the front airbags.
Front safety belt energy management retractors
The front outboard safety belt energy management retractors allow
webbing to be pulled out of the retractor in a gradual and controlled
manner in response to the occupant’s forward momentum. This helps
reduce the risk of force-related injuries to the occupant’s chest by
limiting the load on the occupant. Refer toEnergy management feature
section in this chapter.
Determining if the Personal Safety Systemis operational
The Personal Safety System
uses a warning light in the instrument
cluster or a back-up tone to indicate the condition of the system. Refer
to theWarning lightsection in theInstrument clusterchapter. Routine
maintenance of the Personal Safety System
is not required.
The Restraints control module (RCM) monitors its own internal circuits
and the circuits for the airbag supplemental restraints, crash sensor(s),
safety belt pretensioners, front safety belt buckle sensors, and the driver
seat position sensor. In addition, the RCM also monitors the restraints
warning light in the instrument cluster. A difficulty with the system is
indicated by one or more of the following.
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•The warning light will either flash or stay lit.
•The warning light will not illuminate immediately after ignition is
turned on.
•A series of five beeps will be heard. The tone pattern will repeat
periodically until the problem and warning light are repaired.
If any of these things happen, even intermittently, have the Personal
Safety System
serviced at an authorized dealer immediately. Unless
serviced, the system may not function properly in the event of a
collision.
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 airbag
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.
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Reasons given... Consider...
“I have an airbag” Airbags offer greater protection when
used with safety belts. Frontal airbags
are not designed to inflate in rear and
side crashes or rollovers.
“I’d rather be thrown clear” Not a good idea.Peoplewho are
ejected are 40 times more likely
to DIE.Safety belts help prevent
ejection, WE CAN’T “PICK OUR
CRASH”.
Do not sit on top of a buckled safety belt to avoid the
BeltMinderchime. Sitting on the safety belt will increase the
risk of injury in an accident. To disable (one-time) or deactivate the
BeltMinderfeature please follow the directions stated below.
One time disable
If at any time the driver/front passenger quickly buckles then unbuckles
the safety belt for that seating position, the BeltMinderis disabled for
the current ignition cycle. The BeltMinderfeature will enable during the
same ignition cycle if the occupant buckles and remains buckled for
approximately 30 seconds. Confirmation is not given for the one time
disable.
Deactivating/activating the BeltMinderfeature
The driver and front passenger BeltMinderare
deactivated/activated independently. When deactivating/activating
one seating position, do not buckle the other position as this will
terminate the process.
Read Steps1-4thoroughly before proceeding with the
deactivation/activation programming procedure.
Note: The driver and front passenger BeltMinderfeatures must be
disabled/enabled separately. Both cannot be disable/enabled during the
same key cycle.
The driver and front passenger BeltMinderfeatures can be
deactivated/activated by performing the following procedure:
Before following the procedure, make sure that:
•The parking brake is set
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•The gearshift is in P (Park) (automatic transmission)
•The ignition switch is in the OFF position
•The driver and front passenger safety belts are unbuckled
To reduce the risk of injury, do not deactivate/activate the
BeltMinderfeature while driving the vehicle.
1. Turn the ignition switch to the RUN (or ON) position. (DO NOT
START THE ENGINE)
2. Wait until the safety belt warning light turns off. (Approximately
1 minute)
•Step 3 must be completed within 50 seconds after the safety belt
warning light turns off.
3. For the seating position being disabled, at a moderate speed, buckle
then unbuckle the safety belt 9 times, ending in the unbuckled state.
(Step 3 must be completed within 50 seconds after the safety belt
warning light turns off.)
•After Step 3, the restraint system warning light (airbag light) will be
turned on for three seconds.
4. Within 10 seconds of the light turning on, at a moderate speed, buckle
then unbuckle the safety belt.
•This will disable the BeltMinderfeature for that seating position if it
is currently enabled. As confirmation, the restraint system warning
light will flash 4 times per second for 3 seconds.
•This will enable the BeltMinderfeature for that seating position if it
is currently disabled. As confirmation, the restraint system warning
light will flash 4 times per second for 3 seconds, followed by
3 seconds with the light off, then followed by the restraint system
warning light flashing 4 times per second for 3 seconds again.
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AIRBAG SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM (SRS)
Important SRS precautions
The SRS is designed to work with
the safety belt to help protect the
driver and right front passenger
from certain upper body injuries.
Airbags DO NOT inflate slowly;
there is a risk of injury from a
deploying airbag.
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.
Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
recommends a minimum distance of at least 10 inches (25 cm)
between an occupant’s chest and the driver airbag module.
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Never place your arm over the air bag module as a deploying air
bag can result in serious arm fractures or other injuries.
Ford Motor Company recommends that an authorized dealer
inspect all steering column assemblies in use in vehicles involved
in a collision. Failure to inspect and if necessary replace the steering
column assembly could result in severe injury or death in the event of
a collision.
Do not attempt to service, repair, or modify the steering column,
its adaptive module, or its fuses. See your authorized dealer.
To properly position yourself away from the airbag:
•Move your seat to the rear as far as you can while still reaching the
pedals comfortably.
•Recline the seat slightly one or two degrees from the upright position.
Do not put anything on or over the air bag module. Placing
objects on or over the air bag inflation area may cause those
objects to be propelled by the air bag into your face and torso causing
serious injury.
Do not attempt to service, repair, or modify the airbag
supplemental restraint systems or its fuses. See your authorized
dealer.
The front passenger airbag is not designed to offer protection to
an occupant in the center front seating position.
Modifying or adding equipment to the front end of the vehicle
(including frame, bumper, front end body structure and tow
hooks) may affect the performance of the airbag system, increasing the
risk of injury. Do not modify the front end of the vehicle.
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Children and airbags
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.
Airbags can kill or injure a
child in a child seat.
NEVERplace a rear-facing child
seat in front of an active airbag. If
you must use a forward-facing
child seat in the front seat, move
the seat all the way back.
How does the airbag supplemental restraint system work?
The airbag SRS is designed to
activate when the vehicle sustains
longitudinal deceleration sufficient
to cause the sensors to close an
electrical circuit that initiates airbag
inflation.
The fact that the airbags did not
inflate in a collision does not mean
that something is wrong with the
system. Rather, it means the forces
were not of the type sufficient to
cause activation. Driver and passenger airbags are designed to inflate in
frontal and near-frontal collisions, not rollover, side-impact, or
rear-impacts unless the collision causes sufficient longitudinal
deceleration.
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The airbags inflate and deflate
rapidly upon activation. After airbag
deployment, it is normal to notice a
smoke-like, powdery residue or
smell the burnt propellant. This may
consist of cornstarch, talcum
powder (to lubricate the bag) or
sodium compounds (e.g., baking
soda) that result from the
combustion process that inflates the
airbag. Small amounts of sodium
hydroxide may be present which
may irritate the skin and eyes, but
none of the residue is toxic.
While the system is designed to help
reduce serious injuries, contact with
a deploying airbag may also cause abrasions, swelling or temporary
hearing loss. Because airbags must inflate rapidly and with considerable
force, there is the risk of death or serious injuries such as fractures,
facial and eye injuries or internal injuries, particularly to occupants who
are not properly restrained or are otherwise out of position at the time
of airbag deployment. Thus, it is extremely important that occupants be
properly restrained as far away from the airbag module as possible while
maintaining vehicle control.
The SRS consists of the following items:
•Driver and passenger airbag modules (which include the inflators and
airbags)
•Front passenger sensing system
•Driver and passenger side airbags (if equipped)
•One or more impact and safing sensors
•A readiness light and tone
•A diagnostic module
•The electrical wiring which connects the components
The diagnostic module monitors its own internal circuits as well as the
supplemental airbag electrical system wiring (including the impact
sensors), the system wiring, the airbag system readiness light, the airbag
back up power and the airbag ignitors.
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