Ford Excursion (2000 year). Manual — part 26

Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in the rear
seat whenever possible.

2. Pull down on the shoulder belt
and then grasp the shoulder belt
and lap belt together.

3. While holding the shoulder and
lap belt portions together, route the
tongue through the child seat
according to the child seat
manufacturer’s instructions. Be sure
the belt webbing is not twisted.

4. Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle (the buckle closest to
the direction the tongue is coming
from) for that seating position until
you hear a snap and feel the latch
engage. Make sure the tongue is
latched securely by pulling on it.

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5. To put the retractor in the
automatic locking mode, grasp the
shoulder portion of the belt and pull
downward until all of the belt is
extracted and a click is heard.

6. Allow the belt to retract. The belt will click as it retracts to indicate it
is in the automatic locking mode.

7. Pull the lap belt portion across
the child seat toward the buckle and
pull up on the shoulder belt while
pushing down with your knee on the
child seat.

8. Allow the safety belt to retract to
remove any slack in the belt.

9. Before placing the child in the
seat, forcibly tilt the seat forward
and back to make sure the seat is
securely held in place.

10. Try to pull the belt out of the retractor to make sure the retractor is
in the automatic locking mode (you should not be able to pull more belt
out). If the retractor is not locked, unbuckle the belt and repeat steps
two through nine.

Check to make sure the child seat is properly secured before each use.

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104

Attaching child safety seats with tether straps

Most new forward-facing child safety seats include a tether strap which
goes over the back of the seat and hooks to an anchoring point. 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.

The rear seats of your vehicle are equipped with built-in tether strap
anchors located behind the seats as described below.

The tether anchors in your vehicle are either located under a cover
marked with the tether anchor symbol (shown with title) or are recessed
bars on the back side of the seatback.

The tether strap anchors in your vehicle are in the following positions
(shown from top view):

Attach the tether strap only
to the appropriate tether

anchor as shown. The tether strap
may not work properly if attached
somewhere other than the correct
tether anchor.

1. Position the child safety seat on the passenger seat cushion.

2. Route the child safety seat tether strap over the back of the seat.

For vehicles with adjustable head restraints, route the tether strap under
the head restraint and between the head restraint posts, otherwise route
the tether strap over the top of the seatback.

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3. Locate the correct anchor for the selected seating position.
• The anchors are located under

the seat frame.

4. Clip the tether strap to the
anchor as shown.

If the tether strap is clipped
incorrectly, the child safety

seat may not be retained properly
in the event of a collision.

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106