Ford Explorer: Fastening the Seatbelts / 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.
2. 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.