Subaru 2004 Forester X - Manual (Page 56)

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Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
– CONTINUED –
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 operat-
ing 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 designed to acti-
vate in minor frontal impacts, in minor side im-
pacts or in rear impacts or in roll-over accidents.
The driver’s seat and passenger’s seat preten-
sioners and frontal SRS airbag operate simulta-
neously.
The driver’s seat and passenger’s seat preten-
sioners and the SRS side airbag operate simulta-
neously.
Pretensioners are designed to function on a
one-time-only basis. In the event that a preten-
sioner is activated, both the driver’s and front pas-
senger’s seatbelt retractor assemblies must be re-
placed only by an authorized SUBARU dealer.
When replacing seatbelt 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 assembly or sur-
rounding area has been damaged, contact your
SUBARU dealer as soon as possible.
When you sell your vehicle, we urge you to ex-
plain to the buyer that it has seatbelt pretension-
ers by alerting him to the contents of this section.
To obtain maximum protection, the occu-
pants should sit in an upright position with
their seatbelts properly fastened. Refer to the
“Seatbelts” section in this chapter.
Do not modify, remove or strike the front
seatbelt retractor assemblies or surrounding
area. This could result in accidental activation
of the seatbelt pretensioners or could make the
system inoperative, possibly resulting in seri-
ous injury. Seatbelt pretensioners have no
user-serviceable parts. For required servicing
of front seatbelt retractors equipped with seat-