Seat Belt System

CAUTION: To help avoid personal injury from unrepaired crash damage to a restraint system:
^ Replace each seat belt system worn during a crash unless the crash was minor.
^ Perform the seat belt check for each seat belt system. Replace the seat belt system if there is any doubt about the condition of system components.

Restraint System
Seat belts are the primary means of occupant restraint. Seat belts help to keep the occupant inside the passenger compartment in order to reduce impact forces more gradually during the following events:
^ The frontal impact
^ The rear impact
^ The side impact
^ The rollover

All seat belts, except for the second row center bucket, have emergency locks in the retractors. The retractors remain unlocked in order to allow easy movement of the occupant's upper body under normal driving conditions during normal operation. The seat belt webbing locks into position through a ball sensor that causes a locking bar to engage a cog on the spool of the retractor mechanism under the following conditions.
^ Rapid extraction of the seat belt webbing from the retractor.
^ The speed of the vehicle changes abruptly.
^ The direction of the vehicle changes abruptly.
^ The vehicle is on a steep upgrade or the vehicle is on a steep downgrade.

Seat belts have an automatic cinch locking feature. The cinch feature activates when the seat belt webbing completely extends from the retractor. The cinch feature does not allow webbing to extend beyond the required retraction position. Use the cinch feature in order to secure a child seat. The cinch feature cancels in order to allow the webbing to completely wound back into the required retraction position. The webbing unlocks and extends from the retractor after the cinch feature cancels.

Seat Belt System Circuit Description
The Body Control Module (BCM) generates a fasten belts warning chime and illuminates the fasten seat belt indicator when the BCM senses both of the following conditions:
^ The ignition switch is in the RUN, BULB TEST or START position.
^ The driver seat belt is unbuckled.

When the ignition switch is in the RUN, BULB TEST or START position, voltage is applied to the BCM ignition positive voltage input. With the driver seat belt unbuckled, ground is applied to the BCM seat belt switch signal input. The BCM applies voltage to the instrument cluster to illuminate the fasten seat belt indicator. The indicator remains ON for approximately 70 seconds. The indicator turns off if the seat belt is buckled.

If the driver seat belt is buckled before the ignition switch is turned to the RUN, BULB TEST or START positions the following will occur:
^ The fasten seat belt warning will not sound.
^ The fasten seat belt indicator will not illuminate.

This vehicle is equipped with a Supplemental Inflatable Restraint (SIR) System in conjunction with the seat belts. Refer to SIR in Restraints for more information on the SIR system.