Ford Explorer Sport (2003 year). Manual — part 19

necessary. All safety belt assemblies, including retractors, buckles, front
seat belt buckle assemblies, buckle support assemblies (slide bar-if
equipped), shoulder belt height adjusters (if equipped), shoulder belt
guide on seatback (if equipped), child safety seat tether bracket
assemblies (if equipped), LATCH child seat tether anchors and lower
anchors (if equipped), and attaching hardware, should be inspected after
a collision. Ford Motor Company recommends that all safety belt
assemblies used in vehicles involved in a collision be replaced. However,
if the collision was minor and a qualified technician 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 collision should
also be inspected and replaced if either damage or improper operation is
noted.

Failure to inspect and if necessary replace the safety belt
assembly under the above conditions could result in severe

personal injuries in the event of a collision.

Refer to Interior in the Cleaning chapter.

AIR BAG SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM (SRS)

Your vehicle is equipped with a crash sensing and diagnostic module
which records information about the air bag and sensor systems. In the
event of a collision this module may save information related to the
collision including information about the air bag system and impact
severity. This information will assist Ford Motor Company in servicing
the vehicle and in helping to better understand real world collisions and
further improve the safety of future vehicles.

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The front passenger air bag is not designed to offer protection to
an occupant in the center front seating position.

Important SRS precautions

The SRS is designed to work with
the safety belt to help protect the
driver and right front passenger
from certain upper body injuries. Air
bags DO NOT inflate slowly; there is
a risk of injury from a deploying air
bag.

All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, should always
properly wear their safety belts, even when an air bag (SRS) is

provided.

Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
recommends a minimum distance of at least 25 cm (10 inches)

between an occupant’s chest and the air bag module.

Never place your arm over the air bag module as a deploying air
bag can result in serious arm fractures or other injuries.

To properly position yourself away from the air bag:
• Move your seat to the rear as far as you can while still reaching the

pedals comfortably.

• Recline the seat slightly one or two degrees from the upright position.

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Do not put anything on or over the air bag module. Placing
objects on or over the air bag inflation area may cause those

objects to be propelled by the air bag into your face and torso causing
serious injury.

Do not attempt to service, repair, or modify the air bag
supplemental restraint systems or its fuses. See your Ford or

Lincoln Mercury dealer.

Modifying or adding equipment to the front end of the vehicle
(including frame, bumper, front end body structure and tow

hooks) may affect the performance of the air bag system, increasing
the risk of injury. Do not modify the front end of the vehicle.

Children and air bags

Children must always be properly
restrained; accident statistics
suggest that children are safer when
properly restrained in the rear
seating positions than in the front
seating position. Failure to follow
these instructions may increase the
risk of injury in a collision.

Air bags can kill or injure a
child in a child seat.

NEVER place a rear-facing child
seat in front of an active air bag. If
you must use a forward-facing
child seat in the front seat, move
the seat all the way back.

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How does the air bag supplemental restraint system work?

The air bag SRS is designed to
activate when the vehicle sustains a
longitudinal deceleration sufficient
to cause the air bag sensors to close
an electrical circuit that initiates air
bag inflation. The fact that the air
bags did not inflate in a collision
does not mean that something is
wrong with the system. Rather, it
means the forces were not sufficient
enough to cause activation. Air bags
are designed to inflate in frontal and
near-frontal collisions, not rollover, side-impact, or rear-impacts unless
the collision causes sufficient longitudinal deceleration.

The air bags inflate and deflate
rapidly upon activation. After air bag
deployment, it is normal to notice a
smoke-like, powdery residue or
smell the burnt propellant. This may
consist of cornstarch, talcum
powder or sodium compounds which
may irritate the skin and eyes, but
none of the residue is toxic.

While the SRS is designed to help
reduce serious injuries, contact with
a deploying air bag may also cause
abrasions, swelling or temporary
hearing loss. Because air bags must
inflate rapidly and with considerable
force, there is the risk of death or
serious injuries such as fractures, facial and eye injuries or internal
injuries, particularly to occupants who are not properly restrained or are
otherwise out of position at the time of air bag deployment. It is
extremely important that occupants be properly restrained as far away
from the air bag module as possible while maintaining vehicle control.

The SRS consists of:
• driver and passenger air bag modules (which include the inflators and

air bags)

• one or more impact and safing sensors

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