2020 FORD EXPLORER Owners Manual

Steering wheel adjustment. See Adjusting the Steering Wheel (page 80).
L
Lighting control. See Lighting Control (page 88). Power liftgate release. See
Power Liftgate
(page 74).
M
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GENERAL INFORMATION
See the following sections for directions
on how to properly use safety restraints
for children.
WARNING: Always make sure your
child is secured properly in a device that
is appropriate for their height, age and
weight. Child safety restraints must be
bought separately from your vehicle.
Failure to follow these instructions and
guidelines may result in an increased risk
of serious injury or death to your child. WARNING: All children are shaped
differently. The National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration and other safety
organizations, base their
recommendations for child restraints on
probable child height, age and weight
thresholds, or on the minimum
requirements of the law. We recommend
that you check with a NHTSA Certified
Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) to make sure that you properly
install the child restraint in your vehicle
and that you consult your pediatrician to
make sure you have a child restraint
appropriate for your child. To locate a
child restraint fitting station and CPST,
contact NHTSA toll free at
1-888-327-4236 or go to
www.nhtsa.dot.gov. In Canada, contact
Transport Canada toll free at
1-800-333-0371 or go to www.tc.gc.ca
to find a Child Car Seat Clinic in your
area. Failure to properly restrain children
in child restraints made especially for
their height, age and weight, may result
in an increased risk of serious injury or
death to your child.
WARNING:
On hot days, the
temperature inside the vehicle can rise
very quickly. Exposure of people or
animals to these high temperatures for
even a short time can cause death or
serious heat related injuries, including
brain damage. Small children are
particularly at risk.
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Recommendations for Safety Restraints for Children
Recommended Restraint
Type
Child Size, Height, Weight, or Age
Child
Use a child restraint
(sometimes called an
infant carrier, convertible seat, or toddler seat).
Children weighing 40 lb (18 kg) or less
(generally age four or younger).
Infants or
toddlers
Use a belt-positioningbooster seat.
Children who have outgrown or no longer
properly fit in a child restraint (generally
children who are less than
57 in (1.45 m)
tall, are greater than age four and less
than age 12, and between
40 lb (18 kg)
and 80 lb (36 kg) and upward to 100 lb
(45 kg) if recommended by your child
restraint manufacturer).
Small children
Use a vehicle seatbelt
having the lap belt snug
and low across the hips, shoulder belt centered
across the shoulder and
chest, and seat backrest upright.
Children who have outgrown or no longer
properly fit in a belt-positioning booster
seat (generally children who are at least 57 in (1.45 m)
tall or greater than 80 lb
(36 kg) or 100 lb (45 kg) if recommended by child restraint manufacturer).
Larger children
• You are required by law to properly use
child restraints for infants and toddlers
in the United States, Canada and
Mexico.
• Many states and provinces require that
small children use approved booster
seats until they reach age eight, a
height of
57 in (1.45 m) tall, or 80 lb
(36 kg). Check your local and state or
provincial laws for specific
requirements about the safety of
children in your vehicle. •
When possible, properly restrain
children 12 years of age and under in a
rear seating position of your vehicle.
Accident statistics suggest that
children are safer when properly
restrained in the rear seating positions
than in a front seating position. See
Front Passenger Sensing System
(page 48).
• When installing a rear facing child
restraint, adjust the vehicle seats to
avoid interference between the child
restraint and the vehicle seat in front
of the child restraint.
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INSTALLING CHILD
RESTRAINTS
Child Seats
Use a child restraint (sometimes called an
infant carrier, convertible seat, or toddler
seat) for Infants, toddlers and children
weighing 40 lb (18 kg) or less (generally
four-years-old or younger).
Using Lap and Shoulder Belts WARNING:
Do not place a
rearward facing child restraint in front of
an active airbag. Failure to follow this
instruction could result in personal injury
or death. WARNING:
Properly secure
children 12 years old and under in a rear
seating position whenever possible. If
you are unable to properly secure all
children in a rear seating position,
properly secure the largest child on the
front seat. If you must use a forward
facing child restraint on the front seat,
move the seat as far back as possible.
Failure to follow these instructions could
result in personal injury or death. WARNING:
Depending on where
you secure a child restraint, and
depending on the child restraint design,
you may block access to certain seatbelt
buckle assemblies and LATCH lower
anchors, rendering those features
potentially unusable. To avoid risk of
injury, make sure occupants only use
seating positions where they are able to
be properly restrained.
When installing a child restraint with
combination lap and shoulder belts:
• Use the correct seatbelt buckle for that
seating position.
• Insert the belt tongue into the proper
buckle until you hear a snap and feel it
latch. Make sure the tongue is securely
fastened in the buckle.
• Keep the buckle release button
pointing up and away from the child
restraint, with the tongue between the
child restraint and the release button,
to prevent accidental unbuckling.
• Place the vehicle seat in the upright
position before you install the child
restraint.
• For second row seating positions,
adjust the recliner slightly to improve
child restraint fit. If needed, remove the
head restraints.
• For third row seating positions, stow
the head restraints to improve child
restraint fit. See
Head Restraints
(page 144).
• Put the seatbelt in the automatic
locking mode. See Step 5 in the
procedure that follows. This vehicle
does not require the use of a locking
clip.
Perform the following steps when
installing the child restraint with
combination lap and shoulder belts:
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Note:
Although the child restraint
illustrated is a forward facing child restraint,
the steps are the same for installing a rear
facing child restraint.
Note: Follow all instructions provided by
the manufacturer of the child restraint
regarding the necessary and proper use of
the lock-off device. In some instances, the
manufacturer provides these devices only
for use in vehicles with seatbelt systems
that would otherwise require a locking clip. 1. Position the child restraint in a seat
with a combination lap and shoulder
belt. 2. After positioning the child restraint in
the proper seating position, pull down
on the shoulder belt and then grasp the
shoulder belt and lap belt together
behind the belt tongue. 3.
While holding the shoulder and lap belt
portions together, route the tongue
through the child restraint according
to the child restraint manufacturer's
instructions. Make sure you do not twist
the belt webbing. 4. Insert the belt tongue into the proper
buckle (the buckle closest to the
direction the tongue is coming from)
for that seating position until you hear
a snap and feel the latch engage. Make
sure that you securely latch the tongue
by pulling on it.
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5. To put the retractor in the automatic
locking mode, grasp the shoulder
portion of the belt and pull downward
until you pull all of the belt out.
Note: The automatic locking mode is
available on the front passenger and rear
seats.
6. Allow the belt to retract to remove slack. The belt clicks as it retracts to
indicate it is in the automatic locking
mode.
7. Try to pull the belt out of the retractor to make sure the retractor is in the
automatic locking mode. You should
not be able to pull more belt out. If the
retractor did not lock, unbuckle the belt
and repeat Steps 5 and 6. 8.
Remove remaining slack from the belt.
Force the seat down with extra weight,
for example, by pressing down or
kneeling on the child restraint as you
pull up on the shoulder belt to force
slack from the belt. This is necessary
to remove the remaining slack that
exists once you add the extra weight
of the child to the child restraint. It also
helps to achieve the proper snugness
of the child restraint to your vehicle.
Sometimes, a slight lean toward the
buckle provides extra help to remove
remaining slack from the belt.
9. If the child restraint has a tether strap, attach it now. 10. Before placing the child in the seat,
forcibly move the seat forward and
back to make sure you have the seat
securely held in place. To check this,
grab the seat at the belt path and
attempt to move it side to side and
forward and back. There should be
no more than 1 in (2.5 cm) of
movement for proper installation.
We recommend checking with a NHTSA
Certified Child Passenger Safety
Technician to make sure you properly
installed the child restraint. In Canada,
check with Transport Canada for referral
to a Child Car Seat Clinic.
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Using Lower Anchors and Tethers
for CHildren (LATCH)
WARNING: Do not attach two child
safety restraints to the same anchor. In
a crash, one anchor may not be strong
enough to hold two child safety restraint
attachments and may break, causing
serious injury or death. WARNING: Depending on where
you secure a child restraint, and
depending on the child restraint design,
you may block access to certain seatbelt
buckle assemblies and LATCH lower
anchors, rendering those features
potentially unusable. To avoid risk of
injury, make sure occupants only use
seating positions where they are able to
be properly restrained.
The LATCH system has three vehicle
anchor points: two lower anchors where
the seat backrest and seat cushion meet
(called the seat bight) and one top tether
anchor behind that seating position.
LATCH compatible child restraints have
two rigid or webbing mounted
attachments that connect to the two lower
anchors at the LATCH equipped seating
positions in your vehicle. This type of
attachment method eliminates the need
to use seatbelts to attach the child
restraint. However, you can still use the
seatbelt to attach the child restraint. For
forward-facing child restraints, you must
also attach the top tether strap to the
proper top tether anchor if one came with
your child restraint.
Your vehicle has LATCH lower anchors for
child restraint installation at the seating
positions marked with the child restraint
symbol. Second Row Bucket Seats and Third
Row Seats
Second Row Bench Seats and Third
Row Seats
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The LATCH anchors are at the rear section
of the rear seat between the cushion and
seat backrest below the symbols as
shown. Follow the child restraint
manufacturer's instructions to properly
install a child restraint with LATCH
attachments.
Follow the instructions on attaching child
restraints with tether straps. See Using
Tether Straps later in this chapter.
Attach LATCH lower attachments of the
child restraint only to the anchors shown.
Use of Inboard Lower Anchors from the
Outboard Seating Positions (Center
Seating Use)
WARNING: The standardized
spacing for LATCH lower anchors is 11 in
(280 mm) center to center. Do not use
LATCH lower anchors for the center
seating position unless the child restraint
manufacturer's instructions permit and
specify using anchors spaced at least as
far apart as those in this vehicle.
The lower anchors at the center of the
second row bench seat are spaced 20.5 in
(52 cm)
apart. The standardized spacing
for LATCH lower anchors is 11 in (28 cm)
center to center. You cannot install a child
restraint with rigid LATCH attachments at
the center seating position. You can only
use LATCH compatible child restraints with
attachments on belt webbing at this
seating position provided that the child
restraint manufacturer ’s instructions
permit use with the anchor spacing stated.
Do not attach a child restraint to any lower
anchor if you have an adjacent child
restraint attached to that anchor. Each time you use the child restraint, check
that you properly attached the seat to the
lower anchors and tether anchor, if
applicable. Tug the child restraint from side
to side and forward and back where you
secured it to your vehicle. The child
restraint should move less than
1 in
(2.5 cm) if you properly install the seat.
If you do not properly anchor the child
restraint, the risk of injury to a child greatly
increases in a crash.
Combining Seatbelt and LATCH Lower
Anchors for Attaching Child Restraints
When used in combination, you can attach
either the seatbelt or the LATCH lower
anchors first, provided you achieve a proper
installation. Attach the tether strap
afterward, if included with the child
restraint.
Using Tether Straps Many forward-facing child
restraints include a tether strap
which extends from the back of
the child restraint and hooks to an
anchoring point called the top tether
anchor. Tether straps are available as an
accessory for many older child restraints.
Contact the manufacturer of your child
restraint for information about ordering a
tether strap, or to obtain a longer tether
strap if the tether strap on your child
restraint does not reach the appropriate
top tether anchor in your vehicle.
Once you install the child restraint using
either the seatbelt, the lower anchors of
the LATCH system, or both, you can attach
the top tether strap.
The tether strap anchors in your vehicle
are in the following positions (shown from
top view):
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