2007 FORD ESCAPE airbag off

Seating and Safety Restraints 89
Seating 89
Safety restraints 97
Airbags 112
Child restraints 127
Tires, Wheels and Loading 139
Tire Information 141
Tire Inflation 143
Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) 156
Vehicle loading 160
Trailer towing 166
Recreational towing 171
Driving 172
Starting 172
Brakes 175
Transmission operation 178
Roadside Emergencies 197
Getting roadside assistance 197
Hazard flasher switch 198
Fuel pump shut-off switch 199
Fuses and relays 199
Changing tires 206
Lug Nut Torque 218
Jump starting 218
Wrecker towing 224
Customer Assistance 226
Reporting safety defects (U.S. only) 232
Cleaning 233
Table of Contents
2
2007 Escape(204)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)

Airbag readiness:If this light fails
to illuminate when ignition is turned
to ON, continues to flash or remains
on, have the system serviced
immediately by your authorized
dealer. A chime will also sound when a malfunction in the supplemental
restraint system has been detected.
Safety belt:Reminds you to fasten
your safety belt. A BeltMinder

chime will also sound to remind you
to fasten your safety belt. Refer to
theSeating and safety restraints
chapter to activate/deactivate the BeltMinder
chime feature.
Charging system:Illuminates when
the battery is not charging properly.
Engine oil pressure:Illuminates
when the oil pressure falls below the
normal range, refer toEngine oilin
theMaintenance and
Specificationschapter.
Low fuel:Illuminates when the fuel level in the fuel tank is at or near
empty (refer toFuel gaugein this chapter).
Without message center
With message center
Overdrive off (automatic
transmission):Illuminates when
the overdrive function of the
transmission has been turned off.
Refer to theDrivingchapter for transmission function and operation. If
the light flashes steadily, have the system serviced immediately, or
damage to the transmission could occur.
O/D
OFF
2007 Escape(204)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Instrument Cluster
14

Adjusting the front power seat (if equipped)
Never adjust the driver’s seat or seatback when the vehicle is
moving.
Do not pile cargo higher than the seatbacks to avoid injuring
people in a collision or sudden stop.
Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap
belt snug and low across the hips.
Reclining the seatback can cause an occupant to slide under the
seat’s safety belt, resulting in severe personal injuries in the
event of a collision.
Sitting improperly out of position or with the seat back reclined
too far can take off weight from the seat cushion and affect the
decision of the passenger sensing system, resulting in serious injury or
death in a crash. Always sit upright against your seatback, with your
feet on the floor.
To reduce the risk of possible serious injury: Do not hang objects
off seat back or stow objects in the seatback map pocket (if
equipped) when a child is in the front passenger seat. Do not place
objects underneath the front passenger seat or between the seat and
the center console (if equipped). Check the “passenger airbag off” or
“pass airbag off” indicator lamp for proper airbag status. Refer toFront
passenger sensing systemsection for additional details. Failure to
follow these instructions may interfere with the front passenger seat
sensing system.
The control is located on the outboard side of the seat cushion.
2007 Escape(204)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
91

•“Passenger airbag off” or “pass airbag off” indicator lamp
•Front crash severity sensor.
•Restraints Control Module (RCM) with impact and safing sensors.
•Restraint system warning light and back-up tone.
•The electrical wiring for the airbags, crash sensor(s), safety belt
pretensioners, front safety belt usage sensors, driver seat position
sensor, front passenger sensing system, and indicator lights.
How does the Personal Safety Systemwork?
The Personal Safety Systemcan adapt the deployment strategy of your
vehicle’s safety devices according to crash severity and occupant
conditions. A collection of crash and occupant sensors provides
information to the Restraints control module (RCM). During a crash, the
RCM activates the safety belt pretensioners and/or either one or both
stages of the dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints based on crash
severity and occupant conditions.
The fact that the pretensioners or airbags did not activate for both front
seat occupants in a collision does not mean that something is wrong with
the system. Rather, it means the Personal Safety Systemdetermined
the accident conditions (crash severity, belt usage, etc.) were not
appropriate to activate these safety devices. Front airbags are designed
to activate only in frontal and near-frontal collisions (not rollovers, side
impacts or rear impacts) unless the collision causes sufficient
longitudinal deceleration. The pretensioners are designed to activate in
frontal, and in side collisions and rollovers when the vehicle is equipped
with the Safety Canopysystem.
Driver and passenger dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints
The dual-stage airbags offer the capability to tailor the level of airbag
inflation energy. A lower, less forceful energy level is provided for more
common, moderate-severity impacts. A higher energy level is used for
the most severe impacts. Refer toAirbag supplemental restraints
section in this chapter.
Front crash severity sensor
The front crash severity sensor enhances the ability to detect the
severity of an impact. Positioned up front, it provides valuable
information early in the crash event on the severity of the impact. This
allows your Personal Safety Systemto distinguish between different
levels of crash severity and modify the deployment strategy of the
dual-stage airbags and safety belt pretensioners.
2007 Escape(204)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
98

Driver’s seat position sensor
The driver’s seat position sensor allows your Personal Safety Systemto
tailor the deployment level of the driver dual-stage airbag based on seat
position. The system is designed to help protect smaller drivers sitting
close to the driver airbag by providing a lower airbag output level.
Front passenger sensing system
For airbags to do their job they must inflate with great force, and this
force can pose a potentially deadly risk to occupants that are very close
to the airbag when it begins to inflate. For some occupants, like infants
in rear-facing child seats, this occurs because they are initially sitting
very close to the airbag. For other occupants, this occurs when the
occupant is not properly restrained by safety belts or child safety seats
and they move forward during pre-crash braking. The most effective way
to reduce the risk of unnecessary injuries is to make sure all occupants
are properly restrained. Accident statistics suggest that children are
much safer when properly restrained in the rear seating positions than in
the front.
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.
Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
The front passenger sensing system can automatically turn off the
passenger front airbag. The system is designed to help protect small
(child size) occupants from airbag deployments when they are
improperly seated or restrained in the front passenger seat contrary to
proper child-seating or restraint usage recommendations. Even with this
technology, parents areSTRONGLYencouraged to always properly
restrain children in the rear seat. The sensor also turns off the passenger
front airbag and passenger seat-mounted side airbag (if equipped) when
the passenger seat is empty.
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.
2007 Escape(204)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
99

Reasons given... Consider...
The people I’m with don’t
wear beltsSet 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 airbagAirbags 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 clearNot a good idea.Peoplewho are
ejected are 40 times more likely
to DIE.Safety belts help prevent
ejection, WE CAN’TPICK OUR
CRASH.
Do not sit on top of a buckled safety belt or insert a latchplate
into the buckle to avoid the BeltMinder
chime. To do so may
adversely affect the performance of the vehicle’s air bag system
One time disable
If at any time the driver/front passenger quickly buckles then unbuckles
the safety belt for that seating position, the BeltMinder
is disabled for
the current ignition cycle. The BeltMinder
feature 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 BeltMinder
are
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.
2007 Escape(204)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
110

The driver and front passenger BeltMinder
features can be
deactivated/activated by performing the following procedure:
Before following the procedure, make sure that:
•The parking brake is set
•The gearshift is in P (Park) (automatic transmission)
•The gearshift is in N (Neutral) (manual transmission)
•The ignition switch is in the OFF position
•The driver and front passenger safety belts are unbuckled
While the design allows you to deactivate your BeltMinder
,this
system is designed to improve your chances of being safely
belted and surviving an accident. We recommend you leave the
BeltMinder
system activated for yourself and others who may use the
vehicle. To reduce the risk of injury, do not deactivate/activate the
BeltMinder
feature 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, 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, buckle then unbuckle the
safety belt.
•This will disable the BeltMinder
feature 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 BeltMinder
feature 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.
2007 Escape(204)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
111

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 or sodium compounds which
may irritate the skin and eyes, but
none of the residue is toxic.
While the SRS 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. 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:
•driver and passenger airbag modules (which include the inflators and
airbags).
•seat-mounted side airbags (if equipped). Refer toSeat-mounted side
airbag systemlater in this chapter
•Safety Canopysystem (if equipped). Refer toSafety Canopy
systemlater in this chapter.
•one or more impact and safing sensors.
•Safety belt pretensioners
•a readiness light and tone.
•diagnostic module.
•and the electrical wiring which connects the components.
•Front passenger sensing system. Refer toFront passenger sensing
system.later in this chapter.
•“Passenger airbag off” or “pass airbag off” indicator lamp. Refer to
Front passenger sensing systemlater in this chapter.
The RCM (restraints control module) monitors its own internal circuits
and the supplemental airbag electrical system wiring (including the
2007 Escape(204)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
115