Restraint System
Seat belts are the primary means of occupant restraint.
Seat belts help keep occupants inside the passenger compartment and reduce impact
forces.
All seat belt retractors have emergency locks. The retractors remain unlocked
during normal driving conditions in order to allow free movement of the upper body
of each passenger.
When the following driving conditions occur a pendulum causes a locking bar
to engage a cog on the spool of the retractor mechanism:
| • | A rapid extraction of the seat belt webbing from the retractor. |
| • | An abrupt change in the vehicle speed. |
| • | An abrupt change in the vehicle direction. |
| • | Operation of the vehicle on a steep upgrade. |
| • | Operation of the vehicle on a steep downgrade. |
All seat belts, except for the driver seat belt, have an automatic locking feature,
or a cinch feature. The cinch feature is recommended for securing a child seat. The
cinch feature is activated when fully extending the seat belt from the retractor.
Once activated, the seat belt will retract, but cannot be extended again until the
cinch feature is cancelled. The cinch feature is cancelled when the seat belt has
been fully retracted.
This vehicle is equipped with a supplemental inflatable restraint (SIR) system.
Front Seat Belt System
The front seat belt retractors incorporates digressive load limiting (DLL).
DLL retractors minimizes seat belt inflicted injury by offering two stages
of load limiting and adapt to the weight of the occupant. During a severe frontal
collision, the rapid deceleration of the vehicle causes the occupant to accelerate
forward, loading the DLL retractor. The DLL retractor lock the seat belt webbing and
prevents the occupant from moving forward. In addition the SIR activate the pretentioner
resulting in the DLL retractor retracting the access seat belt webbing and causing
the occupant to be pulled into an optimum crash position. The second stage of load
limiting then occurs inside the DLL retractor mechanism. The DLL retractor allows
a torsion effect resulting in a slight extension of the seat belt webbing, cushioning
the occupant. The DLL seat belt retractors are non serviceable items and must be replaced
after being activated.
The front seat belt system includes the following components:
| • | The driver and passenger seat belt buckles, attached to the inboard side
of the seat frame. |
| • | The driver and passenger seat belt pretensioners. |
| • | The driver and passenger seat belt switches which are located in the seat
belt buckles. |
Rear Seat Belt System
The rear seat belt system includes the following components:
| • | The rear seat belt retractors are located behind the upper quarter trim
panel and is attached to the body panel. |
| • | The centre rear seat belt retractor is located under the rear shelf trim
panel and is attached to the rear shelf body panel. |
| • | The right rear seat belt buckle is located in the centre of the rear seat
cushion and is attached to the rear floor pan. |
| • | The centre rear seat belt buckle and the left rear seat belt buckle are
located on the left halve of the seat cushion. The centre rear seat belt buckle and
the left rear seat belt buckle are also attached to the rear floor pan. |
Seat Belt System Circuit Description
Both the driver and front passenger has seat belt status indicators in the instrument
panel cluster (IPC). The indicators are controlled by the IPC at the request of the
inflatable restraint sensing and diagnostic module (SDM). These seat belt status indicators,
when initiated, will illuminate for 20 seconds followed by 55 seconds
of flashing. Visual warnings will be accompanied by 8 seconds of audio warning
chimes.
The drivers seat belt status indicator will initiate a warning sequence when
any of the following occurs:
| • | At the start of each ignition cycle when the drivers seat belt is unbuckled. |
| • | The drivers seat belt is unbuckled while the ignition is ON or while the
engine running. |
| • | The drivers seat belt remains unbuckled and the vehicles speed is greater
than 8 km/h (5 mph). |
| • | Three minutes after the previous seat belt status reminder while a speed
of greater than 8 km/h (5 mph) is maintained. |
Important: The front passenger seat is equipped with
an Active Occupant Sensing System (AOS) , which detects an occupant presence. If the
AOS detects an empty front passenger seat, then the passenger seat belt status indicator
will be disable
The passenger seat belt status indicator will initiate a warning sequence when
any of the following occurs:
| • | Twenty-five seconds after the ignition is switched ON and the front passenger
seat belt is unbuckled with a passenger present. |
| • | The front passenger seat belt remains unbuckled with a passenger present
and the vehicle speed is greater than 8 km/h (5 mph). |
| • | Three minutes after the previous seat belt status reminder while a speed
of greater than 8 km/h (5 mph) is maintained. |
Refer to
Symptoms - Seat Belts in order to diagnose faults of the fasten
seat belt indicators.
