Seatbelt Maintenance; Front Seatbelt Pretensioners; Seatbelt With Shoulder Belt Pretensioner - Subaru 2015 Forester Owner's Manual

. Have the seatbelt fully rolled up
so that the tongue plates are
neatly stored. A hanging tongue
plate can swing and hit against
the trim during driving, causing
damage to the trim.

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.
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 and
side collisions and rollover accidents.
Seatbelt with shoulder belt
pretensioner
NOTE
This section is applicable to the dri-
ver s side seatbelt.
The pretensioner sensor also serves as
follows.
. SRS frontal airbag sensor
. Side impact sensor
. Rollover sensor
If the sensor detects a certain predeter-
mined amount of force during frontal or
side collisions or rollover accidents, the
front seatbelt is quickly drawn back in by
the retractor to take up the slack so that
the belt more effectively restrains the
driver.
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 activate in minor impacts.
. In cases of rollover accidents, as the
curtain airbags deploy, the driver s side
seatbelt pretensioner and front passen-
ger s side shoulder belt pretensioner
are activated simultaneously.
. In cases of frontal collisions, the
following components will operate si-
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