2004 GMC Canyon Owners Manual

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2004 GMC Canyon Owner Manual M Front Seats Rear Seats Safety Belts Child Restraints Air Bag Systems Restraint System Check Seats and Restraint Systems ........................... 1-1 ............................................... 1-3 ............................................... 1-9 ............................................. 1-11 ....................................... 1-31 ...................................... 1-60 ............................ 1-73 Features and Controls ..................................... 2-1 ........................................................ 2-2 ....................................... 2-7 ................................................. 2-12 ............................ 2-14 ........... 2-16 .................................................... 2-36 ...................................... 2-41 ......................................... 2-42 Instrument Panel ............................................. 3-1 .......................... 3-2 ...................................... 3-18 ........ 3-22 .................. 3-37 ....................................... 3-42 Keys Doors and Locks Windows Theft-Deterrent Systems Starting and Operating Your Vehicle Mirrors OnStar® System Storage Areas Instrument Panel Overview Climate Controls Warning Lights, Gages, and Indicators Driver Information Center (DIC) Audio System(s) Your Driving, the Road, and Your Vehicle Towing Driving Your Vehicle ....................................... 4-1 ........ 4-2 ................................................... 4-47 Service and Appearance Care .......................... 5-1 Service ..................................................... 5-3 Fuel ......................................................... 5-5 Checking Things Under the Hood ............... 5-10 Rear Axle ............................................... 5-47 Four-Wheel Drive ..................................... 5-48 Front Axle ............................................... 5-49 Bulb Replacement .................................... 5-50 Windshield Wiper Blade Replacement ......... 5-55 Tires ...................................................... 5-57 Appearance Care ..................................... 5-94 Vehicle Identiﬁcation ............................... 5-103 Electrical System .................................... 5-103 Capacities and Speciﬁcations ................... 5-108 Maintenance Schedule ..................................... 6-1 ................................ 6-2 Customer Assistance and Information .............. 7-1 ........... 7-2 ........................... 7-10 Index .................................................................1 Customer Assistance and Information Reporting Safety Defects Maintenance Schedule Canadian Owners You can obtain a French language copy of this manual from your dealer or from: Helm, Incorporated P.O. Box 07130 Detroit, MI 48207 GENERAL MOTORS, GM, the GM Emblem, GMC, and the GMC Emblem are registered trademarks and the name CANYON is a trademark of General Motors Corporation. This manual includes the latest information at the time it was printed. We reserve the right to make changes after that time without further notice. For vehicles ﬁrst sold in Canada, substitute the name “General Motors of Canada Limited” for GMC whenever it appears in this manual. Please keep this manual in your vehicle, so it will be there if you ever need it when you’re on the road. If you sell the vehicle, please leave this manual in it so the new owner can use it. How to Use This Manual Many people read their owner’s manual from beginning to end when they ﬁrst receive their new vehicle. If you do this, it will help you learn about the features and controls for your vehicle. In this manual, you will ﬁnd that pictures and words work together to explain things. Index A good place to look for what you need is the Index in back of the manual. It is an alphabetical list of what is in the manual, and the page number where you will ﬁnd it. Litho in U.S.A. Part No. X2440 A First Edition ii ©Copyright General Motors Corporation 10/06/03 All Rights Reserved Safety Warnings and Symbols You will ﬁnd a number of safety cautions in this book. We use a box and the word CAUTION to tell you about things that could hurt you if you were to ignore the warning. {CAUTION: These mean there is something that could hurt you or other people. In the caution area, we tell you what the hazard is. Then we tell you what to do to help avoid or reduce the hazard. Please read these cautions. If you don’t, you or others could be hurt. You will also ﬁnd a circle with a slash through it in this book. This safety symbol means “Don’t,” “Don’t do this” or “Don’t let this happen.” iii Vehicle Damage Warnings Also, in this book you will ﬁnd these notices: Notice: These mean there is something that could damage your vehicle. A notice will tell you about something that can damage your vehicle. Many times, this damage would not be covered by your warranty, and it could be costly. But the notice will tell you what to do to help avoid the damage. When you read other manuals, you might see CAUTION and NOTICE warnings in different colors or in different words. You’ll also see warning labels on your vehicle. They use the same words, CAUTION or NOTICE. Vehicle Symbols Your vehicle has components and labels that use symbols instead of text. Symbols, used on your vehicle, are shown along with the text describing the operation or information relating to a speciﬁc component, control, message, gage or indicator. If you need help ﬁguring out a speciﬁc name of a component, gage or indicator, reference the following topics: (cid:127) Seats and Restraint Systems in Section 1 Features and Controls in Section 2 Instrument Panel Overview in Section 3 (cid:127) Climate Controls in Section 3 (cid:127) Warning Lights, Gages and Indicators in Section 3 (cid:127) Audio System(s) in Section 3 (cid:127) Engine Compartment Overview in Section 5 iv (cid:127) (cid:127) These are some examples of symbols you may ﬁnd on your vehicle: ✍ NOTES vi Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems Front Seats ......................................................1-3 Manual Seats ................................................1-3 Power Seats ..................................................1-4 Manual Lumbar ..............................................1-5 Heated Seats .................................................1-5 Reclining Seatbacks ........................................1-6 Head Restraints .............................................1-7 Seatback Latches ...........................................1-8 Rear Seats .......................................................1-9 Rear Seat Operation (Crew Cab) ......................1-9 Rear Seat Operation (Extended Cab) ...............1-10 Safety Belts ...................................................1-11 Safety Belts: They Are for Everyone ................1-11 Questions and Answers About Safety Belts ......1-15 How to Wear Safety Belts Properly .................1-16 Driver Position ..............................................1-16 Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy ..................1-23 Right Front Passenger Position .......................1-24 Center Front Passenger Position .....................1-24 Rear Seat Passengers ..................................1-26 Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for Children and Small Adults ..........................1-28 Safety Belt Pretensioners ...............................1-30 Safety Belt Extender .....................................1-30 Child Restraints .............................................1-31 Older Children ..............................................1-31 Infants and Young Children ............................1-34 Child Restraint Systems .................................1-37 Where to Put the Restraint .............................1-40 Top Strap ....................................................1-42 Top Strap Anchor Location .............................1-44 Lower Anchorages and Top Tethers for Children (LATCH System) ...........................1-46 Securing a Child Restraint Designed for the LATCH System (Models with an Air Bag Off Switch) ....................................1-48 Securing a Child Restraint Designed for the LATCH System (Models without an Air Bag Off Switch) ....................................1-51 Securing a Child Restraint in a Rear Seat Position ............................................1-51 Securing a Child Restraint in the Center Front Seat Position ....................................1-53 Securing a Child Restraint in the Right Front Seat Position (Models with an Air Bag Off Switch) ....................................1-54 Securing a Child Restraint in the Right Front Seat Position (Models without an Air Bag Off Switch) ...............................................1-58 1-1 Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems Servicing Your Air Bag-Equipped Vehicle .........1-72 Adding Equipment to Your Air Bag-Equipped Vehicle ...........................1-73 Restraint System Check ..................................1-73 Checking Your Restraint Systems ...................1-73 Replacing Restraint System Parts After a Crash ............................................1-74 Air Bag Systems ............................................1-60 Where Are the Air Bags? ...............................1-63 When Should an Air Bag Inﬂate? ....................1-66 What Makes an Air Bag Inﬂate? .....................1-67 How Does an Air Bag Restrain? .....................1-67 What Will You See After an Air Bag Inﬂates? .......................................1-68 Air Bag Off Switch ........................................1-70 1-2 Front Seats Manual Seats This section tells you about the seats – how to adjust them, and fold them up and down. {CAUTION: You can lose control of the vehicle if you try to adjust a manual driver’s seat while the vehicle is moving. The sudden movement could startle and confuse you, or make you push a pedal when you don’t want to. Adjust the driver’s seat only when the vehicle is not moving. Move the lever located under the front of a manual seat up to unlock it. Slide the seat to where you want it and release the lever. Try to move the seat with your body to make sure the seat is locked into place. 1-3 Power Seats If your vehicle has this feature, there will be a control on the outboard side of the front seat(s). Horizontal Control: Raise or lower the front of the seat by raising or lowering the forward edge of the control. Raise or lower the rear of the seat by raising or lowering the rear edge of the control. Move the seat forward or rearward by moving the whole control toward the front or the rear of the vehicle. Moving the whole control up or down raises or lowers the whole seat. Vertical Control: This control reclines the seatbacks. See Reclining Seatbacks on page 1-6 for more information. 1-4 Manual Lumbar Heated Seats If your vehicle has this feature, there will be a knob located on the outboard side of the driver’s seat. If your vehicle has this feature, the controls are located on the outboard side of the front seats. Turn the knob counterclockwise to increase lumbar support and clockwise to decrease lumbar support. This feature will quickly heat the lower cushion and lower back of the driver’s and front passenger’s seats for added comfort. Press the lower part of the switch to turn the heater on at low heat. Press the upper part of the switch to turn the heater on at high heat. Put the switch in the center position to turn the heater off. The ignition must be on for the heated seat feature to work. The passenger’s safety belt must be engaged for the heated seat feature to work on the passenger’s seat. 1-5 Reclining Seatbacks Your vehicle may have reclining seatbacks. But don’t have a seatback reclined if your vehicle is moving. To manually recline your seatback, lift the lever on the outboard side of the seat. Release the lever to lock the seatback where you want it. Pull up on the lever and without pushing on the seatback, the seat will go to an upright position. If you have power seats, you can use the vertical power seat control to recline the seatback. Move the reclining front seatback forward or rearward by moving the control toward the front or rear of the vehicle. 1-6 {CAUTION: Sitting in a reclined position when your vehicle is in motion can be dangerous. Even if you buckle up, your safety belts can’t do their job when you’re reclined like this. The shoulder belt can’t do its job because it won’t be against your body. Instead, it will be in front of you. In a crash you could go into it, receiving neck or other injuries. The lap belt can’t do its job either. In a crash the belt could go up over your abdomen. The belt forces would be there, not at your pelvic bones. This could cause serious internal injuries. For proper protection when the vehicle is in motion, have the seatback upright. Then sit well back in the seat and wear your safety belt properly. Head Restraints If your vehicle is equipped with adjustable head restraints, adjust your head restraint so that the top of the restraint is closest to the top of your head. This position reduces the chance of a neck injury in a crash. Push up on the head restraint to raise it. To lower the head restraint, press the button located on top of the seatback and push down on the head restraint. 1-7 Seatback Latches Your vehicle may be equipped with front seatbacks that fold forward to let people get into the rear seat or to access the storage area behind the seat. To fold the front seatback forward, push the lever on the side of the seat rearward and pull the seatback forward. {CAUTION: If the seatback isn’t locked, it could move forward in a sudden stop or crash. That could cause injury to the person sitting there. Always press rearward on the seatback to be sure it is locked. To return the seatback to the upright position, push the seatback all the way back until the latch catches. If the seatback was reclined before being folded forward, it will return to the reclined position. 1-8 Rear Seats Rear Seat Operation (Crew Cab) If your vehicle is a crew cab, the rear seatback can be folded forward. Before you can fold the rear seatback, you need to unlatch the center safety belt buckle. Use the following steps to lower one or both of the rear seatbacks: 1. Insert a tool with a small tip into the slot to unlatch the center position safety belt buckle. Then move the belt to the side so it is not in the way. 4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 to fold down the other seatback. {CAUTION: If the seatback isn’t locked, it could move forward in a sudden stop or crash. That could cause injury to the person sitting there. Always press rearward on the seatback to be sure it is locked. 2. Grasp the loop located on the side of the seatback you want to fold and pull until you hear a click. {CAUTION: A safety belt that is improperly routed, not properly attached, or twisted won’t provide the protection needed in a crash. The person wearing the belt could be seriously injured. After raising the rear seatback, always check to be sure that the safety belts are properly routed and attached, and are not twisted. 3. Fold the seatback down. 1-9 To return the seatback to the upright position, do the following: 1. Lift the seatback up and push it back into place. 2. Reconnect the center safety belt latch plate to the buckle. 3. Make sure the seatback is locked into place by pushing and pulling on it. 4. Repeat Steps 1 and 3 for the other seatback. When the seatback is not in use, it should be kept in the upright, locked position. Rear Seat Operation (Extended Cab) If your vehicle has an extended cab, there may be a forward folding seat in the rear area. To fold the rear seat down, pull down on the bottom of the seat until the seat is in place. To store the seat, push the entire seat up until it is ﬂush with the trim panel. The rear seat storage compartments must be in the rearward position before folding the seat down. 1-10 Safety Belts Safety Belts: They Are for Everyone This part of the manual tells you how to use safety belts properly. It also tells you some things you should not do with safety belts. {CAUTION: Don’t let anyone ride where he or she can’t wear a safety belt properly. If you are in a crash and you’re not wearing a safety belt, your injuries can be much worse. You can hit things inside the vehicle or be ejected from it. You can be seriously injured or killed. In the same crash, you might not be, if you are buckled up. Always fasten your safety belt, and check that your passengers’ belts are fastened properly too. {CAUTION: It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area, inside or outside of a vehicle. In a collision, 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 safety belts. Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and using a safety belt properly. Your vehicle has a light that comes on as a reminder to buckle up. See Safety Belt Reminder Light on page 3-24. 1-11 Why Safety Belts Work When you ride in or on anything, you go as fast as it goes. In most states and in all Canadian provinces, the law says to wear safety belts. Here’s why: They work. You never know if you’ll be in a crash. If you do have a crash, you don’t know if it will be a bad one. A few crashes are mild, and some crashes can be so serious that even buckled up, a person wouldn’t survive. But most crashes are in between. In many of them, people who buckle up can survive and sometimes walk away. Without belts they could have been badly hurt or killed. After more than 30 years of safety belts in vehicles, the facts are clear. In most crashes buckling up does matter... a lot! Take the simplest vehicle. Suppose it’s just a seat on wheels. 1-12 Put someone on it. Get it up to speed. Then stop the vehicle. The rider doesn’t stop. 1-13 The person keeps going until stopped by something. In a real vehicle, it could be the windshield... or the instrument panel... 1-14 Questions and Answers About Safety Belts Q: Won’t I be trapped in the vehicle after an accident if I’m wearing a safety belt? A: You could be – whether you’re wearing a safety belt or not. But you can unbuckle a safety belt, even if you’re upside down. And your chance of being conscious during and after an accident, so you can unbuckle and get out, is much greater if you are belted. Q: If my vehicle has air bags, why should I have to wear safety belts? A: Air bags are in many vehicles today and will be in most of them in the future. But they are supplemental systems only; so they work with safety belts – not instead of them. Every air bag system ever offered for sale has required the use of safety belts. Even if you’re in a vehicle that has air bags, you still have to buckle up to get the most protection. That’s true not only in frontal collisions, but especially in side and other collisions. 1-15 or the safety belts! With safety belts, you slow down as the vehicle does. You get more time to stop. You stop over more distance, and your strongest bones take the forces. That’s why safety belts make such good sense. Q: If I’m a good driver, and I never drive far from home, why should I wear safety belts? A: You may be an excellent driver, but if you’re in an accident – even one that isn’t your fault – you and your passengers can be hurt. Being a good driver doesn’t protect you from things beyond your control, such as bad drivers. Most accidents occur within 25 miles (40 km) of home. And the greatest number of serious injuries and deaths occur at speeds of less than 40 mph (65 km/h). Safety belts are for everyone. How to Wear Safety Belts Properly This part is only for people of adult size. Be aware that there are special things to know about safety belts and children. And there are different rules for smaller children and babies. If a child will be riding in your vehicle, see Older Children on page 1-31 or Infants and Young Children on page 1-34. Follow those rules for everyone’s protection. First, you’ll want to know which restraint systems your vehicle has. We’ll start with the driver position. Driver Position This part describes the driver’s restraint system. Lap-Shoulder Belt The driver has a lap-shoulder belt. Here is how to wear it properly. 1. Close and lock the door. 2. Adjust the seat so you can sit up straight. To see how, see “Seats” in the Index. 1-16 4. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks. Pull up on the latch plate to make sure it is secure. If the belt is not long enough, see Safety Belt Extender on page 1-30. Make sure the release button on the buckle is positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the safety belt quickly if you ever had to. 3. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you. Do not let it get twisted. The shoulder belt may lock if you pull the belt across you very quickly. If this happens, let the belt go back slightly to unlock it. Then pull the belt across you more slowly. 5. To make the lap part tight, pull down on the buckle end of the belt as you pull up on the shoulder belt. 1-17 Shoulder Belt Height Adjuster Before you begin to drive, move the shoulder belt height adjuster to the height that is right for you. Adjust the height so that the shoulder portion of the belt is centered on your shoulder. The belt should be away from your face and neck, but not falling off your shoulder. To move it up or down, squeeze the release buttons together and move the height adjuster to the desired position. After you move the adjuster to where you want it, try to move it down without squeezing the release buttons to make sure it has locked into position. The lap part of the belt should be worn low and snug on the hips, just touching the thighs. In a crash, this applies force to the strong pelvic bones. And you would be less likely to slide under the lap belt. If you slid under it, the belt would apply force at your abdomen. This could cause serious or even fatal injuries. The shoulder belt should go over the shoulder and across the chest. These parts of the body are best able to take belt restraining forces. The safety belt locks if there is a sudden stop or crash, or if you pull the belt very quickly out of the retractor. 1-18 Q: What’s wrong with this? {CAUTION: You can be seriously hurt if your shoulder belt is too loose. In a crash, you would move forward too much, which could increase injury. The shoulder belt should ﬁt against your body. A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It will not give nearly as much protection this way. 1-19 Q: What’s wrong with this? {CAUTION: You can be seriously injured if your belt is buckled in the wrong place like this. In a crash, the belt would go up over your abdomen. The belt forces would be there, not at the pelvic bones. This could cause serious internal injuries. Always buckle your belt into the buckle nearest you. A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place. 1-20 Q: What’s wrong with this? {CAUTION: You can be seriously injured if you wear the shoulder belt under your arm. In a crash, your body would move too far forward, which would increase the chance of head and neck injury. Also, the belt would apply too much force to the ribs, which aren’t as strong as shoulder bones. You could also severely injure internal organs like your liver or spleen. A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should be worn over the shoulder at all times. 1-21 Q: What’s wrong with this? {CAUTION: You can be seriously injured by a twisted belt. In a crash, you wouldn’t have the full width of the belt to spread impact forces. If a belt is twisted, make it straight so it can work properly, or ask your dealer to ﬁx it. A: The belt is twisted across the body. 1-22 Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy Safety belts work for everyone, including pregnant women. Like all occupants, they are more likely to be seriously injured if they don’t wear safety belts. To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle. The belt should go back out of the way. Before you close the door, be sure the belt is out of the way. If you slam the door on it, you can damage both the belt and your vehicle. A pregnant woman should wear a lap-shoulder belt, and the lap portion should be worn as low as possible, below the rounding, throughout the pregnancy. The best way to protect the fetus is to protect the mother. When a safety belt is worn properly, it’s more likely that the fetus won’t be hurt in a crash. For pregnant women, as for anyone, the key to making safety belts effective is wearing them properly. 1-23 Right Front Passenger Position To learn how to wear the right front passenger’s safety belt properly, see Driver Position on page 1-16. The right front passenger’s safety belt works the same way as the driver’s safety belt – except for one thing. If you ever pull the shoulder portion of the belt out all the way, you will engage the child restraint locking feature. If this happens, just let the belt go back all the way and start again. Center Front Passenger Position Lap Belt If your vehicle has a 60/40 split front seat, someone can sit in the center position. When you sit in the center front seating position, you have a lap safety belt, which has no retractor. To make the belt longer, tilt the latch plate and pull it along the belt. 1-24 To make the belt shorter, pull its free end as shown until the belt is snug. Buckle, position and release it the same way as the lap part of a lap-shoulder belt. If the belt is not long enough, see Safety Belt Extender on page 1-30. Make sure the release button on the buckle is positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the safety belt quickly if you ever had to. 1-25 Rear Seat Passengers It is very important for rear seat passengers to buckle up! Accident statistics show that unbelted people in the rear seat are hurt more often in crashes than those who are wearing safety belts. Rear passengers who are not safety belted can be thrown out of the vehicle in a crash. And they can strike others in the vehicle who are wearing safety belts. Lap-Shoulder Belt All rear seating positions have lap-shoulder belts. Here is how to wear one properly. 1. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you. Do not let it get twisted. The shoulder belt may lock if you pull the belt across you very quickly. If this happens, let the belt go back slightly to unlock it. Then pull the belt across you more slowly. 2. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks. Pull up on the latch plate to make sure it is secure. When the shoulder belt is pulled out all the way, it will lock. If it does, let it go back all the way and start again. 1-26 If the belt is not long enough, see Safety Belt Extender on page 1-30. Make sure the release button on the buckle is positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the safety belt quickly if you ever had to. 3. To make the lap part tight, pull down on the buckle end of the belt as you pull up on the shoulder part. The lap part of the belt should be worn low and snug on the hips, just touching the thighs. In a crash, this applies force to the strong pelvic bones. And you would be less likely to slide under the lap belt. If you slid under it, the belt would apply force at your abdomen. This could cause serious or even fatal injuries. The shoulder belt should go over the shoulder and across the chest. These parts of the body are best able to take belt restraining forces. The safety belt locks if there is a sudden stop or a crash. The safety belt also locks if you pull the belt very quickly out of the retractor. 1-27 {CAUTION: You can be seriously hurt if your shoulder belt is too loose. In a crash, you would move forward too much, which could increase injury. The shoulder belt should ﬁt against your body. Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for Children and Small Adults Your vehicle may have rear safety belt comfort guides for the rear outside positions. Rear safety belt comfort guides provide added safety belt comfort for older children who have outgrown booster seats and for small adults. When attached to a shoulder belt, the comfort guide better positions the belt away from the neck and head. Here is how to attach the comfort guide to the shoulder belt. 1. Slide the guide off of its storage clip located between the interior body and the seatback. To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle. 1-28 2. Slide the guide under and past the belt. The elastic cord must be under the belt. Then, place the guide over the belt and insert the two edges of the belt into the slots of the guide. 3. Be sure that the belt is not twisted and it lies ﬂat. The elastic cord must be under the belt and the guide on top. 1-29 Safety Belt Pretensioners Your vehicle has safety belt pretensioners. Although you cannot see them, they are located on the retractor part of the safety belts for the driver and right front passenger. They help the safety belts reduce a person’s forward movement in a moderate to severe crash in which the front of the vehicle hits something. Pretensioners work only once. If they activate in a crash, you’ll need to get new ones, and probably other new parts for your safety belt system. See Replacing Restraint System Parts After a Crash on page 1-74. Safety Belt Extender If the vehicle’s safety belt will fasten around you, you should use it. But if a safety belt isn’t long enough to fasten, your dealer will order you an extender. It’s free. When you go in to order it, take the heaviest coat you will wear, so the extender will be long enough for you. The extender will be just for you, and just for the seat in your vehicle that you choose. Don’t let someone else use it, and use it only for the seat it is made to ﬁt. To wear it, just attach it to the regular safety belt. 4. Buckle, position and release the safety belt as described in Rear Seat Passengers on page 1-26. Make sure that the shoulder belt crosses the shoulder. To remove and store the comfort guides, squeeze the belt edges together so that you can take them out of the guides. Slide the guide back on its storage clip located between the interior body and the seatback. 1-30 Child Restraints Older Children Q: What is the proper way to wear safety belts? A: If possible, an older child should wear a lap-shoulder belt and get the additional restraint a shoulder belt can provide. The shoulder belt should not cross the face or neck. The lap belt should ﬁt snugly below the hips, just touching the top of the thighs. It should never be worn over the abdomen, which could cause severe or even fatal internal injuries in a crash. Accident statistics show that children are safer if they are restrained in a rear seat. In a crash, children who are not buckled up can strike other people who are buckled up, or can be thrown out of the vehicle. Older children need to use safety belts properly. Older children who have outgrown booster seats should wear the vehicle’s safety belts. If you have a choice, a child should sit in a seat that has a lap-shoulder belt to get the additional restraint a shoulder belt can provide. 1-31 Q: What if a child is wearing a lap-shoulder belt, but the child is so small that the shoulder belt is very close to the child’s face or neck? A: If the child is sitting in a rear outside seat position, move the child toward the center of the vehicle. See Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for Children and Small Adults on page 1-28. If the child is sitting in the center rear seat of a crew cab, move the child toward the safety belt buckle. In either case be sure that the shoulder belt still is on the child’s shoulder, so that in a crash the child’s upper body would have the restraint that belts provide. {CAUTION: Never do this. Here two children are wearing the same belt. The belt can’t properly spread the impact forces. In a crash, the two children can be crushed together and seriously injured. A belt must be used by only one person at a time. 1-32 {CAUTION: Never do this. Here a child is sitting in a seat that has a lap-shoulder belt, but the shoulder part is behind the child. If the child wears the belt in this way, in a crash the child might slide under the belt. The belt’s force would then be applied right on the child’s abdomen. That could cause serious or fatal injuries. Wherever the child sits, the lap portion of the belt should be worn low and snug on the hips, just touching the child’s thighs. This applies belt force to the child’s pelvic bones in a crash. 1-33 Infants and Young Children Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! This includes infants and all other children. Neither the distance traveled nor the age and size of the traveler changes the need, for everyone, to use safety restraints. In fact, the law in every state in the United States and in every Canadian province says children up to some age must be restrained while in a vehicle. Every time infants and young children ride in vehicles, they should have the protection provided by appropriate restraints. Young children should not use the vehicle’s adult safety belts alone, unless there is no other choice. Instead, they need to use a child restraint. 1-34 {CAUTION: People should never hold a baby in their arms while riding in a vehicle. A baby doesn’t weigh much — until a crash. During a crash a baby will become so heavy it is not possible to CAUTION: (Continued) CAUTION: (Continued) {CAUTION: hold it. For example, in a crash at only 25 mph (40 km/h), a 12-lb. (5.5 kg) baby will suddenly become a 240-lb. (110 kg) force on a person’s arms. A baby should be secured in an appropriate restraint. Children who are up against, or very close to, any air bag when it inﬂates can be seriously injured or killed. Air bags plus lap-shoulder belts offer outstanding protection for adults and older children, but not for young children and infants. Neither the vehicle’s safety belt system nor its air bag system is designed for them. Young children and infants need the protection that a child restraint system can provide. 1-35 {CAUTION: Newborn infants need complete support, including support for the head and neck. This is necessary because a newborn infant’s neck is weak and its head weighs so much compared with the rest of its body. In a crash, an infant in a rear-facing seat settles into the restraint, so the crash forces can be distributed across the strongest part of an infant’s body, the back and shoulders. Infants always should be secured in appropriate infant restraints. Q: What are the different types of add-on child restraints? A: Add-on child restraints, which are purchased by the vehicle’s owner, are available in four basic types. Selection of a particular restraint should take into consideration not only the child’s weight, height and age but also whether or not the restraint will be compatible with the motor vehicle in which it will be used. For most basic types of child restraints, there are many different models available. When purchasing a child restraint, be sure it is designed to be used in a motor vehicle. If it is, the restraint will have a label saying that it meets federal motor vehicle safety standards. The restraint manufacturer’s instructions that come with the restraint state the weight and height limitations for a particular child restraint. In addition, there are many kinds of restraints available for children with special needs. 1-36 Child Restraint Systems {CAUTION: The body structure of a young child is quite unlike that of an adult or older child, for whom the safety belts are designed. A young child’s hip bones are still so small that the vehicle’s regular safety belt may not remain low on the hip bones, as it should. Instead, it may settle up around the child’s abdomen. In a crash, the belt would apply force on a body area that’s unprotected by any bony structure. This alone could cause serious or fatal injuries. Young children always should be secured in appropriate child restraints. An infant car bed (A), a special bed made for use in a motor vehicle, is an infant restraint system designed to restrain or position a child on a continuous ﬂat surface. Make sure that the infant’s head rests toward the center of the vehicle. 1-37 A rear-facing infant seat (B) provides restraint with the seating surface against the back of the infant. The harness system holds the infant in place and, in a crash, acts to keep the infant positioned in the restraint. A forward-facing child seat (C-E) provides restraint for the child’s body with the harness and also sometimes with surfaces such as T-shaped or shelf-like shields. 1-38 Q: How do child restraints work? A: A child restraint system is any device designed for use in a motor vehicle to restrain, seat, or position children. A built-in child restraint system is a permanent part of the motor vehicle. An add-on child restraint system is a portable one, which is purchased by the vehicle’s owner. For many years, add-on child restraints have used the adult belt system in the vehicle. To help reduce the chance of injury, the child also has to be secured within the restraint. The vehicle’s belt system secures the add-on child restraint in the vehicle, and the add-on child restraint’s harness system holds the child in place within the restraint. One system, the three-point harness, has straps that come down over each of the infant’s shoulders and buckle together at the crotch. The ﬁve-point harness system has two shoulder straps, two hip straps and a crotch strap. A shield may take the place of hip straps. A T-shaped shield has shoulder straps that are attached to a ﬂat pad which rests low against the child’s body. A shelf- or armrest-type shield has straps that are attached to a wide, shelf-like shield that swings up or to the side. 1-39 A booster seat (F-G) is a child restraint designed to improve the ﬁt of the vehicle’s safety belt system. Some booster seats have a shoulder belt positioner, and some high-back booster seats have a ﬁve-point harness. A booster seat can also help a child to see out the window. When choosing a child restraint, be sure the child restraint is designed to be used in a vehicle. If it is, it will have a label saying that it meets federal motor vehicle safety standards. Then follow the instructions for the restraint. You may ﬁnd these instructions on the restraint itself or in a booklet, or both. These restraints use the belt system or the LATCH system in your vehicle, but the child also has to be secured within the restraint to help reduce the chance of personal injury. When securing an add-on child restraint, refer to the instructions that come with the restraint which may be on the restraint itself or in a booklet, or both, and to this manual. The child restraint instructions are important, so if they are not available, obtain a replacement copy from the manufacturer. Where to Put the Restraint Accident statistics show that children are safer if they are restrained in the rear rather than the front seat. General Motors recommends that child restraints be secured in a rear seat including an infant riding in a rear-facing infant seat, a child riding in a forward-facing child seat and an older child riding in a booster seat. Never put a child in a rear-facing child restraint in the right front passenger seat unless your vehicle has an air bag off switch and the air bag off light shows off. Never put a rear-facing child restraint in the right front passenger seat unless the air bag is off. Here is why: {CAUTION: A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be seriously injured or killed if the right front passenger’s frontal air bag inﬂates. This is because the back of the rear-facing child restraint would be very close to the inﬂating air bag. Be sure to turn off the air bag before using a rear-facing child restraint in the right front seat position. CAUTION: (Continued) 1-40 CAUTION: (Continued) Even though the air bag off switch is designed to turn off the right front passenger’s frontal air bag, no system is fail-safe, and no one can guarantee that an air bag will not deploy under some unusual circumstance, even though it is turned off. We recommend that rear-facing child restraints be transported in vehicles with a rear seat that will accommodate a rear-facing child restraint, whenever possible. If you secure a forward-facing child restraint in the right front seat, always move the right front passenger seat as far back as it will go. It is better to secure the child restraint in a rear seat. Do not use child restraints in the center front seat position. The restraints will not work properly. If you need to secure a rear-facing child restraint in the right front passenger’s position, the right front passenger’s frontal air bag must be off. See Securing a Child Restraint in the Right Front Seat Position (Models with an Air Bag Off Switch) and Securing a Child Restraint Designed for the LATCH System (Models with an Air Bag Off Switch) in the Index, and Air Bag Off Switch on page 1-70 for more on this including important safety information. Wherever you install it, be sure to secure the child restraint properly. Keep in mind that an unsecured child restraint can move around in a collision or sudden stop and injure people in the vehicle. Be sure to properly secure any child restraint in your vehicle – even when no child is in it. 1-41 Top Strap Some child restraints have a top strap, or “top tether”. It can help restrain the child restraint during a collision. For it to work, a top strap must be properly anchored to the vehicle. Some top strap-equipped child restraints are designed for use with or without the top strap being anchored. Others require the top strap always to be anchored. Be sure to read and follow the instructions for your child restraint. If yours requires that the top strap be anchored, don’t use the restraint unless it is anchored properly. If the child restraint does not have a top strap, one can be obtained, in kit form, for many child restraints. Ask the child restraint manufacturer whether or not a kit is available. 1-42 In Canada, the law requires that forward-facing child restraints have a top strap, and that the strap be anchored. In the United States, some child restraints also have a top strap. If your child restraint has a top strap, it should be anchored. Anchor the top strap to one of the following anchor points. Be sure to use an anchor point located on the same side of the vehicle as the seating position where the child restraint will be placed. If you have an adjustable head restraint, route the top strap over it. When using a top strap-equipped child restraint in a rear outboard seating position of a crew cab model, route the top strap over the top of the seatback. Then, attach it to the anchor point for that seating position. {CAUTION: Each top tether bracket is designed to anchor only one child restraint. Attaching more than one child restraint to a single bracket could cause the anchor to come loose or even break during a crash. A child or others could be injured if this happens. To help prevent injury to people and damage to your vehicle, attach only one child restraint per bracket. Once you have the top strap anchored, you’ll be ready to secure the child restraint itself. Tighten the top strap when and as the child restraint manufacturer’s instructions say. 1-43 Top Strap Anchor Location Extended cab anchors shown A. Top strap routing loops B. Top strap anchors C. LATCH anchors. See Lower Anchorages and Top Tethers for Children (LATCH System) on page 1-46. Anchor points for the top strap in a regular or extended cab vehicle are located behind the front seat on the back wall of the passenger compartment. You must route the top strap through the loop (A) at the top of the seatback to attach the strap to the anchor (B) as shown. 1-44 Crew Cab The anchor points for the top strap on Crew Cab vehicles are located on the back wall behind the rear seat. You must pull the seatback forward to access the anchors. Follow these steps to access the anchors and attach the top strap to an anchor: 1. Release the rear seatback from its latches (B). See Rear Seat Operation (Crew Cab) on page 1-9 or Rear Seat Operation (Extended Cab) on page 1-10 for instructions. 2. Attach the top strap to the anchor (A). 3. Push rearward on the seatback until it locks into its upright position. Push and pull on the seatback to make sure it is secured properly. 1-45 Lower Anchorages and Top Tethers for Children (LATCH System) Your vehicle may be equipped with the LATCH System. If it is you will ﬁnd anchors (A) in the second row outboard seating positions (crew cab and extended cab) and in the front passenger position (regular cab and extended cab without rear seats). This system, designed to make installation of child restraints easier, does not use the vehicle’s safety belts. Instead, it uses vehicle anchors (A, B) and child restraint attachments to secure the restraints. Some restraints also use another vehicle anchor to secure a top tether strap (C). 1-46 {CAUTION: If a LATCH-type child restraint is not attached to its anchorage points, the restraint will not be able to protect the child correctly. In a crash, the child could be seriously injured or killed. Make sure that a LATCH-type child restraint is properly installed using the anchorage points, or use the vehicle’s safety belts to secure the restraint, following the instructions that came with that restraint, and also the instructions in this manual. 1-47 In order to use the LATCH system in your vehicle, you need a child restraint designed for that system. To assist you in locating the anchors for this child restraint system, place your hand in a palm-up position and reach up between the seat cushion and the seatback. Securing a Child Restraint Designed for the LATCH System (Models with an Air Bag Off Switch) Regular Cab Models and Extended Cab Models without Rear Seats Your vehicle has air bags. Regular cab models and extended cab models without rear seats have an air bag off switch on the instrument panel you can use to turn off the right front passenger’s frontal air bag. See Air Bag Off Switch on page 1-70 for more on this including important safety information. Unless the right front passenger’s frontal air bag has been turned off, never put a rear-facing child restraint in this vehicle. Here is why: {CAUTION: A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be seriously injured or killed if the right front passenger’s frontal air bag inﬂates. This is because the back of the rear-facing child restraint would be very close to the inﬂating air bag. Do not use a rear-facing child restraint in this vehicle unless the air bag has been turned off. Even though the air bag off switch is designed to turn off the right front passenger’s frontal air bag, no system is fail-safe, and no one can guarantee that an air bag will not deploy under some unusual circumstance, even though it is turned off. We recommend that rear-facing child restraints be transported in vehicles with a rear seat that will accommodate a rear-facing child restraint, whenever possible. 1-48 {CAUTION: If the air bag readiness light ever comes on when you have turned off the air bag, it means that something may be wrong with the air bag system. The right front passenger’s frontal air bag could inﬂate even though the switch is off. If this ever happens, do not let anyone whom the national government has identiﬁed as a member of a passenger air bag risk group sit in the right front passenger’s position (for example, do not secure a rear-facing child restraint in your vehicle) until you have your vehicle serviced. See Air Bag Off Switch on page 1-70. 1. Your vehicle has a right front passenger’s frontal air bag. See Air Bag Off Switch on page 1-70. If your child restraint is forward-facing, always move the seat as far back as it will go before securing it in this seat. See Manual Seats on page 1-3 or Power Seats on page 1-4. Never use a rear-facing child restraint in this seat unless the air bag is off. 2. Find the LATCH anchorages in the passenger seat. See Lower Anchorages and Top Tethers for Children (LATCH System) on page 1-46. 3. Put the child restraint on the seat. 4. Attach and tighten the LATCH attachments on the child restraint to the LATCH anchorages in the vehicle. The child restraint instructions will show you how. 1-49 5. If the child restraint is forward-facing, attach and tighten the top tether to the top tether anchorage if your vehicle has one. The child restraint instructions will show you how. Also see Top Strap on page 1-42. 6. Push and pull the child restraint in different directions to be sure it is secure. To remove the child restraint, simply unhook the top tether from the top tether anchorage and then disconnect the LATCH anchorages. Turn on the right front passenger’s frontal air bag when you remove the child restraint from the vehicle unless the person who will be sitting there is a member of a passenger air bag risk group. See Air Bag Off Switch on page 1-70. {CAUTION: If the right front passenger’s frontal air bag is turned off for a person who is not in a risk group identiﬁed by the national government, that person will not have the extra protection of an air bag. In a crash, the air bag would not be able to inﬂate and help protect the person sitting there. Do not turn off the right front passenger’s frontal air bag unless the person sitting there is in a risk group. See Air Bag Off Switch on page 1-70 for more on this, including important safety information. 1-50 Securing a Child Restraint in a Rear Seat Position If your child restraint is equipped with the LATCH system, see Lower Anchorages and Top Tethers for Children (LATCH System) on page 1-46. See Top Strap on page 1-42 if the child restraint has one. If your child restraint does not have the LATCH system, you will be using the lap-shoulder belt to secure the child restraint in this position. Be sure to follow the instructions that came with the child restraint. Secure the child in the child restraint when and as the instructions say. 1. Put the child restraint on the seat. 2. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder portions of the vehicle’s safety belt through or around the restraint. The child restraint instructions will show you how. Securing a Child Restraint Designed for the LATCH System (Models without an Air Bag Off Switch) Crew Cab Models and Extended Cab Models with Rear Seats 1. Find the LATCH anchorages for the seating position you want to use, where the bottom of the seatback meets the back of the seat cushion. See Lower Anchorages and Top Tethers for Children (LATCH System) on page 1-46. 2. Put the child restraint on the seat. 3. Attach and tighten the LATCH attachments on the child restraint to the LATCH anchorages in the vehicle. The child restraint instructions will show you how. 4. If the child restraint is forward-facing, attach and tighten the top tether to the top tether anchorage. The child restraint instructions will show you how. Also see Top Strap on page 1-42. 5. Push and pull the child restraint in different directions to be sure it is secure. To remove the child restraint, simply unhook the top tether from the top tether anchorage and then disconnect the LATCH attachments from the LATCH anchorages. 1-51 3. Buckle the belt. Make sure the release button is positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the safety belt quickly if you ever had to. 4. Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of the retractor to set the lock (crew cab only). 1-52 To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle’s safety belt and let it go back all the way. The safety belt will move freely again and be ready to work for an adult or larger child passenger. Securing a Child Restraint in the Center Front Seat Position 5. To tighten the belt, push down on the child restraint, pull the shoulder portion of the belt to tighten the lap portion of the belt and feed the shoulder belt back into the retractor. If you are using a forward-facing child restraint, you may ﬁnd it helpful to use your knee to push down on the child restraint as you tighten the belt. 6. Push and pull the child restraint in different directions to be sure it is secure. Do not use child restraints in this position. The restraints will not work properly. 1-53 Securing a Child Restraint in the Right Front Seat Position (Models with an Air Bag Off Switch) Regular Cab Models and Extended Cab Models without Rear Seats Your vehicle has a right front passenger’s frontal air bag. Regular cab models and extended cab models without rear seats have a switch on the instrument panel that you can use to turn off the right front passenger’s frontal air bag. See Air Bag Off Switch on page 1-70 for more on this, including important safety information. Unless the right front passenger’s frontal air bag has been turned off, never put a rear facing child restraint in the right front passenger’s seat. Here is why: {CAUTION: A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be seriously injured or killed if the right front passenger’s frontal air bag inﬂates. This is because the back of the rear-facing child restraint would be very close to the inﬂating air bag. Do not use a rear-facing child restraint in this vehicle unless the air bag has been turned off. Even though the air bag off switch is designed to turn off the right front passenger’s frontal air bag, no system is fail-safe, and no one can guarantee that an air bag will not deploy under some unusual circumstance, even though it is turned off. We recommend that rear-facing child restraints be transported in vehicles with a rear seat that will accommodate a rear-facing child restraint, whenever possible. 1-54 {CAUTION: If the air bag readiness light ever comes on when you have turned off the air bag, it means that something may be wrong with the air bag system. The right front passenger’s frontal air bag could inﬂate even though the switch is off. If this ever happens, do not let anyone whom the national government has identiﬁed as a member of a passenger air bag risk group sit in the right front passenger’s position (for example, do not secure a rear-facing child restraint in your vehicle) until you have your vehicle serviced. See Air Bag Off Switch on page 1-70. If your child restraint is equipped with the LATCH system, see Lower Anchorages and Top Tethers for Children (LATCH System) on page 1-46. See Top Strap on page 1-42 if the child restraint has one. If your child restraint does not have the LATCH system, you will be using the lap-shoulder belt to secure the child restraint in this position. Be sure to follow the instructions that came with the child restraint. Secure the child in the child restraint when and as the instructions say. 1. Your vehicle has a right front passenger’s frontal air bag. See Air Bag Off Switch on page 1-70. If your child restraint is forward-facing, always move the seat as far back as it will go before securing it in this seat. See Manual Seats on page 1-3 or Power Seats on page 1-4. 2. Put the child restraint on the seat. 3. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder portions of the vehicle’s safety belt through or around the restraint. The child restraint instructions will show you how. 1-55 4. Buckle the belt. Make sure the release button is positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the safety belt quickly if you ever had to. 5. Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of the retractor to set the lock. 1-56 To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle’s safety belt and let it go back all the way. The safety belt will move freely again and be ready to work for an adult or larger child passenger. If you were using a rear-facing child restraint, turn on the right front passenger’s frontal air bag when you remove the rear-facing child restraint from the vehicle unless the person who will be sitting there is a member of a passenger air bag risk group. See Air Bag Off Switch on page 1-70. {CAUTION: If the right front passenger’s frontal air bag is turned off for a person who is not in a risk group identiﬁed by the national government, that person will not have the extra protection of an air bag. In a crash, the air bag would not be able to inﬂate and help protect the person sitting there. Do not turn off the right front passenger’s frontal air bag unless the person sitting there is in a risk group. See Air Bag Off Switch on page 1-70 for more on this, including important safety information. 1-57 6. To tighten the belt, push down on the child restraint, pull the shoulder portion of the belt to tighten the lap portion of the belt and feed the shoulder belt back into the retractor. If you are using a forward-facing child restraint, you may ﬁnd it helpful to use your knee to push down on the child restraint as you tighten the belt. 7. Push and pull the child restraint in different directions to be sure it is secure. A rear seat is a safer place to secure a forward-facing child restraint. If you need to secure a forward-facing child restraint in the right front seat position, see Where to Put the Restraint on page 1-40. If your child restraint does not have the LATCH system, you will be using the lap-shoulder belt to secure the child restraint in this position. Be sure to follow the instructions that came with the child restraint. Secure the child in the child restraint when and as the instructions say. 1. Because your vehicle has a right front passenger’s frontal air bag, always move the seat as far back as it will go before securing a forward-facing child restraint. See Manual Seats on page 1-3 or Power Seats on page 1-4. 2. Put the child restraint on the seat. 3. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder portions of the vehicle’s safety belt through or around the restraint. The child restraint instructions will show you how. Securing a Child Restraint in the Right Front Seat Position (Models without an Air Bag Off Switch) Crew Cab Models and Extended Cab Models with Rear Seats If your child restraint is equipped with the LATCH system, see Lower Anchorages and Top Tethers for Children (LATCH System) on page 1-46. See Top Strap on page 1-42 if the child restraint has one. Your vehicle has a right front passenger air bag. Never put a rear-facing child restraint in the right front passenger’s seat. Here is why: {CAUTION: A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be seriously injured or killed if the right front passenger’s air bag inﬂates. This is because the back of the rear-facing child restraint would be very close to the inﬂating air bag. Always secure a rear-facing child restraint in a rear seat. 1-58 4. Buckle the belt. Make sure the release button is positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the safety belt quickly if you ever had to. 5. Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of the retractor to set the lock. 1-59 To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle’s safety belt and let it go back all the way. The safety belt will move freely again and be ready to work for an adult or larger child passenger. Air Bag Systems This part explains the air bag systems. Your vehicle has air bags – one air bag for the driver and another air bag for the right front passenger. Your vehicle may also have roof-mounted side impact air bags; one for the driver and the passenger directly behind the driver and one for the right front passenger and the person seated directly behind that passenger. Air bags are designed to help reduce the risk of injury from the force of an inﬂating air bag. But these air bags must inﬂate very quickly to do their job and comply with federal regulations. 6. To tighten the belt, push down on the child restraint, pull the shoulder portion of the belt to tighten the lap portion of the belt and feed the shoulder belt back into the retractor. If you are using a forward-facing child restraint, you may ﬁnd it helpful to use your knee to push down on the child restraint as you tighten the belt. 7. Push and pull the child restraint in different directions to be sure it is secure. 1-60 Here are the most important things to know about the air bag system: CAUTION: (Continued) {CAUTION: You can be severely injured or killed in a crash if you are not wearing your safety belt – even if you have air bags. Wearing your safety belt during a crash helps reduce your chance of hitting things inside the vehicle or being ejected from it. Air bags are “supplemental restraints” to the safety belts. All air bags are designed to work with safety belts but do not replace them. CAUTION: (Continued) Frontal air bags for the driver and right front passenger are designed to work only in moderate to severe crashes where the front of your vehicle hits something. They are not designed to inﬂate in rollover, rear or low-speed frontal crashes, or in many side crashes. And, for some unrestrained occupants, frontal air bags may provide less protection in frontal crashes than more forceful air bags have provided in the past. The roof-mounted side impact air bags are designed to inﬂate only in moderate to severe crashes where something hits the side of your vehicle. They are not designed to inﬂate in frontal, in rollover or in rear crashes. Everyone in your vehicle should wear a safety belt properly — whether or not there is an air bag for that person. 1-61 {CAUTION: {CAUTION: Both frontal and side impact air bags inﬂate with great force, faster than the blink of an eye. If you’re too close to an inﬂating air bag, as you would be if you were leaning forward, it could seriously injure you. Safety belts help keep you in position for air bag inﬂation before and during a crash. Always wear your safety belt even with frontal air bags. The driver should sit as far back as possible while still maintaining control of the vehicle. Occupants should not lean on or sleep against the door. Anyone who is up against, or very close to, any air bag when it inﬂates can be seriously injured or killed. Air bags plus lap-shoulder belts offer the best protection for adults, but not for young children and infants. Neither the vehicle’s safety belt system nor its air bag system is designed for them. Young children and infants need the protection that a child restraint system can provide. Always secure children properly in your vehicle. To read how, see the part of this manual called “Older Children” or “Infants and Young Children.” 1-62 There is a air bag readiness light on the instrument panel which shows the air bag symbol. Where Are the Air Bags? The system checks the air bag electrical system for malfunctions. The light tells you if there is an electrical problem. See Air Bag Readiness Light on page 3-25 for more information. The driver’s air bag is in the middle of the steering wheel. 1-63 The right front passenger’s air bag is in the instrument panel on the passenger’s side. If your vehicle has a roof-mounted side impact air bag for the driver and the person seated directly behind the driver, it is located in the ceiling above the side windows. 1-64 If your vehicle has a roof-mounted side impact air bag for the right front passenger and the person seated directly behind that passenger, it is located in the ceiling above the side windows. {CAUTION: If something is between an occupant and an air bag, the bag might not inﬂate properly or it might force the object into that person causing severe injury or even death. The path of an inﬂating air bag must be kept clear. Do not put anything between an occupant and an air bag, and do not attach or put anything on the steering wheel hub or on or near any other air bag covering. If your vehicle has side impact air bags, never secure anything to the roof of your vehicle by routing the rope or tiedown through any door or window opening. If you do, the path of an inﬂating side impact air bag will be blocked. The path of an inﬂating air bag must be kept clear. 1-65 When Should an Air Bag Inﬂate? The driver’s and right front passengers frontal air bags are designed to deploy only in moderate to severe frontal, or near-frontal crashes. But they are designed to inﬂate only if the impact speed is above the system’s designed “threshold level.” In addition, your vehicle has “dual stage” frontal air bags, which adjust the amount of restraint according to crash severity. For moderate frontal impacts, these air bags inﬂate at a level less than full deployment. For more severe frontal impacts, full deployment occurs. If the front of your vehicle goes straight into a wall that doesn’t move or deform, the threshold level for the reduced deployment is about 12 to 16 mph (19.3 to 26 km/h), and the threshold level for a full deployment is about 20 to 24 mph (32.2 to 38.5 km/h). The threshold level can vary, however, with speciﬁc vehicle design, so that it can be somewhat above or below this range. If your vehicle strikes something that will move or deform, such as a parked car, the threshold level will be higher. The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal air bags are not designed to inﬂate in rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side impacts because inﬂation would not help the occupant. 1-66 The side impact air bags are designed to inﬂate in moderate to severe side crashes. A side impact air bag will inﬂate if the crash severity is above the system’s designed “threshold level”. The threshold level can vary with speciﬁc vehicle design. Side impact air bags are not designed to inﬂate in frontal or near-frontal impacts, rollovers or rear impacts, because inﬂation would not help the occupant. A side impact air bag will only deploy on the side of the vehicle that is struck. Your vehicle has seat position sensors which enable the sensing system to monitor the position of the driver’s seat and the right front passenger’s seat. Seat position sensors provide information that is used to determine if the air bags should deploy at a reduced level or at full deployment. In any particular crash, no one can say whether an air bag should have inﬂated simply because of the damage to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were. For frontal air bags, inﬂation is determined by the angle of the impact and how quickly the vehicle slows down in frontal or near-frontal impacts. For side impact air bags, inﬂation is determined by the location and severity of the impact. What Makes an Air Bag Inﬂate? In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. For both frontal and side impact air bags, the sensing system triggers a release of gas from the inﬂator, which inﬂates the air bag. The inﬂator, air bag, and related hardware are all part of the air bag modules inside the steering wheel and in the instrument panel in front of the right front passenger. For vehicles with side impact air bags, the air bag modules are located in the ceiling of the vehicle, near the side windows. How Does an Air Bag Restrain? In moderate to severe frontal or near frontal collisions, even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel or the instrument panel. In moderate to severe side collisions, even belted occupants can contact the inside of the vehicle. The air bag supplements the protection provided by safety belts. Air bags distribute the force of the impact more evenly over the occupant’s upper body, stopping the occupant more gradually. But the frontal air bags would not help you in many types of collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts, and many side impacts, primarily because an occupant’s motion is not toward the air bag. Side impact air bags would not help you in many types of collisions, including frontal or near frontal collisions, rollovers, and rear impacts, primarily because an occupant’s motion is not toward those air bags. Air bags should never be regarded as anything more than a supplement to safety belts, and then only in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions for the driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal air bags, and only in moderate to severe side collisions for the side impact air bags. 1-67 What Will You See After an Air Bag Inﬂates? After an air bag inﬂates, it quickly deﬂates, so quickly that some people may not even realize the air bag inﬂated. Some components of the air bag module — the steering wheel hub for the driver’s air bag, the instrument panel for the right front passenger’s bag or the ceiling of your vehicle near the side windows — will be hot for a short time. The parts of the bag that come into contact with you may be warm, but not too hot to touch. There will be some smoke and dust coming from the vents in the deﬂated air bags. Air bag inﬂation does not prevent the driver from seeing or being able to steer the vehicle, nor does it stop people from leaving the vehicle. {CAUTION: When an air bag inﬂates, there is dust in the air. This dust could cause breathing problems for people with a history of asthma or other breathing trouble. To avoid this, everyone in the vehicle should get out as soon as it is safe to do so. If you have breathing problems but can’t get out of the vehicle after an air bag inﬂates, then get fresh air by opening a window or a door. If you experience breathing problems following an air bag deployment, you should seek medical attention. Your vehicle has a feature that will automatically unlock the doors, turn the interior lamps on and ﬂash the hazard warning ﬂashers when the air bag inﬂates (if battery power is available). You can lock the doors again by using the door lock. The interior lamps and hazard warning ﬂashers will deactivate after approximately 15 minutes. 1-68 In many crashes severe enough to inﬂate an air bag, windshields are broken by vehicle deformation. Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the right front passenger air bag. (cid:127) Air bags are designed to inﬂate only once. After an air bag inﬂates, you will need some new parts for your air bag system. If you do not get them, the air bag system will not be there to help protect you in another crash. A new system will include air bag modules and possibly other parts. The service manual for your vehicle covers the need to replace other parts. (cid:127) Your vehicle is equipped with electronic frontal sensors which help the sensing system distinguish between a moderate and a more severe frontal impact. If your vehicle has side impact air bags, it also has electronic side sensors. Your vehicle is equipped with a crash sensing and diagnostic module, which records information about the air bag system. The module records information about the readiness of the system and when the system commands air bag inﬂation. It records the status of the driver’s safety belt usage in a crash in which the air bag deploys or a crash in which the air bag nearly deploys. The module also records speed, engine rpm, brake and throttle data. Let only qualiﬁed technicians work on your air bag system. Improper service can mean that your air bag system will not work properly. See your dealer for service. If you damage the covering for the driver’s Notice: or the right front passenger’s air bag, or the side impact air bag covering on the ceiling near the side windows, the bag may not work properly. You may have to replace the air bag module in the steering wheel, both the air bag module and the instrument panel for the right front passenger’s air bag, or side impact air bag module and ceiling covering for the roof-mounted side impact air bag. Do not open or break the air bag coverings. 1-69 (cid:127) Air Bag Off Switch Regular Cab Models and Extended Cab Models without Rear Seats If your vehicle is a regular cab model or an extended cab model without rear seats, it has a switch on the instrument panel that you can use to turn off the right front passenger’s frontal air bag. This switch should only be turned to the off position if the person in the right front passenger’s position is a member of a passenger risk group identiﬁed by the national government as follows: 1-70 Infant. An infant (less than 1 year old) must ride in the front seat because: (cid:127) my vehicle has no rear seat; (cid:127) my vehicle has a rear seat too small to accommodate a rear-facing infant seat; or the infant has a medical condition which, according to the infant’s physician, makes it necessary for the infant to ride in the front seat so that the driver can constantly monitor the child’s condition. Child age 1 to 12. A child age 1 to 12 must ride in the front seat because: (cid:127) my vehicle has no rear seat; although children ages 1 to 12 ride in the rear seat(s) whenever possible, children ages 1 to 12 sometimes must ride in the front because no space is available in the rear seat(s) of my vehicle; or the child has a medical condition which, according to the child’s physician, makes it necessary for the child to ride in the front seat so that the driver can constantly monitor the child’s condition. (cid:127) (cid:127) (cid:127) To turn off the right front passenger’s frontal air bag, insert your ignition key into the switch, push in, and move the switch to the off position. The air bag off light will come on to let you know that the right front passenger’s frontal air bag is off. The right front passenger’s frontal air bag will remain off until you turn it back on again, and the air bag off light will stay on to remind you that the air bag is off. Medical Condition. A passenger has a medical condition which, according to his or her physician: causes the passenger air bag to pose a special risk for the passenger; and (cid:127) makes the potential harm from the passenger air bag in a crash greater than the potential harm from turning off the air bag and allowing the passenger, even if belted, to hit the dashboard or windshield in a crash. {CAUTION: If the right front passenger’s frontal air bag is turned off for a person who is not in a risk group identiﬁed by the national government, that person will not have the extra protection of an air bag. In a crash, the air bag would not be able to inﬂate and help protect the person sitting there. Do not turn off the passenger’s frontal air bag unless the person sitting there is in a risk group. 1-71 (cid:127) {CAUTION: If the air bag readiness light ever comes on when you have turned off the air bag, it means that something may be wrong with the air bag system. The right front passenger’s frontal air bag could inﬂate even though the switch is off. If this ever happens, do not let anyone whom the national government has identiﬁed as a member of a passenger air bag risk group sit in the right front passenger’s position (for example, do not secure a rear-facing child restraint in the right front passenger’s seat) until you have your vehicle serviced. To turn the right front passenger’s frontal air bag on again, insert your ignition key into the switch, push in, and move the switch to the auto position. Servicing Your Air Bag-Equipped Vehicle Air bags affect how your vehicle should be serviced. There are parts of the air bag systems in several places around your vehicle. Your dealer and the service manual have information about servicing your vehicle and the air bag systems.To purchase a service manual, see Service Publications Ordering Information on page 7-11. {CAUTION: For up to 10 seconds after the ignition key is turned off and the battery is disconnected, an air bag can still inﬂate during improper service. You can be injured if you are close to an air bag when it inﬂates. Avoid wires wrapped with yellow tape or yellow connectors. They are probably part of the air bag system. Be sure to follow proper service procedures, and make sure the person performing work for you is qualiﬁed to do so. The air bag systems do not need regular maintenance. 1-72 Adding Equipment to Your Air Bag-Equipped Vehicle Q: Is there anything I might add to the front of the vehicle that could keep the air bags from working properly? A: Yes. If you add things that change your vehicle’s frame, bumper system, front end sheet metal or height, they may keep the air bag system from working properly. Also, the air bag system may not work properly if you relocate any of the air bag sensors. If you have any questions about this, you should contact Customer Assistance before you modify your vehicle. The phone numbers and addresses for Customer Assistance are in Step Two of the Customer Satisfaction Procedure on page 7-2. Restraint System Check Checking Your Restraint Systems Now and then, make sure the safety belt reminder light and all your belts, buckles, latch plates, retractors and anchorages are working properly. Look for any other loose or damaged safety belt system parts. If you see anything that might keep a safety belt system from doing its job, have it repaired. Torn or frayed safety belts may not protect you in a crash. They can rip apart under impact forces. If a belt is torn or frayed, get a new one right away. Also look for any opened or broken air bag covers, and have them repaired or replaced. (The air bag system does not need regular maintenance.) 1-73 Replacing Restraint System Parts After a Crash {CAUTION: A crash can damage the restraint systems in your vehicle. A damaged restraint system may not properly protect the person using it, resulting in serious injury or even death in a crash. To help make sure your restraint systems are working properly after a crash, have them inspected and any necessary replacements made as soon as possible. If you have had a crash, do you need new belts or LATCH system parts? After a very minor collision, nothing may be necessary. But if the belts were stretched, as they would be if worn during a more severe crash, then you need new parts. If the LATCH system was being used during a more severe crash, you may need new LATCH system parts. 1-74 If belts are cut or damaged, replace them. Collision damage also may mean you will need to have LATCH system, safety belt or seat parts repaired or replaced. New parts and repairs may be necessary even if the belt or LATCH system was not being used at the time of the collision. If an air bag inﬂates, you will need to replace air bag system parts. See the part on the air bag system earlier in this section. If the frontal air bags inﬂate, you will also need to replace the driver’s and right front passenger’s safety belt retractor assembly. Be sure to do so. Then the new retractor assembly will be there to help protect you in a collision. After a crash you may need to replace the driver and front passenger’s safety belt retractor assemblies, even if the frontal air bags have not deployed. The driver and front passenger’s safety belt retractor assemblies contain the safety belt pretensioners. Have your safety belt pretensioners checked if your vehicle has been in a collision, or if your air bag readiness light stays on after you start your vehicle or while you are driving. See Air Bag Readiness Light on page 3-25. Section 2 Features and Controls Keys ...............................................................2-2 Remote Keyless Entry System .........................2-4 Remote Keyless Entry System Operation ...........2-5 Doors and Locks .............................................2-7 Door Locks ....................................................2-7 Power Door Locks ..........................................2-8 Programmable Automatic Door Locks ................2-8 Rear Door Security Locks (Crew Cab) ...............2-9 Lockout Protection ..........................................2-9 Leaving Your Vehicle ....................................2-10 Rear Doors (Extended Cab) ...........................2-10 Tailgate .......................................................2-10 Windows ........................................................2-12 Manual Windows ..........................................2-12 Power Windows ............................................2-13 Sliding Rear Window .....................................2-14 Sun Visors ...................................................2-14 Theft-Deterrent Systems ..................................2-14 Content Theft-Deterrent .................................2-14 Passlock® ....................................................2-16 Starting and Operating Your Vehicle ................2-16 New Vehicle Break-In ....................................2-16 Ignition Positions ..........................................2-17 Starting Your Engine .....................................2-18 Engine Coolant Heater ..................................2-20 Automatic Transmission Operation ...................2-21 Manual Transmission Operation ......................2-24 Four-Wheel Drive ..........................................2-26 Parking Brake ..............................................2-29 Shifting Into Park (P) (Automatic Transmission) ............................2-30 Shifting Out of Park (P) (Automatic Transmission) ............................2-32 Parking Your Vehicle (Manual Transmission) .......2-33 Parking Over Things That Burn .......................2-33 Engine Exhaust ............................................2-34 Running Your Engine While You Are Parked .......2-34 Mirrors ...........................................................2-36 Manual Rearview Mirror .................................2-36 Manual Rearview Mirror with OnStar® ..............2-36 Automatic Dimming Rearview Mirror with Compass and Temperature Display ..............2-37 Outside Manual Mirrors ..................................2-39 Outside Power Mirrors ...................................2-40 Outside Convex Mirror ...................................2-40 OnStar® System .............................................2-41 Storage Areas ................................................2-42 Glove Box ...................................................2-42 Cupholder(s) ................................................2-42 Front Armrest Storage Area ...........................2-43 Assist Handles .............................................2-43 Rear Storage Area ........................................2-43 Bed Rails ....................................................2-43 2-1 Keys {CAUTION: Leaving children in a vehicle with the ignition key is dangerous for many reasons. They could operate the power windows or other controls or even make the vehicle move. The children or others could be badly injured or even killed. Do not leave the keys in a vehicle with children. 2-2 There is one double-sided key for the ignition, driver’s door lock, and tailgate. When a new vehicle is delivered, the dealer provides the owner with a pair of identical keys and a key code number. If you ever lock your keys in your vehicle, The key code number tells your dealer or a qualiﬁed locksmith how to make extra keys. Keep this number in a safe place. If you lose your keys, you will be able to have new ones made easily using this number. Your dealer should also have this number. Notice: you may have to damage the vehicle to get in. Be sure you have spare keys. If you ever do get locked out of your vehicle call the GM Roadside Assistance Center. See Roadside Assistance Program on page 7-6. If your vehicle is equipped with the OnStar system with an active subscription and you lock your keys inside the vehicle, OnStar may be able to send a command to unlock your vehicle. See OnStar® System on page 2-41 for more information. 2-3 Remote Keyless Entry System If equipped, the keyless entry system operates on a radio frequency subject to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Rules and with Industry Canada. This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: 1. This device may not cause interference, and 2. This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation of the device. This device complies with RSS-210 of Industry Canada.

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2004 GMC Canyon Owners Manual