Seatbelt Maintenance; Front Seatbelt Pretensioners - Subaru Impreza 2016 Manual

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Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags/Front seatbelt pretensioners
& Seatbelt maintenance
To clean the seatbelts, use a mild soap
and lukewarm water. Never bleach or dye
the belts because this could seriously
affect their strength.
Inspect the seatbelts and attachments
including the webbing and all hardware
periodically for cracks, cuts, gashes,
tears, damage, loose bolts or worn areas.
Replace the seatbelts even if only minor
damage is found.
CAUTION
. Keep the belts free of polishes,
oils, chemicals and particularly
battery acid.
. Never attempt to make modifica-
tions or changes that will prevent
the seatbelt from operating prop-
erly.

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 a moderate to severe frontal
collision.
Front seatbelt pretentioner
If the SRS frontal airbag sensors detect a
certain predetermined amount of force
during a frontal collision, the front seatbelt
is quickly drawn in by the pretensioner to
take up the slack so that the belt more
effectively restrains the front seat occu-
pant.
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 driver's and passenger's seat-
belt pretensioners and SRS frontal air-
bags operate simultaneously. In mod-
els with front passenger's occupant
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 both the
driver's and front passenger's seatbelt