GM Service Manual Online
For 1990-2009 cars only

Restraint System

Important: If the vehicle has been in a collision, refer to Repairs and Inspections Required After a Collision for additional information.

The vehicle has front seat belts that are the primary means of occupant restraint. Seat belts help to keep the occupants inside the passenger compartment and to gradually reduce the impact forces during the following events:

    • Frontal impact type crashes
    • Rear impact type crashes
    • Side impact type crashes
    • Roll-over type crashes

All seat belt retractors have emergency locks. The retractors remain unlocked during normal operation and under normal driving conditions. The retractors remain unlocked during normal conditions in order to allow free movement of the upper body of each occupant. A pendulum locks the seat belt webbing into position. The pendulum causes a locking bar to engage a cog on the spool of the retractor mechanism when the following conditions occur:

    • A rapid extraction of the seat belt webbing from the retractor
    • An abrupt change in vehicle speed
    • An abrupt change in vehicle direction
    • Operation of the vehicle on a steep upgrade
    • Operation of the vehicle on a steep downgrade

The seat belts have an automatic locking (cinch) feature. The cinch feature is activated when the seat belt webbing is completely extended from the retractor. The cinch feature prevents the webbing from extending beyond the position from which it is allowed to retract. Use of the cinch feature is recommended for securing a child seat. The cinch feature may be cancelled by allowing the webbing to wind back completely into the retractor. After the cinch feature is cancelled, the webbing is unlocked. After the cinch feature is cancelled, the webbing will extend from the retractor. The vehicle is equipped with the SIR system. Refer to SIR System Description and Operation .

Front Seat Belt System

Important: If the vehicle has been in a collision, refer to Repairs and Inspections Required After a Collision for additional information.

Seat belts in your vehicle are provided with electrical tensioner reducers, which are built in the seat belt retractor and located in the driver and passenger seat belt systems. It functions to reduce the tensioning of the seat belt and improving the riding comfortability as well. Turn on the ignition and buckle the seat belt. the ETR built-in seat belt retractor will adjust the seat belt to make it more comfortable. You may just pull the webbing, incline forward, and then sit back. The seat belt will restrain occupant slightly. When the seat belt is unbuckled or the ignition is off, ETR is disabled and the seat belt increases its tensioning until it retracts completely.

The front seat belt system includes a seat belt switch built into the driver and passenger seat belt anchor tensioner to control the indicators and tone alarming system.

    • When the driver seat belt is buckled, the driver and passenger side doors are closed, and the ignition switch is turned ON, the following events will occur:
       - The tone alarm will not operate.
       - The reminder lamp will not operate.
    • When the driver seat belt is buckled, the driver door is closed, and the ignition switch is turned ON, the following events will occur:
       - The tone alarm will operate for 4-8 seconds and then go OFF.
       - The Fasten Seat Belt indicator will turn ON for 20 seconds until the driver seat belt is buckled.

Rear Seat Belt System

Rear seat belt consists of the following components:

    • Rear seat belt retractor, located under the rear window trim panel and fixed at the rear window panel.
    • Rear center seat belt anchor and outer seat belt anchors are all located at the center of the seat cushion and fixed to the rear floor.

Child Seat Restraint System

Only forward-facing child restraint can be used. Install and fix the child restraint in line with the instruction provided by the manufacturer. If the child restraint is provided with top tether, you have to fix the seat. No occupant is allowed for seats fixed with child restraint.

All vehicles are equipped with emergency locking and automatic locking retractors. The automatic locking feature is applicable to the child restraint. Fully pull out the seat belt and lock the child restraint to fix it. Then, fasten the seat belt along the child restraint.

If a second child restraint is to be used, use special fasteners provided by the dealer to fix the child restraint top tether. (This is only applicable to seats with top tether and vehicles sold in Canada.) To ensure the correct angle of the top tether, use child restraint only on seats with top tether anchors.

SIR sensing and diagnosing module (SDM) receives input signal from the driver and passenger seat belt switch. When the seat belt is not buckled, the driver and passenger seat belt switch is closed.

Fasten Seat Belt Indicator

There are two fasten safety belt indicators for this vehicle. The driver fasten safety belt reminder is monitored on the instrument panel cluster (IPC) and the passenger fasten seat belt reminder is located in the PASSENGER AIR BAG ON/OFF status indicator. The fasten seat belt indicator may only be ON during RUN. The IPC illuminates the fasten seat belt indicator under the following conditions:

    • During bulb check
    • The inflatable restraint sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) sends the status of the driver and passenger seat belt switch to the IPC via a serial data communication message. The IPC controls both indicators by using the serial data message from the SDM. If either seat belt is unfastened, only if an occupant is seated in the front passenger seat, the IPC will illuminate the fasten seat belt indicator for 72 seconds or until the seat belt is fastened. If the seat belt is unfastened within 8 seconds following the bulb check, the IPC sends a message requesting five chimes to sound.