Front Seatbelt Pretensioners - Subaru 2011 Forester Owner's Manual

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Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags

Front seatbelt pretensioners

The driver's and front passenger's seat-
belts have a seatbelt pretensioner. The
seatbelt pretensioners for the driver's seat
and front passenger's seat operate at the
same time as the frontal, and side SRS
airbags. If the vehicle rolls over, they
operate simultaneously with the curtain
airbag.
The front and side airbag sensors and the
rollover sensor are used as the preten-
sioner sensors. If a sensor detects a
certain predetermined amount of force
during a frontal collision, a side impact
collision or a rollover collision, the front
seatbelt is quickly drawn back in by the
retractor to take up the slack so that the
belt more effectively restrains the front
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 can not
be pulled out and retracted and therefore
must be replaced.
NOTE
. Seatbelt pretensioners are not de-
signed to activate in minor frontal or
side impacts or in rear impacts.
. The driver's seat and passenger's
seat pretensioners and frontal, side or
curtain SRS airbags operate simulta-
neously.
. Pretensioners are designed to func-
tion on a one-time-only basis. In the
event that a pretensioner is activated,
both the driver's and front passenger's
seatbelt retractor assemblies must be
replaced only by an authorized
SUBARU dealer. When replacing seat-
belt retractor assemblies, use only
genuine SUBARU parts.
. If either front seatbelt does not
retract or cannot be pulled out due to
a malfunction or activation of the
pretensioner, contact your SUBARU
dealer as soon as possible.
. If the front seatbelt retractor assem-
bly or surrounding area has been
damaged, 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" F1-12.
. Do not modify, remove or strike
the front seatbelt retractor as-
semblies or surrounding area.
This could result in accidental
activation of the seatbelt preten-
sioners or could make the sys-
tem inoperative, possibly result-
ing in serious injury. Seatbelt
pretensioners have no user-ser-
viceable parts. For required ser-
vicing of front seatbelt retractors