Ford E350 Owners Manual

							necessary to remove the remaining
slack that will exist once the extra
weight of the child is added to the child
restraint. It also helps to achieve the
proper snugness of the child seat to
your vehicle. Sometimes, a slight lean
toward the buckle will help to remove
remaining slack from the belt.
9. Attach the tether strap (if the child seat
is equipped). 10. Before placing the child in the seat,
forcibly move the seat forward and
back to make sure the seat is 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 inch (2.5 centimeters) of
movement for proper installation.
We recommend checking with a NHTSA
Certified Child Passenger Safety
Technician to make certain the child
restraint is properly installed. In Canada,
check with Transport Canada for referral
to a Child Car Seat Clinic. Using Tether Straps
Many forward-facing child safety seats
include a tether strap which extends from
the back of the child safety seat and hooks
to an anchoring point called the top tether
anchor. Tether straps are available as an
accessory for many older safety seats.
Contact the manufacturer of your child
seat for information about ordering a
tether strap, or to obtain a longer tether
strap if the tether strap on your safety seat
does not reach the appropriate top tether
anchor in the vehicle.
Attach the tether strap only to the tether
anchor as shown. The tether strap may not
work properly if attached somewhere other
than the correct tether anchor.
Note:
Do not tighten the tether strap
enough to lift the child seat off the vehicle
seat cushion when the child is seated in it.
Keep the tether strap just snug without
lifting the front of the child seat. Keeping
the child seat just touching the vehicle seat
gives the best protection in a severe crash.
Perform the following steps to install a
child safety seat with tether anchors: You can attach the tether directly to the
rear of the front seat.
1. Adjust the front passenger seat fully
forward.
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							2.
Route the child safety seat tether strap
over the back of the front passenger
seat as shown. 3. Clip the tether strap hook to the seat
pedestal at the location shown. If the
tether strap is clipped incorrectly, the
child safety seat may not be retained
properly in the event of a crash.
4. Adjust the front passenger seat to the full rearward position.
5. Tighten the child safety seat tether strap according to the manufacturer ’s
instructions.
If the safety seat is not anchored properly,
the risk of a child being injured in a crash
greatly increases. BOOSTER SEATS WARNING
Never place, or allow a child to place,
the shoulder belt under a child's arm
or behind the back because it
reduces the protection for the upper part
of the body and may increase the risk of
injury or death in a crash. Use a belt-positioning booster seat for
children who have outgrown or no longer
properly fit in a child safety seat (generally
children who are less than 4 feet 9 inches
(1.45 meters) tall, are greater than age four
(4) and less than age twelve (12), and
between 40 pounds (18 kilograms) and
80 pounds (36 kilograms) and upward to
100 pounds (45 kilograms) if
recommended by your child restraint
manufacturer). Many state and provincial
laws require that children use approved
booster seats until they reach age eight, a
height of 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 meters) tall,
or 80 pounds (36 kilograms).
Booster seats should be used until you can
answer YES to ALL of these questions
when seated without a booster seat:
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							•
Can the child sit all the way back
against their vehicle seat back with
knees bent comfortably at the edge of
the seat cushion?
• Can the child sit without slouching?
• Does the lap belt rest low across the
hips?
• Is the shoulder belt centered on the
shoulder and chest?
• Can the child stay seated like this for
the whole trip?
Always use booster seats in conjunction
with your vehicle lap and shoulder belt.
Types of Booster Seats •
Backless booster seats
If your backless booster seat has a
removable shield, remove the shield. If a
vehicle seating position has a low seat
back or no head restraint, a backless
booster seat may place your child's head
(as measured at the tops of the ears)
above the top of the seat. In this case,
move the backless booster to another
seating position with a higher seat back or
head restraint and lap and shoulder belts,
or consider using a high back booster seat. •
High back booster seats
If, with a backless booster seat, you cannot
find a seating position that adequately
supports your child's head, a high back
booster seat would be a better choice.
Children and booster seats vary in size and
shape. Choose a booster that keeps the
lap belt low and snug across the hips,
never up across the stomach, and lets you
adjust the shoulder belt to cross the chest
and rest snugly near the center of the
shoulder. The following drawings compare
the ideal fit (center) to a shoulder belt
uncomfortably close to the neck and a
shoulder belt that could slip off the
shoulder. The drawings also show how the
lap belt should be low and snug across the
child's hips.
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							If the booster seat slides on the vehicle
seat upon which it is being used, placing a
rubberized mesh sold as shelf or carpet
liner under the booster seat may improve
this condition. Do not introduce any item
thicker than this under the booster seat.
Check with the booster seat
manufacturer's instructions.
CHILD RESTRAINT
POSITIONING
WARNINGS
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 vehicle seat upon which WARNINGS
the child restraint is installed all the way
back. When possible, all children age 12
and under should be properly restrained in
a rear seating position. If all children
cannot be seated and restrained properly
in a rear seating position, properly restrain
the largest child in the front seat. Always carefully follow the
instructions and warnings provided
by the manufacturer of any child
restraint to determine if the restraint device
is appropriate for your child's size, height,
weight, or age. Follow the child restraint
manufacturer's instructions and warnings
provided for installation and use in
conjunction with the instructions and
warnings provided by your vehicle
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							WARNINGS
manufacturer. A safety seat that is
improperly installed or utilized, is
inappropriate for your child's height, age,
or weight or does not properly fit the child
may increase the risk of serious injury or
death. Never let a passenger hold a child on
his or her lap while your vehicle is
moving. The passenger cannot
protect the child from injury in a crash,
which may result in serious injury or death. Never use pillows, books, or towels
to boost a child. They can slide
around and increase the likelihood
of injury or death in a crash. WARNINGS
Always restrain an unoccupied child
restraint or booster seat. These
objects may become projectiles in a
crash or sudden stop, which may increase
the risk of serious injury. Never place, or allow a child to place,
the shoulder belt under a child's arm
or behind the back because it
reduces the protection for the upper part
of the body and may increase the risk of
injury or death in a crash. To avoid risk of injury, do not leave
children or pets unattended in your
vehicle.
Recommendations for attaching child safety restraints for children
Use any attachment method as indicated below by X.
Restraint Type Safety belt only
Safety belt and top
tether anchor
Combined weight of
child and child restraint
Up to 65 lb (29.5 kg)
Rear-facing
child restraint
Over 65 lb (29.5 kg)
Rear-facing
child restraint
X
Up to 65 lb (29.5 kg)
Forward-facing
child restraint
X
Over 
65 lb (29.5 kg)
Forward-facing
child restraint
Note: The child restraint must rest tightly
against the vehicle seat upon which it is
installed. It may be necessary to lift or
remove the head restraint.  See 
Head
Restraints (page 67).
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							PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
WARNINGS
Always drive and ride with the seat
backrest upright and the lap belt
snug and low across the hips.
To reduce the risk of injury, make
sure children sit where they can be
properly restrained.
Never let a passenger hold a child on
his or her lap while your vehicle is
moving. The passenger cannot
protect the child from injury in a crash
which may result in serious injury or death. All occupants of the 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. It is extremely dangerous to ride in a
cargo area, inside or outside of a
vehicle. In a crash, people riding in
these areas are more likely to be seriously
injured or killed. Do not allow people to ride
in any area of your vehicle that is not
equipped with seats and safety belts. Be
sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat
and using a safety belt properly. In a rollover crash, an unbelted
person is significantly more likely to
die than a person wearing a safety
belt. Each seating position in your vehicle
has a specific safety belt assembly
which is made up of one buckle and
one tongue that are designed to be used
as a pair. 1) Use the shoulder belt on the
outside shoulder only. Never wear the
shoulder belt under the arm. 2) Never
swing the safety belt around your neck over
the inside shoulder. 3) Never use a single
belt for more than one person. WARNINGS
When possible, all children 12 years
old and under should be properly
restrained in a rear seating position.
Failure to follow this could seriously
increase the risk of injury or death. Safety belts and seats can become
hot in a vehicle that has been closed
up in sunny weather; they could burn
a small child. Check seat covers and
buckles before you place a child anywhere
near them. Front and rear seat occupants,
including pregnant women, should
wear safety belts for optimum
protection in an accident. All seating positions in this vehicle have
lap and shoulder safety belts. All
occupants of the vehicle should always
properly wear their safety belts, even when
an airbag supplemental restraint system
is provided.
The safety belt system consists of:
•
Lap and shoulder safety belts.
• Shoulder safety belt with automatic
locking mode, (except driver safety
belt).
• Height adjuster at the front outboard
seating positions.
• Safety belt pretensioner at the front
outboard seating positions. •
Safety belt warning light and chime. •
Crash sensors and monitoring system
with readiness indicator.
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							The safety belt pretensioners at the front
seating positions are designed to tighten
the safety belts when activated. In frontal
and near-frontal crashes, the safety belt
pretensioners may be activated alone or,
if the crash is of sufficient severity, together
with the front airbags.
FASTENING THE SEATBELTS
The front outboard safety restraints in the
vehicle are combination lap and shoulder
belts.
1. Insert the belt tongue into the proper
buckle (the buckle closest to the
direction the tongue is coming from)
until you hear a snap and feel it latch.
Make sure the tongue is securely
fastened in the buckle. 2. To unfasten, press the release button
and remove the tongue from the
buckle.
Using Seatbelts During Pregnancy WARNING
Always ride and drive with your
seatback upright and the seatbelt
properly fastened. The lap portion of
the seatbelt should fit snug and be
positioned low across the hips. The
shoulder portion of the seatbelt should be
positioned across the chest. Pregnant
women should also follow this practice.
See the following figure. Pregnant women should always wear their
seatbelt. The lap belt portion of a
combination lap and shoulder belt should
be positioned low across the hips below
the belly and worn as tight as comfort will
allow. The shoulder belt should be
positioned to cross the middle of the
shoulder and the center of the chest.
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							Seatbelt Locking Modes
WARNINGS
After any vehicle crash, the seatbelt
system at all passenger seating
positions must be checked by an
authorized dealer to verify that the
automatic locking retractor feature for
child seats is still functioning properly. In
addition, all seatbelts should be checked
for proper function. The belt and retractor assembly
must be replaced if the seatbelt
assembly automatic locking retractor
feature or any other seatbelt function is
not operating properly when checked by
an authorized dealer. Failure to replace the
belt and retractor assembly could increase
the risk of injury in crashes. All safety restraints in the vehicle are
combination lap and shoulder belts. The
driver seatbelt has the first type of locking
mode. The front outboard passenger
seatbelt has both types of locking modes
described as follows:
Vehicle Sensitive Mode
This is the normal retractor mode, which
allows free shoulder belt length
adjustment to your movements and
locking in response to vehicle movement.
For example, if the driver brakes suddenly
or turns a corner sharply, or the vehicle
receives an impact of about 5 mph
(8 km/h) or more, the combination
seatbelts will lock to help reduce forward
movement of the driver and passengers.
In addition, the retractor is designed to lock
if the webbing is pulled out too quickly. If
this occurs, let the belt retract slightly and
pull webbing out again in a slow and
controlled manner. Automatic Locking Mode
In this mode, the shoulder belt is
automatically pre-locked. The belt will still
retract to remove any slack in the shoulder
belt. The automatic locking mode is not
available on the driver seatbelt.
When to Use the Automatic Locking
Mode
This mode should be used any time a child
safety seat, except a booster, is installed
in the passenger front seating position.
See 
Child Safety (page 14).
How to Use the Automatic Locking
Mode 1. Buckle the combination lap and
shoulder belt.
2. Grasp the shoulder portion and pull downward until the entire belt is pulled
out.
Allow the belt to retract. As the belt
retracts, you will hear a clicking sound. This
indicates the seatbelt is now in the
automatic locking mode.
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							How to Disengage the Automatic
Locking Mode
Unbuckle the combination lap and
shoulder belt and allow it to retract
completely to disengage the automatic
locking mode and activate the vehicle
sensitive (emergency) locking mode.
SEATBELT HEIGHT
ADJUSTMENT
WARNING
Position the safety belt height
adjuster so that the belt rests across
the middle of your shoulder. Failure
to adjust the safety belt properly could
reduce the effectiveness of the safety belt
and increase the risk of injury in a crash. Adjust the height of the shoulder belt so
the belt rests across the middle of your
shoulder. To adjust the shoulder belt height:
1. Press the button and slide the height
adjuster up or down.
2. Release the button and pull down on the height adjuster to make sure it is
locked in place.
SEATBELT WARNING LAMP
AND INDICATOR CHIME This lamp illuminates and an
audible warning will sound if the
driver's safety belt has not been
fastened when the vehicle's ignition is
turned on.
Conditions of operation Then...
If...
The safety belt warning light illuminates 1-2 minutes and the warning chime sounds 4-8 seconds.
The driver's safety belt is not buckled
before the ignition switch is turned to the on position...
The safety belt warning light and warningchime turn off.
The driver's safety belt is buckled while the
indicator light is illuminated and the warning chime is sounding...
The safety belt warning light and indicatorchime remain off.
The driver's safety belt is buckled before
the ignition switch is turned to the on posi- tion...
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							CHILD RESTRAINT AND
SEATBELT MAINTENANCE
Inspect the vehicle safety belts and child
safety seat systems periodically to make
sure they work properly and are not
damaged. Inspect the vehicle and child
seat safety belts to make sure there are no
nicks, tears or cuts. Replace if necessary.
All vehicle safety belt assemblies, including
retractors, buckles, front safety belt buckle
assemblies, buckle support assemblies
(slide bar-if equipped), shoulder belt
height adjusters (if equipped), shoulder
belt guide on seat back (if equipped), rear
inflatable safety belts (if equipped), child
safety seat LATCH and tether anchors, and
attaching hardware, should be inspected
after a crash. Read the child restraint
manufacturer's instructions for additional
inspection and maintenance information
specific to the child restraint.
We recommend that all safety belt
assemblies in use in vehicles involved in a
crash be replaced. However, if the crash
was minor and an authorized dealer finds
that the belts do not show damage and
continue to operate properly, they do not
need to be replaced. Safety belt
assemblies not in use during a crash should
also be inspected and replaced if either
damage or improper operation is noted.
Properly care for safety belts.  See
Cleaning the Interior (page 159).
SEATBELT EXTENSION WARNINGS
Persons who fit into the vehicle's
seatbelt should not use an extension.
Unnecessary use could result in
serious personal injury in the event of a
crash. WARNINGS
Only use extensions provided free of
charge by Ford Motor Company
dealers. The dealer will provide an
extension designed specifically for this
vehicle, model year and seating position.
The use of an extension intended for
another vehicle, model year or seating
position may not offer you the full
protection of your vehicle ’s seatbelt
restraint system. Never use seatbelt extensions to
install child restraints.
Do not use a seatbelt extension with
an inflatable seatbelt.
Do not use extensions to change the
fit of the belt across the torso, over
the lap or to make the seatbelt
buckle easier to reach. If, because of body size or driving position,
it is not possible to properly fasten the
seatbelt over your lap and shoulder, an
extension that is compatible with the
seatbelts is available free of charge from
Ford Motor Company dealers. Only Ford
seatbelt extensions made by the original
equipment seatbelts manufacturer should
be used with Ford seatbelts. Ask your
authorized dealer if your extension is
compatible with your Ford vehicle restraint
system.
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