2009 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER Owners Manual

Airbags inflate in moderate to high speed impacts. Along
with seat belts and pretensioners, front airbags work with
the driver inflatable knee blocker to provide improved
protection for the driver and front passenger. Side airbags
also work with seat belts to improve occupant protection.
The seat belts are designed to protect you in many types
of collisions. The front airbags deploy in moderate to
severe frontal collisions. If your vehicle is equipped, the
side airbag on the crash side of the vehicle is triggered in
moderate to severe side collisions. In certain types of
collisions, both the front and side airbags may be trig-
gered. But even in collisions where the airbags work, you
need the seat belts to keep you in the right position for
the airbags to protect you properly.
NOTE:The passenger front airbag may not deploy even
when the driver front airbag has if the Occupant Classi-
fication System (refer to Occupant Classification System
in this section) has determined the passenger seat is empty or is occupied by someone that is classified in the
“child
category. This could be a child, a teenager, or even
a small adult.
Here are some simple steps you can take to minimize the
risk of harm from a deploying airbag.
1. Children 12 years old and under should always ride
buckled up in a rear seat.
Infants in rear facing child restraints should NEVERride
in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger front airbag.
An airbag deployment can cause severe injury or death to
infants in that position.
Children that are not big enough to properly wear the
vehicle seat belt (see Section on Child Restraints) should
be secured in the rear seat in child restraints or belt-
positioning booster seats. Older children who do not use
child restraints or belt-positioning booster seats should
ride properly buckled up in the rear seat. Never allow
children to slide the shoulder belt behind them or under
their arm.
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THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 47

If a child from 1 to 12 years old must ride in the front
passenger seat because the vehicle is crowded, move the
seat as far back as possible, and use the proper child
restraint. Refer to the section on Child Restraint.
You should read the instructions provided with your
child restraint to make sure that you are using it properly.
2.All occupants should wear their lap and shoulder
belts properly.
3. The driver and front passenger seats should be
moved back as far as practical to allow the front airbags
room to inflate.
4. If your vehicle has side airbags, do not lean against
the door, airbags will inflate forcefully into the space
between you and the door.
5. If the airbag system in this vehicle needs to be
modified to accomodate a disabled person, contact the
Customer Center. Phone numbers are provided under If
You Need Assistance in Section 9 of this manual.WARNING!
•Relying on the airbags alone could lead to more
severe injuries in a collision. The airbags work
with your seat belt to restrain you properly. In
some collisions the airbags won’t deploy at all.
Always wear your seat belts even though you have
airbags.
•Being too close to the steering wheel or instrument
panel during front airbag deployment could cause
serious injury. Airbags need room to inflate. Sit
back, comfortably extending your arms to reach
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
•If the vehicle has side airbags, they also need room
to inflate. Do not lean against the door. Sit upright
in the center of the seat.
48 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE

The front airbag system consists of the following:
•Occupant Restraint Controller
•Side Remote Acceleration Sensors (If equipped)
•Airbag Warning Light
•Driver Airbag
•Passenger Airbag
•Front Seat Mounted Side Airbags (If equipped)
•Steering Wheel and Column
•Instrument Panel
•Interconnecting Wiring
•Knee Impact Bolsters
•Driver Inflatable Knee Blocker
•Front Acceleration Sensors
•Driver and Front Passenger Seat Belt Pretensioners
•Occupant Classification System (OCS) for the Front
Passenger Seat
Occupant Classification Module
Passenger Airbag Disable (PAD) Indicator Light
Weight Sensors
How The Airbag System Works
•
TheOccupant Restraint Controller (ORC) determines
if a frontal collision is severe enough to require the
airbags to inflate. The front airbag inflators are de-
signed to provide different rates of airbag inflation
from direction provided by the ORC. The ORC may
also modify the rate of inflation based on the occupant
size provided by the Occupant Classification Module.
The ORC will not detect roll over.
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THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 49

The ORC also monitors the readiness of the electronic
parts of the system whenever the ignition switch is in
the START or RUN positions. These include all of the
items listed above except the steering wheel and
column, and knee bolsters. If the key is in the OFF
position, in the ACC position, or not in the ignition,
the airbags are not on and will not inflate.
During a moderate-to-severe rear impact the ORC may
deploy the seat belt pretensioners alone. Also, the ORC turns on the AIRBAG warning
light and PAD indicator light in the instrument
panel for 6 to 8 seconds for a self-check when
the ignition is first turned on. After the self-
check, the AIRBAG warning light will turn off. The PAD
indicator light will function normally (Refer to Passen-
ger Airbag Disable (PAD) Indicator Light in this section).
If the ORC detects a malfunction in any part of the
system, it turns on the AIRBAG warning light either
momentarily or continuously. A single chime will sound
if the light comes on again after initial start up.WARNING!
Ignoring the AIRBAG light in your instrument panel
could mean you won’t have the airbags to protect you
in a collision. If the light does not come on, stays on
after you start the vehicle, or if it comes on as you
drive, have the airbag system checked right away.
•TheOccupant Classification System (OCS) is part of a
Federally regulated safety system required for this ve-
hicle. It is designed to turn off the front passenger airbag
for occupants that weigh less than a very small adult.
NOTE: Children 12 years and under should always ride
buckled up in a rear seat in an appropriate child restraint.
•The OCS classifies an occupant using weight sensors
mounted in the base of the front passenger seat. Any
weight on the seat will be sensed by the system.
Objects hanging on the seat or other passengers push-
ing down on the seat will also be sensed. The weight of
50 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE

an adult will cause the system to turn the airbag on. In
this case, the OCS has classified the occupant of the
seat as an adult. An adult occupant needs to sit in a
normal position (with their feet on or near the floor) in
order to be properly classified. Reclining the seat back
too far may change how an occupant is classified by
the OCS.
•ThePassenger Airbag Disable (PAD) Indicator Light
(an amber light located in the center of the instrument
panel) tells the driver and front passenger when the
front passenger airbag is turned off. The PAD Indica-
tor lamp illuminates the words PASS AIR BAG OFF
to show that the front passenger airbag will not inflate
during a collision requiring airbags. When the right
front passenger seat is empty or when very light
objects are placed on the seat, the passenger air bag
will not inflate even though the Passenger Airbag
Disable (PAD) indicator lamp is not illuminated.•The PAD indictor light should not be illu-
minated when an adult passenger is prop-
erly seated in the front passenger seat. In
this case, the air bag is ready to be inflated if
a collision requiring an airbag occurs.
For all other occupants, the PAD indicator light will be
illuminated indicating that the front passenger airbag
is turned off and will not inflate.
NOTE:
Even though this vehicle is equipped with an
occupant classification system, children 12 years and under
should always ride buckled up in a rear seat in an
appropriate child restraint (see section on child restraints).
Passenger Airbag Disabled Light
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THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 51

WARNING!
Never place a rear facing infant seat in front of an
airbag. A deploying passenger airbag can cause death
or serious injury to a child in a rear facing infant seat.
Front PassengerSeat Occupant Passenger Air-
bag Disable
(PAD) Indicator Light Airbag Status
Adult OFF ON Child ON OFF
Grocery Bags,
Heavy Briefcases and Other Rela-
tively Light Ob- jects ON OFF
Front Passenger
Seat Occupant Passenger Air-
bag Disable
(PAD) Indicator Light Airbag Status
Empty or Very Small Objects OFF*
OFF
* Since the system senses weight, some small objects will turn the PAD Indicator Light on.
Drivers and adult passengers should verify that the PAD
Indicator Light is not illuminated when an adult is riding
in the front passenger seat. If an adult occupant’s weight
is transferred to another part of the vehicle (like the door
or instrument panel), the weight sensors in the seat may
not properly classify the occupant. Objects lodged under
the seat or between the seat and the center console can
prevent the occupant’s weight from being measured
properly and may result in the occupant being improp-
erly classified. Ensure that the front passenger seat back
does not touch anything placed on the second row of
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seats because this can also affect occupant classification.
Also, if you fold down the seats in the second row check
to be sure they don’t touch the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger seat is damaged in any way, it
should only be serviced by an authorized dealer. If the
seat is removed (or even if the seat attachment bolts are
loosened or tightened in any way), take the vehicle to an
authorized dealer.
If there is a fault present in the OCS, the Airbag Warning
Light (a red light located in the center of the instrument
cluster directly in front of the driver) will be turned on.
This indicates that you should take the vehicle to an
authorized dealer. The Airbag Warning Light is turned on
whenever there is fault that can affect the operation of the
airbag system. If there is a fault present in the OCS, both
the PAD Indicator Light and the Airbag Warning Light
are illuminated to show that the passenger airbag is
turned off until the fault is cleared. If an object is lodgedunder the seat and interferes with operation of the weight
sensors, a fault will occur which turns on both the PAD
Indicator Light and the Airbag Warning Light. Once the
lodged object is removed, the fault will be automatically
cleared after a short period of time.
•The
Driver and Passenger Airbag/Inflator Units are
located in the center of the steering wheel and the right
side of the instrument panel. When the ORC detects a
collision requiring the airbags, it signals the inflator
units. A large quantity of nontoxic gas is generated to
inflate the front airbags. Different airbag inflation rates
may be possible based on collision severity and occu-
pant size. The steering wheel hub trim cover and the
upper right side of the instrument panel separate and
fold out of the way as the bags inflate to their full size.
The bags fully inflate in about 50 - 70 milliseconds.
This is about half of the time it takes to blink your eyes.
The bags then quickly deflate while helping to restrain
the driver and front passenger. The driver’s front
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THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 53

airbag gas is vented through vent holes in the sides of
the airbag. The passenger’s front airbag gas is vented
through vent holes in the sides of the airbag. In this
way the airbags do not interfere with your control of
the vehicle.
•TheOccupant Classification Module (OCM) is lo-
cated beneath the front passenger seat. The OCM
classifies the occupant into categories based on the
measurements made by the seat weight sensors. The
OCM communicates with the Occupant Restraint Con-
troller (ORC). The ORC uses the occupant category to
determine whether the front passenger airbag should
be turned off. It also determines the rate of airbag
inflation during a collision.
•Your vehicle has four Weight Sensorslocated between
the seat and the floor pan. The weight sensors measure
applied weight and transfers that information to the
OCM.
•The Side Impact (SRS) Seat Mounted Side Airbags
(If equipped) are designed to activate only in certain
side collisions.
The ORC module determines if a side collision is
severe enough to require the side airbags to inflate.
The side airbag control module will not detect roll
over, front or rear collisions.
The ORC Module monitors the readiness of the electronic
parts of the system whenever the ignition switch is in the
START or ON positions. These include all of the items
previously mentioned.
In moderate to severe side collisions, the side airbag
inflator on the crash side of the vehicle is triggered,
releasing a quantity of nontoxic gas. The inflating side
airbag exits through the seat seam into the space between
the occupant and the door. The side airbag moves at a
very high speed and with such a high force, that it could
54 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE