2018 FORD F-350 Owners Manual

PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
WARNINGS
Airbags do not inflate slowly or
gently, and the risk of injury from a
deploying airbag is the greatest close
to the trim covering the airbag module. All occupants of your vehicle,
including the driver, should always
properly wear their safety belts, even
when an airbag supplemental restraint
system is provided. Failure to properly wear
your safety belt could seriously increase
the risk of injury or death. Always transport children 12 years
old and under in the back seat and
always properly use appropriate
child restraints. Failure to follow this could
seriously increase the risk of injury or death. Never place your arm over the airbag
module as a deploying airbag can
result in serious arm fractures or
other injuries. Airbags can kill or injure a child in a
child seat. Never place a rear-facing
child seat in front of an active airbag.
If you must use a forward-facing child seat
in the front seat, move the seat upon which
the child seat is installed all the way back. Do not attempt to service, repair, or
modify the airbag supplemental
restraint systems or its fuses as you
could be seriously injured or killed. Contact
your authorized dealer as soon as possible. Several airbag system components
get hot after inflation. To avoid risk
of injury, do not touch them after
inflation. If the airbag has deployed, the airbag
will not function again and must be
replaced immediately. If the airbag
is not replaced, the unrepaired area will
increase the risk of injury in a crash. The airbags are a supplemental restraint
system and are designed to work with the
safety belts to help protect the driver and
right front passenger from certain upper
body injuries. Airbags do not inflate slowly;
there is a risk of injury from a deploying
airbag.
Note:
You will hear a loud bang and see a
cloud of harmless powdery residue if an
airbag deploys. This is normal.
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
(to lubricate the bag) or sodium
compounds (for example, baking soda)
that result from the combustion process
that inflates the airbag. Small amounts of
sodium hydroxide may be present which
may irritate the skin and eyes, but none of
the residue is toxic.
While the system is designed to help
reduce serious injuries, contact with a
deploying airbag may also cause abrasions
or swelling. Temporary hearing loss is also
a possibility as a result of the noise
associated with a deploying airbag.
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.
Thus, it is extremely important that
occupants be properly restrained as far
away from the airbag module as possible
while maintaining vehicle control.
Routine maintenance of the airbags is not
required.
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DRIVER AND PASSENGER
AIRBAGS
WARNINGS
Never place your arm over the airbag
module as a deploying airbag can
result in serious arm fractures or
other injuries. Airbags can kill or injure a child in a
child restraint. Never place a
rear-facing child restraint in front of
an active airbag. If you must use a
forward-facing child restraint in the front
seat, move the seat upon which the child
seat is installed all the way back. The driver and front passenger airbags
deploy during significant frontal and near
frontal crashes.
The driver and passenger front airbag
system consists of:
•
Driver and passenger airbag modules. · Crash sensors and monitoring
system with readiness indicator.
See Crash Sensors and Airbag
Indicator (page 54). Passenger Airbag On and Off
Switch
(If Equipped) WARNINGS
Even with advanced restraints
systems, properly restrain children
12 and under in a rear seating
position. Failure to follow this could
seriously increase the risk of injury or death. The front passenger airbag is not
designed to offer protection to an
occupant in the center seating
position. Your vehicle may have an airbag
deactivation switch. Before driving,
always look at the switch to make
sure it is in the appropriate position. Failure
to put the switch in the proper position can
increase the risk of serious injury or death
in a crash. High-series vehicles (if equipped)
The front passenger airbag on and off
switch has indicators that illuminate,
indicating that the front passenger frontal
airbag is either on or off. The indicator lamp
is near the center of the instrument panel.
Note:
The passenger airbag status indicator
OFF and ON lamps illuminate for a short
period of time when you switch the ignition
on to confirm it is functional.
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Passenger airbag
Passenger airbag status
indicator
Switch position
Disabled
OFF: Lit
Off
ON: Unlit Enabled
OFF: Unlit
On
ON: LitLow-series vehicles (if equipped)
The front passenger airbag on and off
switch has an indicator that illuminates
and stays lit to remind you that the front
passenger frontal airbag is off. The
indicator lamp is near the center of the
instrument panel.
Note:
The indicator lamp illuminates for a
short period of time when you switch the
ignition on to confirm it is functional.
Turning the Passenger Airbag Off WARNINGS
If the light does not illuminate when
the passenger airbag switch is off
and you switch the ignition on, have
the passenger airbag switch serviced
immediately by a qualified technician. To avoid switching on the airbag,
always remove the ignition key with
the switch in the off position. WARNINGS
If your vehicle has rear seats, always
transport children who are 12 and
younger in the rear seat. Always use
seatbelts and child restraints properly. Do
not place a child in a rear facing infant seat
in the front seat unless your vehicle is
equipped with an airbag on and off switch
and the passenger airbag is turned off. This
is because the back of the infant seat is
too close to the inflating airbag and the
risk of a fatal injury to the infant when the
airbag inflates is substantial. The passenger airbag on and off switch is
in the glovebox.
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1. Insert the ignition key, turn the switch
to OFF and hold in OFF while removing
the key.
2. When you switch the ignition on, the passenger airbag off light illuminates
briefly, momentarily shuts off and then
turns back on. This indicates that the
passenger airbag is deactivated.
Turning the Passenger Airbag Back On WARNINGS
The seatbelts for the driver and right
front passenger seating positions are
specifically designed to operate
together with the airbags in certain types
of crashes. When you switch off your
airbag, you not only lose the protection of
the airbag, you also may reduce the
effectiveness of your seatbelt system. If
the passenger does not meet the
requirements stated in the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration or
Transport Canada deactivation criteria,
switching off the airbag can increase the
risk of serious injury or death in a crash. If your vehicle has rear seats, always
transport children who are 12 and
younger in the rear seat. Always use
seatbelts and child restraints properly. Do
not place a child in a rear facing infant seat
in the front seat unless your vehicle is
equipped with an airbag on and off switch
and the passenger airbag is turned off. This
is because the back of the infant seat is
too close to the inflating airbag and the
risk of a fatal injury to the infant when the
airbag inflates is substantial. If the passenger airbag off light is
illuminated when the passenger
airbag switch is on and the ignition
is on, have the passenger airbag switch
serviced immediately by a qualified
technician. The passenger airbag remains off until you
turn it back on.
1. Insert the ignition key and turn the
switch to ON.
2. The passenger airbag off light will briefly illuminate when you switch the
ignition on. This indicates that the
passenger airbag is operational.
The passenger side airbag should always
be on (the passenger airbag off light
should not be illuminated) unless the
passenger is a person who meets the
requirements stated either in Category 1, 2
or 3 of the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration or Transport Canada
deactivation criteria which follows.
The vast majority of drivers and passengers
are much safer with an airbag than
without. To do their job and reduce the risk
of life threatening injuries, airbags must
open with great force, and this force can
pose a potentially deadly risk in some
situations, particularly when a front seat
occupant is not properly buckled up. The
most effective way to reduce the risk of
unnecessary airbag injuries without
reducing the overall safety of the vehicle
is to make sure all occupants are properly
restrained in the vehicle, especially in the
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front seat. This provides the protection of
seatbelts and permits the airbags to
provide the additional protection they were
designed to provide. If you choose to
deactivate your airbag, you are losing the
very significant risk reducing benefits of
the airbag and you are also reducing the
effectiveness of the seatbelts, because
seatbelts in modern vehicles are designed
to work as a safety system with the
airbags.
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration Deactivation Criteria
(Excluding Canada)
WARNING
This vehicle has special energy
management seatbelts for the driver
and right front passenger. These
particular seatbelts are specifically
designed to work with airbags to help
reduce the risk of injury in a crash. The
energy management seatbelt gives or
releases additional seatbelt webbing in
some accidents to reduce the
concentration of force on an occupant's
chest and to reduce the risk of certain bone
fractures and injuries to underlying organs.
In a crash, if the airbag is off, this energy
management seatbelt might permit the
passenger wearing the seatbelt to move
forward enough to have a serious or fatal
injury. The more severe the crash, and the
heavier the occupant, the greater the risk.
Make sure the airbag is on for any
passenger who does not qualify under the
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration deactivation criteria. 1.
Infant. An infant (less than 1 year old)
must ride in the front seat because: •
The vehicle has no rear seat;
• The vehicle has a rear seat too small
to accommodate a rear-facing infant
seat; or
• The infant has a medical condition
which, according to the infant's
physician, makes it necessary for the
infant to ride in the front so that the
driver can constantly monitor the
child's condition.
2. Child age 1 to 12. A child age 1 to 12 must
ride in the front seat because:
• The vehicle has no rear seat;
• Although children ages 1 to 12 ride in
the rear seat(s) whenever possible,
children ages 1 to 12 sometimes must
ride in the front because no space is
available in the rear seat(s) of the
vehicle; or
• The child has a medical condition
which, according to the child's
physician, makes it necessary for the
child to ride in the front seat so that the
driver can constantly monitor the
child's condition.
3. Medical condition.
A passenger has a
medical condition which, according to his
or her physician:
• Causes the passenger airbag to pose
a special risk for the passenger;
• Makes the potential harm from the
passenger airbag in a crash greater
than the potential harm from turning
off the airbag and allowing the
passenger, even if belted, to hit the
dashboard or windshield in a crash.
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Transport Canada Deactivation Criteria
(Canada Only)
WARNING
This vehicle has special energy
management seatbelts for the driver
and right front passenger. These
particular seatbelts are specifically
designed to work with airbags to help
reduce the risk of injury in a crash. The
energy management seatbelt gives or
releases additional seatbelt webbing in
some accidents to reduce the
concentration of force on an occupant's
chest and to reduce the risk of certain bone
fractures and injuries to underlying organs.
In a crash, if the airbag is off, this energy
management seatbelt might permit the
passenger wearing the seatbelt to move
forward enough to have a serious or fatal
injury. The more severe the crash, and the
heavier the occupant, the greater the risk.
Make sure the airbag is on for any
passenger who does not qualify under the
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration deactivation criteria. 1.
Infant: An infant (less than 1 year old)
must ride in the front seat because:
• My vehicle has no rear seat;
• The rear seat in my vehicle cannot
accommodate a rear-facing infant
seat;
• The infant has a medical condition
which, according to the infant's
physician, makes it necessary for the
infant to ride in the front seat so that
the driver can monitor the infant's
condition.
2. Child age 12 or under: A child age 12 or
under must ride in the front seat because: •
My vehicle has no rear seat;
• Although children age 12 and under ride
in the rear seat whenever possible,
children age 12 and under have no
option but to sometimes ride in the
front seat because rear seat space is
insufficient;
• The child has a medical condition that,
according to the child's physician,
makes it necessary for the child to ride
in the front seat so that the driver can
monitor the child's condition.
3. Medical condition:
A passenger has a
medical condition that, according to his or
her physician:
• Poses a special risk for the passenger
if the airbag deploys; and
• Makes the potential harm from the
passenger airbag deployment greater
than the potential harm from turning
off the airbag and experiencing a crash
without the protection offered by the
airbag
Proper Driver and Front Passenger
Seating Adjustment WARNING
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA)
recommends a minimum distance
of at least
10 in (25 cm) between an
occupant’ s chest and the driver airbag
module. To properly position yourself away from
the airbag:
•
Move your seat to the rear as far as you
can while still reaching the pedals
comfortably.
• Recline the seat slightly (one or two
degrees) from the upright position.
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After all occupants have adjusted their
seats and put on seatbelts, it is very
important that they continue to sit
properly. Properly seated occupants sit
upright, lean against the seat back, and
center themselves on the seat cushion,
with their feet comfortably extended on
the floor. Sitting improperly can increase
the chance of injury in a crash event. For
example, if an occupant slouches, lies
down, turns sideways, sits forward, leans
forward or sideways, or puts one or both
feet up, the chance of injury during a crash
greatly increases.
Children and Airbags
WARNING
Airbags can kill or injure a child in a
child restraint. Never place a
rear-facing child restraint in front of
an active airbag. If you must use a
forward-facing child restraint in the front
seat, move the seat upon which the child
seat is installed all the way back. Children must always be properly
restrained. Accident statistics suggest that
children are safer when properly restrained
in the rear seating positions than in the
front seating position. Failure to follow
these instructions may increase the risk of
injury in a crash. If two adults and a child occupy a Regular
Cab, properly restrain the child in the
center front unless doing so would interfere
with driving your vehicle. This provides lap
and shoulder belt protection for all
occupants, and airbag protection for the
adults. A child or infant properly restrained
in the center front seat should not incur
risk of serious injury from the airbags.
SIDE AIRBAGS
WARNINGS
Do not place objects or mount
equipment on or near the airbag
cover, on the side of the seatbacks
(of the front seats), or in front seat areas
that may come into contact with a
deploying airbag. Failure to follow these
instructions may increase the risk of
personal injury in the event of a crash. Do not use accessory seat covers.
The use of accessory seat covers
may prevent the deployment of the
side airbags and increase the risk of injury
in an accident. Do not lean your head on the door.
The side airbag could injure you as it
deploys from the side of the
seatback. Do not attempt to service, repair, or
modify the airbag, its fuses or the
seat cover on a seat containing an
airbag as you could be seriously injured or
killed. Contact your authorized dealer as
soon as possible. If the side airbag has deployed, the
airbag will not function again. The
side airbag system (including the
seat) must be inspected and serviced by
an authorized dealer. If the airbag is not
replaced, the unrepaired area will increase
the risk of injury in a crash. 52
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The side airbags are located on the
outboard side of the seatbacks of the front
seats. In certain sideways crashes, the
airbag on the side affected by the crash
will be inflated. The airbag was designed
to inflate between the door panel and
occupant to further enhance the protection
provided occupants in side impact crashes.
The system consists of the following:
•
A label or embossed side panel
indicating that side airbags are found
on your vehicle.
• Side airbags located inside the
seatback of the driver and front
passenger seats. ·Crash sensors and monitoring
system with readiness indicator.
See Crash Sensors and Airbag
Indicator (page 54).
The design and development of the side
airbag system included recommended
testing procedures that were developed
by a group of automotive safety experts
known as the Side Airbag Technical
Working Group. These recommended
testing procedures help reduce the risk of
injuries related to the deployment of side
airbags. SAFETY CANOPY™ WARNINGS
Do not place objects or mount
equipment on or near the headliner
at the siderail that may come into
contact with a deploying curtain airbag.
Failure to follow these instructions may
increase the risk of personal injury in the
event of a crash. Do not lean your head on the door.
The curtain airbag could injure you
as it deploys from the headliner.
Do not attempt to service, repair, or
modify the supplementary restraint
system or associated components.
Failure to follow this instruction could
result in personal injury or death. All occupants of your vehicle,
including the driver, should always
properly wear their seatbelts, even
when an airbag supplemental restraint
system is provided. Failure to properly wear
your seatbelt could seriously increase the
risk of injury or death. To reduce risk of injury, do not
obstruct or place objects in the
deployment path of the airbag.
If a supplementary restraint system
component has deployed, it will not
function again. Have the system and
associated components inspected as soon
as possible. Failure to follow this
instruction could result in personal injury
or death. The Safety Canopy deploys during
significant side crashes or when a certain
likelihood of a rollover event is detected
by the rollover sensor. The Safety Canopy
is mounted to the roof side rail sheet metal,
behind the headliner, above each row of
seats. In certain sideways crashes or
rollover events, the Safety Canopy will be
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