2023 Ford Explorer Owners Manual - Seatbelts

Seatbelts

Principle of Operation



WARNING:  Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap belt snug and low across the hips.    WARNING:  Children must always be properly restrained.    WARNING:  Do not allow a passenger to hold a child on their lap when your vehicle is moving. Failure to follow this instruction could result in personal injury or death in the event of a sudden stop or crash.    WARNING:  All occupants of your vehicle, including the driver, should always properly wear their seatbelts, even when an airbag supplemental restraint system is provided. Failure to properly wear your seatbelt could seriously increase the risk of injury or death.    WARNING:  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 seatbelts. Make sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and properly using a seatbelt. Failure to follow this warning could result in serious personal injury or death.    WARNING:  In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly more likely to die than a person wearing a seatbelt.    WARNING:  Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific seatbelt assembly made up of one buckle and one tongue designed to be used as a pair. Use the shoulder belt on the outside shoulder only. Never wear the shoulder belt under the arm. Never use a single seatbelt for more than one person.    WARNING:  Even with advanced restraints systems, properly restrain children 12 and under in a rear seating position. Failure to follow this could seriously increase the risk of injury or death.    WARNING:  Seatbelts and seats may be hot in a vehicle that is in the sunshine. The hot seatbelts or seats may burn a small child. Check seat covers and buckles before you place a child anywhere near them.

All seating positions in your vehicle have lap and shoulder seatbelts. All occupants of the vehicle should always properly wear their seatbelts, even when an airbag supplemental restraint system is provided.

The seatbelt system consists of:

• Lap and shoulder seatbelts.
• Shoulder seatbelt with automatic locking mode, (except driver seatbelt).
• Height adjuster at the front outermost seating positions.
• Seatbelt pretensioners at the front outermost and second row outermost seating positions.
• Belt tension sensor at the front outermost passenger seating position.

• Seatbelt warning light and chime.

• Crash sensors and monitoring system with readiness indicator.

The seatbelt pretensioners are designed to tighten the seatbelts when activated. In frontal and near-frontal crashes, the seatbelt pretensioners may be activated alone or, if the crash is of sufficient severity, together with the front airbags. The pretensioners may also activate when a Safety Canopy airbag deploys.

Fastening the Seatbelts

The front outboard and rear 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 that you securely fasten the tongue in the buckle.

1. 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 properly fasten your seatbelt. Fit the lap portion of the seatbelt snugly and low across the hips. Position the shoulder portion of the seatbelt across your chest. Pregnant women must follow this practice. See the following figure.

 Pregnant women should always wear their seatbelt.Position the lap belt portion of a combination lap and shoulder belt low across the hips below the belly and worn as tight as comfort allows.Position the shoulder belt to cross the middle of the shoulder and the center of the chest.

Seatbelt Locking Modes

WARNING:  If your vehicle is involved in a crash, have the seatbelts and associated components inspected as soon as possible. Failure to follow this instruction could result in personal injury or death.

All safety restraints in the vehicle are combination lap and shoulder belts. The driver seatbelt has the first type of locking mode, and the front outboard passenger and rear seat seatbelts have 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 lock to help reduce forward movement of the driver and passengers.

In addition, the design of the retractor is to lock if you pull the webbing out too quickly. If the seatbelt retractor locks, slowly lower the height adjuster to allow the seatbelt to retract. If the retractor does not unlock, pull the seatbelt out slowly then feed a small length of webbing back toward the stowed position. For rear seatbelts, recline the rear seat backrest or push the seat backrest cushion away from the seatbelt. Feed a small length of webbing back toward the stowed position.

Automatic Locking Mode

In this mode, the shoulder belt automatically pre-locks. The belt retracts 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

Use this mode any time you install a child safety seat, except a booster, in passenger front or rear seating positions. Properly restrain children 12 years old and under in a rear seating position whenever possible.   See   Child Safety. 

How to Use the Automatic Locking Mode

1. Buckle the combination lap and shoulder belt.

1. Grasp the shoulder portion and pull downward until you pull the entire belt 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.

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 turn on the vehicle sensitive (emergency) locking mode.

Seatbelt Height Adjustment

WARNING:  Position the seatbelt height adjuster so that the seatbelt rests across the middle of your shoulder. Failure to adjust the seatbelt correctly could reduce its effectiveness and increase the risk of injury in a crash.

1. Adjust the height of the shoulder belt so the belt rests across the middle of your shoulder.

1. Slide the adjuster up to raise the belt. Press the button and slide it down to lower the belt.

Seatbelt Warning Lamp and Indicator Chime

  This lamp illuminates and an indicator chime will sound if the driver seatbelt has not been fastened when the vehicle's ignition is turned on.

Conditions of operation

Seatbelt Reminder

WARNING:  The system will only provide protection when you use the seatbelt correctly.

This system monitors all seating positions and provides audio and graphic feedback.

  This lamp illuminates and a warning tone sounds if you do not fasten your seatbelt when you switch the ignition on. The lamp and tone switch off when you fasten your seatbelt or about one minute has elapsed.

When the initial warning expires for the driver, more warnings are provided for the driver and front outermost passenger. This lamp illuminates and a warning tone sounds if you or your front passenger do not fasten the seatbelt buckle and the vehicle speed exceeds 6 mph (9.7 km/h). To deactivate the warning, see Deactivating and Activating the Belt-Minder Feature.

Note:   To avoid inadvertent warnings, do not place large objects on the front passenger seat.

  This lamp illuminates when you switch the ignition on, identifying the number of seating positions with fastened buckles. It illuminates again when a seating position changes from unfastened to fastened.

This warning displays and a tone sounds if an occupant unfastens the rear seatbelt buckle or it becomes unfastened.

Note:   If a rear seat is unoccupied, or an occupant never fastens the seatbelt buckle to begin with, the warning will not display.

Note:   Front seating positions appear in this warning display. Warnings for unfastened front seatbelt buckles appear in the initial warning lamp.

Seatbelt Status

To view the seatbelt status, use the information display controls on the steering wheel.   See   General Information. 

ASeatbelt fastened. BSeatbelt not fastened. CSeatbelt recently unfastened. DFault

Deactivating and Activating the Belt-Minder Feature - Front outermost seats only

WARNING:  While the system allows you to deactivate it, this system is designed to improve your chances of being safely belted and surviving an accident. We recommend you leave the system activated for yourself and others who may use the vehicle.

Note:   The driver and front passenger warnings switch on and off independently. When you perform this procedure for one seating position, do not buckle the other position as this terminates the process.

Read Steps 1 - 4 before starting the procedure.

Make sure that:

• You set the parking brake.
• The transmission is in park (P).
• The ignition is off.
• You close all vehicle doors.
• You unbuckle the driver and front passenger seatbelts.

1. Switch the ignition on.Do not start the engine.

1. Wait until the seatbelt warning lamp turns off (about one minute). After Step 2, wait an additional five seconds before proceeding with Step 3. Once you start Step 3, you must complete the procedure within 60 seconds.

1. For the seating position you are switching off, buckle then unbuckle the seatbelt three times at a moderate speed, ending in the unbuckled state. After Step 3, the seatbelt warning lamp turns on.

1. When the seatbelt warning lamp is on, buckle then unbuckle the seatbelt. After Step 4, the seatbelt warning lamp flashes for confirmation.

• This switches the feature off if it is currently on.
• This switches the feature on if it is currently off.

 Child Restraint and Seatbelt Maintenance

Inspect the vehicle seatbelts and child safety seat systems periodically to make sure they work properly and are not damaged. Inspect the vehicle and child restraint seatbelts to make sure there are no nicks, tears or cuts. Replace if necessary. All vehicle seatbelt assemblies, including retractors, buckles, front seatbelt buckle assemblies, buckle support assemblies (slide bar-if equipped), shoulder belt height adjusters (if equipped), shoulder belt guide on seat backrest (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 seatbelt 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. Seatbelt assemblies not in use during a crash should also be inspected and replaced if either damage or improper operation is noted.

Seatbelt Extensions

WARNING:  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.    WARNING:  Only use extensions provided free of charge by our 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.    WARNING:  Never use seatbelt extensions to install child restraints.    WARNING:  Do not use extensions to change the way the seatbelt fits 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 our dealers. Only use our seatbelt extensions made by the original equipment seatbelt manufacturer with our seatbelts. Ask your authorized dealer if your extension is compatible with your vehicle restraint system.