2007 FORD TAURUS child restraint

Seating and Safety Restraints 77
Seating 77
Safety restraints 81
Airbags 97
Child restraints 107
Tires, Wheels and Loading 120
Tire Information 120
Tire Inflation 122
Vehicle loading 134
Trailer towing 140
Recreational towing 143
Driving 144
Starting 144
Brakes 148
Traction control 150
Transmission operation 152
Roadside Emergencies 157
Getting roadside assistance 157
Hazard flasher switch 159
Fuel pump shut-off switch 159
Fuses and relays 160
Changing tires 166
Lug Nut Torque 171
Jump starting 172
Wrecker towing 177
Customer Assistance 178
Reporting safety defects (U.S. only) 184
Cleaning 185
Table of Contents
2
2007 Taurus(tau)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)

Please read the sectionSupplemental restraint system (SRS)
in theSeating and Safety Restraintschapter. Failure to follow
the specific warnings and instructions could result in personal injury.
Front seat mounted rear-facing child or infant seats should
NEVERbe placed in front of an active passenger airbag.
Service Data Recording
Service data recorders in your vehicle are capable of collecting and
storing diagnostic information about your vehicle. This potentially
includes information about the performance or status of various systems
and modules in the vehicle, such as engine, throttle, steering or brake
systems. In order to properly diagnose and service your vehicle, Ford
Motor Company, Ford of Canada, and service and repair facilities may
access vehicle diagnostic information through a direct connection to your
vehicle when diagnosing or servicing your vehicle.
Event Data Recording
Other modules in your vehicle — event data recorders — are capable of
collecting and storing data during a crash or near crash event. The
recorded information may assist in the investigation of such an event.
The modules may record information about both the vehicle and the
occupants, potentially including information such as:
•how various systems in your vehicle were operating;
•whether or not the driver and passenger seatbelts were buckled;
•how far (if at all) the driver was depressing the accelerator and/or the
brake pedal;
•how fast the vehicle was traveling; and
•where the driver was positioning the steering wheel.
To access this information, special equipment must be directly connected
to the recording modules. Ford Motor Company and Ford of Canada do
not access event data recorder information without obtaining consent,
unless pursuant to court order or where required by law enforcement,
other government authorities or other third parties acting with lawful
authority. Other parties may seek to access the information
independently of Ford Motor Company and Ford of Canada.
2007 Taurus(tau)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Introduction
6

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.
Press to raise or lower the front
portion of the seat cushion.
Press to raise or lower the rear
portion of the seat cushion.
Press the control to move the seat
forward, backward, up or down.
2007 Taurus(tau)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
80

allows your Personal Safety System
to distinguish between different
levels of crash severity and modify the deployment strategy of the
dual-stage airbags and safety belt pretensioners.
Driver’s seat position sensor
The driver’s seat position sensor allows your Personal Safety System
to
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 airbag
when the passenger seat is empty to prevent unnecessary replacement of
airbag(s) after a collision.
When the front passenger seat is occupied and the sensing system has
turned off the passenger’s frontal airbag, the “pass airbag off” indicator
2007 Taurus(tau)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
83

•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 belt 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 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 seat 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.
2007 Taurus(tau)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
85

Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
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.
2. To unfasten, push the release
button and remove the tongue from
the buckle.
Energy management retractors
Your vehicle has a safety belt system equipped with energy management
retractors at the driver and front outboard passenger seating positions.
An energy management retractor is a device which pays out webbing in a
controlled manner. This feature is designed to help further reduce the
risk of force-related injuries to the occupant.
Safety belt systems equipped with an energy management retractor must
be replaced if they were in use during a frontal collision which resulted
in deployment of the frontal airbags. Refer to theSafety belt
maintenancesection in this chapter.
The front and rear safety restraints in the vehicle are combination lap
and shoulder belts. The front passenger outboard and rear outboard seat
safety belts have two types of locking modes described below:
2007 Taurus(tau)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
86

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 5 mph (8
km/h) or more, the combination safety belts will lock to help reduce
forward movement of the driver and passengers.
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 (except a
booster) is installed in the vehicle. 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.
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.
2007 Taurus(tau)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
87

How to disengage the automatic locking mode
Ford Motor Company recommends that all safety belt assemblies
and attaching hardware should be inspected by an authorized
dealer after any collision. Safety belt assemblies not in use during a
collision should also be inspected and replaced if either damage or
improper operation is noted.
Disconnect the combination lap/shoulder belt and allow it to retract
completely to disengage the automatic locking mode and activate the
vehicle sensitive (emergency) locking mode.
After any vehicle collision, the safety belt system at all outboard
seating positions (except driver, which has no “automatic locking
retractor” feature) must be checked by an authorized dealer to verify
that the “automatic locking retractor” feature for child seats is still
functioning properly. In addition, all safety belts should be checked for
proper function.
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
by an authorized dealer.
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
front outboard passenger seating positions.
The safety belt pretensioners are designed to activate when the safety
belt is fastened during certain frontal or near-frontal collisions, or in
certain side collisions that result in side airbag activation (if the vehicle
is equipped with side airbags). A safety belt pretensioner is a device
which tightens the webbing of the lap and shoulder belts in such a way
that they fit more snugly against the body.
When the front airbags are activated, the safety belt pretensioners for
the driver and right front passenger seating positions will be activated
when the respective safety belt is properly buckled. If a side airbag is
2007 Taurus(tau)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
88