2006 SATURN ION airbag

Seats and Restraint Systems........................... 1-1
Front Seats
............................................... 1-2
Rear Seats
............................................... 1-9
Safety Belts
.............................................1-11
Child Restraints
.......................................1-32
Airbag System
.........................................1-54
Restraint System Check
............................1-68
Features and Controls..................................... 2-1
Keys
........................................................ 2-2
Doors and Locks
....................................... 2-7
Windows
.................................................2-13
Theft-Deterrent Systems
............................2-16
Starting and Operating Your Vehicle
...........2-17
Mirrors
....................................................2-32
OnStar
®System
......................................2-38
Storage Areas
.........................................2-40
Sunroof
..................................................2-41
Instrument Panel............................................. 3-1
Instrument Panel Overview
.......................... 3-4
Climate Controls
......................................3-18
Warning Lights, Gages, and Indicators
........3-25
Message Center
.......................................3-43
Audio System(s)
.......................................3-48Driving Your Vehicle....................................... 4-1
Your Driving, the Road, and Your Vehicle
..... 4-2
Towing
...................................................4-36
Service and Appearance Care.......................... 5-1
Service
..................................................... 5-3
Fuel
......................................................... 5-4
Checking Things Under the Hood
...............5-10
Headlamp Aiming
.....................................5-48
Bulb Replacement
....................................5-48
Windshield Wiper Blade Replacement
.........5-56
Tires
......................................................5-57
Appearance Care
.....................................5-90
Vehicle Identication
.................................5-99
Electrical System
......................................5-99
Capacities and Specications
...................5-109
Maintenance Schedule..................................... 6-1
Maintenance Schedule
................................ 6-2
Customer Assistance and Information.............. 7-1
Customer Assistance and Information
........... 7-2
Reporting Safety Defects
...........................7-11
Index................................................................ 1
2006 Saturn ION Owner ManualM
ProCarManuals.com

Front Seats......................................................1-2
Manual Seats................................................1-2
Driver Seat Height Adjuster..............................1-3
Manual Lumbar..............................................1-3
Reclining Seatbacks........................................1-4
Head Restraints.............................................1-6
Passenger Folding Seatback............................1-7
Rear Seats.......................................................1-9
Split Folding Rear Seat...................................1-9
Safety Belts...................................................1-11
Safety Belts: They Are for Everyone................1-11
Questions and Answers About Safety Belts......1-15
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly.................1-16
Driver Position..............................................1-16
Shoulder Belt Height Adjustment (Sedan).........1-23
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy..................1-24
Right Front Passenger Position.......................1-24
Rear Seat Passengers..................................1-24
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides....................1-28
Safety Belt Pretensioners...............................1-31
Safety Belt Extender.....................................1-31
Child Restraints.............................................1-32
Older Children..............................................1-32
Infants and Young Children............................1-34Child Restraint Systems.................................1-38
Where to Put the Restraint.............................1-42
Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children
(LATCH)..................................................1-43
Securing a Child Restraint in a
Rear Seat Position....................................1-49
Securing a Child Restraint in the Right Front
Seat Position............................................1-51
Airbag System...............................................1-54
Where Are the Airbags?................................1-56
When Should an Airbag Inate?.....................1-59
What Makes an Airbag Inate?.......................1-60
How Does an Airbag Restrain?.......................1-60
What Will You See After an
Airbag Inates?.........................................1-61
Passenger Sensing System............................1-62
Servicing Your Airbag-Equipped Vehicle...........1-66
Adding Equipment to Your Airbag-Equipped
Vehicle....................................................1-67
Restraint System Check..................................1-68
Checking the Restraint Systems......................1-68
Replacing Restraint System Parts
After a Crash............................................1-69
Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
1-1
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Passenger Folding Seatback
Your vehicle may have a passenger seat that folds at.
To fold the seatback, do the following:
{CAUTION:
If you fold the seatback forward to carry longer
objects, such as skis, be sure any such cargo
is not near an airbag. In a crash, an inating
airbag might force that object toward a person.
This could cause severe injury or even death.
Secure objects away from the area in which
an airbag would inate. For more information,
seeWhere Are the Airbags? on page 1-56
andLoading Your Vehicle on page 4-31.
{CAUTION:
Things you put on this seatback can strike
and injure people in a sudden stop or turn,
or in a crash. Remove or secure all items
before driving.
To fold the seatback at, do the following:
1. Lift the bar under the seat to unlock it.
2. Slide the seat as far back as it will go and release
the bar. Try to move the seat with your body to
make sure it is locked into place.
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or the safety belts!
With safety belts, you slow down as the vehicle does.
You get more time to stop. You stop over more distance,
and your strongest bones take the forces. That is why
safety belts make such good sense.
Questions and Answers About
Safety Belts
Q:Will I be trapped in the vehicle after an accident
if I am wearing a safety belt?
A:Youcouldbe — whether you are wearing a safety
belt or not. But you can unbuckle a safety belt,
even if you are upside down. And your chance of
being conscious during and after an accident,
so youcanunbuckle and get out, ismuchgreater
if you are belted.
Q:If my vehicle has airbags, why should I have to
wear safety belts?
A:Airbags are in many vehicles today and will be in
most of them in the future. But they are
supplemental systems only; so they workwith
safety belts — not instead of them. Every airbag
system ever offered for sale has required the use of
safety belts. Even if you are in a vehicle that has
airbags, you still have to buckle up to get the most
protection. That is true not only in frontal collisions,
but especially in side and other collisions.
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{CAUTION:
Children who are up against, or very close to,
any airbag when it inates can be seriously
injured or killed. Airbags plus lap-shoulder belts
offer protection for adults and older children,
but not for young children and infants. Neither
the vehicle’s safety belt system nor its airbag
system is designed for them. Young children
and infants need the protection that a child
restraint system can provide.
Q:What are the different types of add-on child
restraints?
A:Add-on child restraints, which are purchased by the
vehicle’s owner, are available in four basic types.
Selection of a particular restraint should take
into consideration not only the child’s weight, height
and age but also whether or not the restraint will
be compatible with the motor vehicle in which it
will be used.
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Where to Put the Restraint
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear rather than the front seat.
We recommend that child restraints be secured in a
rear seat, including an infant riding in a rear-facing infant
seat, a child riding in a forward-facing child seat and
an older child riding in a booster seat.
Your vehicle has a rear seat that will accommodate a
rear-facing child restraint. A label on your sun visor
says, “Never put a rear-facing child seat in the front.”
This is because the risk to the rear-facing child is
so great, if the airbag deploys.
{CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the right front
passenger’s airbag inates. This is because
the back of the rear-facing child restraint
would be very close to the inating air bag.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
Even though the passenger sensing system is
designed to turn off the passenger’s frontal
airbag if the system detects a rear-facing child
restraint, no system is fail-safe, and no one
can guarantee that an airbag will not deploy
under some unusual circumstance, even
though it is turned off. We recommend that
rear-facing child restraints be secured in the
rear seat, even if the airbag is off.
If you need to secure a forward-facing child
restraint in the right front seat, always move
the front passenger seat as far back as it will
go. It is better to secure the child restraint
in a rear seat.
Wherever you install a child restraint, be sure to secure
the child restraint properly.
Keep in mind that an unsecured child restraint can
move around in a collision or sudden stop and injure
people in the vehicle. Be sure to properly secure
any child restraint in your vehicle — even when no
child is in it.
1-42
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To remove the child restraint, if the top tether is attached
to the top tether anchor, disconnect it. 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.
Securing a Child Restraint in the
Right Front Seat Position
Your vehicle has a right front passenger’s airbag. A rear
seat is a safer place to secure a forward-facing child
restraint. SeeWhere to Put the Restraint on page 1-42.
In addition, your vehicle may have the passenger
sensing system. The passenger sensing system is
designed to turn off the right front passenger’s frontal
airbag when an infant in a rear-facing infant seat
or a small child in a forward-facing child restraint or
booster seat is detected. SeePassenger Sensing
System on page 1-62andPassenger Airbag Status
Indicator on page 3-31for more information on
this including important safety information.
A label on your sun visor says, “Never put a rear-facing
child seat in the front.” This is because the risk to the
rear-facing child is so great, if the airbag deploys.
{CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the right front
passenger’s airbag inates. This is because
the back of the rear-facing child restraint
would be very close to the inating airbag.
Even though the passenger sensing system is
designed to turn off the passenger’s frontal
airbag if the system detects a rear-facing child
restraint, no system is fail-safe, and no one
can guarantee that an airbag will not deploy
under some unusual circumstance, even
though it is turned off. We recommend that
rear-facing child restraints be secured in the
rear seat, even if the airbag is off.
If you need to secure a forward-facing child restraint in
the right front seat position, move the seat as far
back as it will go before securing the forward-facing
child restraint. SeeManual Seats on page 1-2.
If your child restraint is equipped with the LATCH
system, seeLower Anchors and Tethers for Children
(LATCH) on page 1-43.
1-51
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There is no top tether anchor at the right front seating
position. Do not secure a child restraint in this position if
a national or local law requires that the top tether be
anchored or if the instructions that come with the child
restraint say that the top tether must be anchored.
SeeLower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH)
on page 1-43if your child restraint has a top tether.
You will be using the lap-shoulder belt to secure
the child restraint in this position. Be sure to follow the
instructions that came with the child restraint. Secure
the child in the child restraint when and as the
instructions say.
1. Your vehicle has a right front passenger’s frontal
airbag. SeePassenger Sensing System on
page 1-62. General Motors recommends that
rear-facing child restraints be secured in a rear
seat, even if the airbag is off. If your child restraint
is forward-facing, move the seat as far back as
it will go before securing the child restraint in this
seat. SeeManual Seats on page 1-2.
When the passenger sensing system has turned off
the right front passenger’s frontal airbag, the off
indicator in the passenger airbag status indicator
should light and stay lit when you turn the ignition
to RUN or START. SeePassenger Airbag
Status Indicator on page 3-31.2. Put the child restraint on the seat.
3. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder
portions of the vehicle’s safety belt through or
around the restraint. The child restraint instructions
will show you how.
4. Buckle the belt. Make sure the release button is
positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly if you ever had to.
1-52
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