Difficulty Installing Child Restraint in Second Row Seats (Inspect and Resize Thickness of Seat Anchors)

Important: This bulletin is for use by GM of Canada Dealers only. Dealers in the United States and IPC Dealers should refer to Recall Bulletin Number 01077.

Some owners may comment that they have difficulty attaching a child restraint seat to the anchors located in the second row seats.

This condition may be caused because the metal used to make the seat anchors may be too thick.

Important: To perform the following procedure, tool J 45920 (Car Seat Anchor Resizer) is required. Your dealership should receive this tool prior to April 12, 2002. Obtain the tool prior to beginning this procedure.

Inspection Procedure

1. Open the side door to access the seats in the second row.



2. Fully recline the seat back to access the two anchors (1) in the seat. On vehicles with a split bench, tool access for the inspection can be improved by tilting the seat back forward.

Important: The size of the slot in the adjusting knob on the handle of J 45920 (Car Seat Anchor Resizer) is a calibrated dimension. This calibrated dimension is used to determine whether the thickness of each seat anchor is oversized or not in the next step.




3. Measure the thickness of the seat anchor by inserting the seat anchor into the calibrated slot in the adjusting knob on the handle of J 45920. Repeat the measuring process on the other three seat anchors in the second row of the vehicle.

•	If the anchor fits completely inside the calibrated slot, NO resizing is necessary on THAT anchor location.

•	If an anchor does NOT fit completely inside the calibrated slot, resizing IS necessary on THAT anchor location.

Resizing Procedure

Important: To perform the resizing procedure, the seat back must be fully reclined. This applies to split bench and bucket seats.

1. With the seat back fully reclined, cover the area around the seat anchor(s) that needs to be resized with clean shop towels.




Important: 

•	The jaws on J 45920 are designed and required for resizing the anchor to the correct thickness in the next steps. Do NOT attempt to perform the operation by any other means (file, grinder, etc.).

•	On split bench seats, it will be necessary to depress the seat back padding when installing the tool on the anchor in the next step.

2. Install J 45920 on the anchor as shown above. Adjust the knob on the handle until the jaws of the tool fit snugly on the anchor when the handle is closed and locked.
3. Release (unlock) the handle and allow the jaws of the tool to open.
4. Turn the adjusting knob clockwise between 1/4 and 1/2 turn to increase the grip on the anchor.

Important: If you are not able to close and lock the handle in the next step, turn the adjusting knob back slightly (counterclockwise) until you can lock the handle.

5. Close the jaws of the tool on the anchor and squeeze the handle as necessary to lock the handle.



6. Move the handle of the tool upwards until it contacts the towels on the fully reclined seat back. Then, move the handle back down until it contacts the towels on the seat cushion. Repeat this up and down action several times. At this point, small amounts of metal shavings should be visible on the jaws of the tool.
7. Unlock the handle and turn the adjustment knob another 1/4 to 1/2 turn clockwise.



8. Close and lock the handle and repeat Steps 6 and 7 until the jaws of the tool are completely closed (1) around the anchor when the handle is locked.
9. Carefully check any "resized" anchors for sharp edges or burrs and if found, remove them using a piece of emery cloth (paper).
10. Clean the resized anchor and using a black felt-tip paint marker or touch-up paint, apply a thin coating to the exposed metal on the anchor. Allow to dry 60 seconds before proceeding to the next step.
11. Measure the thickness of the resized anchor by carefully inserting it into the calibrated slot in the adjusting knob on the tool handle.

•	If an anchor fits completely inside the calibrated slot, that anchor is now the correct thickness.

•	If an anchor does NOT fit completely inside the slot, the resizing operation was not performed correctly. Repeat Steps 1-10 of the resizing procedure on that anchor location.

12. Repeat the operation on any other anchors that were found to need resizing during the inspection procedure.
13. Carefully remove the shop towels and clean up the area(s) using a shop vacuum.
14. Leave the seat back in the fully reclined position until the paint coating applied in Step 10 is fully dry.
15. Reposition the seat back(s) to the upright position.

For vehicles repaired under warranty, use: