Front Seatbelt Pretensioners - Subaru WRX-STI Owner's Manual

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Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags/Front seatbelt pretensioners

Front seatbelt pretensioners

The driver s and front passenger s seat-
belts have a seatbelt pretensioner. The
seatbelt pretensioners are designed to be
activated in the event of an accident
involving moderate to severe frontal colli-
sions.
Front seatbelt pretentioner
The pretensioner sensor also serves as
follows.
. SRS frontal airbag sensor
If the SRS frontal airbag sensors detect a
certain predetermined amount of force
during a frontal collision, any seatbelt
which has a seatbelt pretensioner is
quickly drawn in by the pretensioner to
take up the slack so that the belt more
effectively restrains the seat occupant.
When a seatbelt pretensioner is activated,
an operating noise will be heard and a
small amount of smoke will be released.
These occurrences are normal and not
harmful. This smoke does not indicate a
fire in the vehicle.
Once the seatbelt pretensioner has been
activated, the seatbelt retractor remains
locked. Consequently, the seatbelt cannot
be pulled out and retracted and therefore
must be replaced.
NOTE
. Seatbelt pretensioners are not de-
signed to be activated in minor frontal
impacts, in side or rear impacts or in
roll-over accidents.
. The seatbelt pretensioners and SRS
frontal airbags operate simultaneously.
In models with front passenger's occu-
pant detection system, even if the front
passenger's SRS frontal airbag does
not operate as the front passenger's
seat is not occupied, the seatbelt
pretensioner for the front passenger's
seat will operate in combination with
the driver's SRS frontal airbag/seatbelt
pretensioner.
. Pretensioners are designed to func-
tion on a one-time-only basis. In the
event that a pretensioner is activated,
we recommend that you have the
seatbelt retractor assemblies, which
are equipped with seatbelt preten-
sioners, replaced with genuine
SUBARU parts by your authorized
SUBARU dealer. When using a seatbelt
equipped with a load limiter, it is
installed in the front seating position.
. If either front seatbelt does not
retract or cannot be pulled out due to
a malfunction or activation of the
pretensioner, we recommend that you
contact your SUBARU dealer as soon
as possible.
. If the front seatbelt retractor assem-
bly or surrounding area has been
damaged, we recommend that you
contact your SUBARU dealer as soon
as possible.
. When you sell your vehicle, we urge
you to explain to the buyer that it has
seatbelt pretensioners by alerting the
buyer to the contents of this section.
WARNING
. To obtain maximum protection,
the occupants should sit in an
upright position with their seat-
belts properly fastened. Refer to
"Seatbelts" F1-14.