2009 KIA Sportage belt

Knowing your vehicle76
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Noise and smokeWhen the airbags inflate, they make
a loud noise and they leave smoke
and powder in the air inside of the
vehicle. This is normal. After the
airbag inflates, you may feel sub-
stantial discomfort in breathing due
to the contact of your chest to both
the safety belt and the airbag, as well
as from breathing the smoke and
powder. We strongly urge you to
open your doors and/or windows
as soon as possible after impact
in order to reduce discomfort and
prevent prolonged exposure to
the smoke and powder.
Though the smoke and powder are
non-toxic, they may cause irritation
(eyes, nose and throat etc). Wash
and rinse with cold water immediate-
ly and consult the doctor if the symp-
tom persists.
WARNING -
Seated posi-
tioning
Driver should sit as far back from the steering wheel airbag
as possible to reduce the risk
of injury or death in a collision
(at least 250 mm (10 inches)
away). The front passenger
should always move their seat
as far back as possible and sit
back in their seat.
Airbags inflate instantly in an event of collision and passen-
gers may be injured by the
airbag expansion force if they
are too close to the dash-
board.
Airbag inflation may cause injuries which normally
include facial or bodily abra-
sions, injuries from broken
eyeglasses or burns from the
airbag gases.
WARNING
- Hot airbag
parts
When the airbags deploy, the
airbag related parts in steering
wheel and/or instrument panel
and/or in both sides of the roof
rails above the front and rear
doors are very hot. To prevent
injury, do not touch the airbag
storage area’s internal compo-
nents immediately after an
airbag has inflated.

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Driving your vehicle
You must consciously take theeffort to learn how to corner in a
4WD vehicle. Do not rely on your
experience in conventional 2WD
vehicles in choosing safe cornering
speed in 4WD mode. For starters,
you must drive more slowly in
4WD.
Drive carefully off-road because your vehicle may be damaged by
rocks or roots of trees. Become
familiar with the off-road conditions
where you are going to drive
before you begin driving. Always hold the steering wheel
firmly when you are driving off-
road.
Make sure all passengers are wearing seat belts.
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WARNING -
4WD
Reduce speed when you turn
corners. The center of gravity of
4WD vehicles is higher than that
of conventional 2WD vehicles,
making them more likely to roll
over when you turn corners too
fast.
WARNING -
Steering
wheel
Do not grab inside of the steer-
ing wheel when you are driving
off-road. Your arm may be hurt
by a sudden steering maneuver
or from steering wheel rebound
due to impact with objects on
the ground. You could lose con-
trol of the steering wheel.
OKM049415N

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Driving your vehicle
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WARNING -
4WD driving
Avoid high cornering speed.
Do not make quick steering wheel movements, such as
sharp lane changes or fast,
sharp turns.
The risk of rollover is greatly increased if you lose control
of your vehicle at high speed.
In a collision, an unbelted per- son is significantly more likely
to die compared to a person
wearing a seat belt.
Loss of control often occurs if two or more wheels drop off
the roadway and the driver
over steers to re-enter the
roadway. In the event your
vehicle leaves the roadway, do
not steer sharply. Instead,
slow down before pulling back
into the travel lanes.
WARNING -
Jacked vehi-
cle
While the full-time 4WD vehicle
is being raised on a jack, never
start the engine or cause the
tires to rotate.
There is the danger that rotating
tires touching the ground could
cause the vehicle to go off the
jack and to jump forward.
WARNING
Your vehicle is equipped with
tires designed to provide for
safe ride and handling capabili-
ty. Do not use a size and type of
tire and wheel that is different
from the one that is originally
installed on your vehicle. It can
affect the safety and perfor-
mance of your vehicle, which
could lead to handling failure or
rollover and serious injury.
When replacing the tires, be
sure to equip all four tires with
the tire and wheel of the same
size, type, tread, brand and
load-carrying capacity. If you
nevertheless decide to equip
your vehicle with any tire/wheel
combination not recommended
by Kia for off road driving, you
should not use these tires for
highway driving.
CAUTION -
Mud or snow
If one of the front or rear wheels begins to spin in mud, snow,etc. the vehicle can sometimesbe driven out by depressing theaccelerator pedal further; how-ever avoid running the enginecontinuously at high rpmbecause doing so could dam-age the 4WD system.

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Driving your vehicle
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Power steeringPower Steering uses energy from the
engine to assist you in steering the
vehicle. If the engine is off or if the
power steering system becomes
inoperative, the vehicle may still be
steered, but it will require increased
steering effort.
Should you notice any change in the
effort required to steer during normal
vehicle operation, have the power
steering checked by an Authorized
Kia Dealer.
✽ ✽NOTICE• Never hold the steering wheel
against a stop (extreme right or
left turn) for more than 5 seconds
with the engine running. Holding
the steering wheel for more than 5
seconds in either position may
cause damage to the power steer-
ing pump.
• If the power steering drive belt breaks or if the power steering
pump malfunctions, the steering
effort will greatly increase.
✽ ✽

NOTICEIf the vehicle is parked for extended
periods outside in cold weather
(below -10°C/14°F), the power steer-
ing may require increased effort
when the engine is first started. This
is caused by increased fluid viscosity
due to the cold weather and does not
indicate a malfunction.
When this happens, increase the
engine RPM by depressing accelera-
tor until the RPM reaches 1,500 rpm
then release or let the engine idle for
two or three minutes to warm up the
fluid.
STEERING WHEEL

Driving your vehicle42
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In this case, your ABS system and
regular brake system may not work
normally. Have the vehicle checked
by an Authorized Kia Dealer as soon
as possible.
Engine oil pressure
warning This warning light indicates the
engine oil pressure is low.
If the warning light illuminates while
driving:
1. Drive safely to the side of the road
and stop.
2. With the engine off, check the engine oil level. If the level is low,
add oil as required.
If the warning light remains on after
adding oil or if oil is not available, call
an Authorized Kia Dealer.✽ ✽

NOTICEIf the engine is not stopped immedi-
ately, severe damage could result.
Charging system
warning This warning light indicates a mal-
function of either the generator or
electrical charging system.
If the warning light comes on while
the vehicle is in motion:
1. Drive to the nearest safe location.
2. With the engine off, check the gen-
erator drive belt for looseness or
breakage.
3. If the belt is adjusted properly, a problem exists somewhere in the
electrical charging system. Have
an Authorized Kia Dealer correct
the problem as soon as possible.
WARNING
- Brake indica-
tors
If the both ABS and Brake warn-
ing lights are ON and stay ON,
your vehicle’s brake system will
not work normally. You may
experience an unexpected and
dangerous situation during sud-
den braking. In this case, avoid
high speed driving and abrupt
braking. Have your vehicle
checked by Authorized Kia
Dealer as soon as possible.

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Driving your vehicle
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Safety belt warning If the driver's safety belt is not fas-
tened when the key is turned ON or
if it is unfastened after the key is
turned ON, the safety belt warning
light blinks until the belt fastened.Shift pattern indicators
(if equipped)The individual indicators illuminate to
show the automatic transaxle shift
lever selection.
Immobilizer indicator
(if equipped)This light illuminates when the immo-
bilizer key is inserted and turned to
the ON position to start the engine.
At this time, you can start the engine.
The light goes out after the engine is
running. In case this light goes out
before you start the engine, you must
turn to the LOCK position and restart
the engine.
If this light blinks when the ignition
switch is in the ON position before
starting the engine, have the system
checked by an authorized Kia
Dealer.
Parking brake & brake
fluid warning Parking brake warning This light is illuminated when the
parking brake is applied with the igni-
tion switch in the START or ON posi-
tion. The warning light should go off
when the parking brake is released.Low brake fluid level warningIf the warning light remains on, it may
indicate that the brake fluid level in
the reservoir is low.
If the warning light remains on:
1. Drive carefully to the nearest safelocation and stop your vehicle.

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Safety belt warning chime If the driver's safety belt is not fas-
tened when the ignition key is turned
ON or if it is unfastened after the key
is ON, the safety belt warning chime
will sound for approximately 6 sec-
onds. At this time, if the safety belt is
fastened, the chime will stop at once.Parking start warning chimeIf you drive over 10 km/h (6.2 mph)
with the parking brake applied, the
parking start warning chime will
sound.Key reminder warning chimeIf the driver’s door is opened while
the ignition key is left in the ignition
switch, the key reminder warning
chime will sound. This is to prevent
you from locking your keys in the
vehicle.

Driving tips12
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Driving in flooded areas Avoid driving through flooded areas
unless you are sure the water is no
higher than the bottom of the wheel
hub. Drive through any water slowly.
Allow adequate stopping distance
because brake performance may be
affected.
After driving through water, dry the
brakes by gently applying them sev-
eral times while the vehicle is moving
slowly.
Reducing the risk of a rolloverThis multi-purpose passenger vehi-
cle is defined as a Sports Utility
Vehicle (SUV). SUV’s have higher
ground clearance and a narrower
track to make them capable of per-
forming in a wide variety of off-road
applications. Specific design charac-
teristics give them a higher center of
gravity than ordinary cars. An advan-
tage of the higher ground clearance
is a better view of the road, which
allows you to anticipate problems.
They are not designed for cornering
at the same speeds as conventional
passenger drive vehicles, any more
than low-slung sports cars are
designed to perform satisfactorily in
off-road conditions. Due to this risk,
driver and passengers are strongly
recommended to buckle their seat-
belts. In a rollover crash, an unbelt-
ed person is more likely to die than a
person wearing a seatbelt. There
are steps that a driver can make to
reduce the risk of a rollover. If at all
possible, avoid sharp turns or abrupt
maneuvers, do not load your roof
rack with heavy cargo, and never
modify your vehicle in any way.
Rollover warning labelTo remind you of the danger of the
rollover, a rollover warning label
which is now required by the Federal
Safety regulations is adhered to the
driver’s sunvisor.