(3) If the vehicle is so equipped, snap the plastic
cover over t he scr ew t hat secures the front seat belt
buckle lower an chor t o the inboa rd side of th e sea t
frame.
(4) On th e driver side only, r econnect the sea t belt
switch pigta il wire to the vehicle wire har ness an d
pu sh the joined con nector s t hrough the clea rance
hole in the seat riser cover.
(5) On the driver side only, rout e and secu re th e
seat belt switch pigta il wir e to the seat fram e with
wir e t ies.
PASSEN GER AI RBAG
DESCRIPTION
The rea rward facing surfa ce of the injection
molded, ther moplastic passenger airba g door is the
most visible pa rt of the optional passen ger airbag
(Fig. 27). The passenger airba g door is loca ted above
the glove box opening in front of the fron t sea t pas-
senger seat ing position on t he inst rument pan el. The
upper a nd lower edges of the airbag door ar e secur ed
by a snap-fit to m olded plastic clips. The two clips a t
the top are each secured by a screw to t he instr u-
ment panel base trim, while th e clips at t he bottom
are in tegr al to the pan el tha t surr ounds t he pa ssen-
ger airba g door opening in t he instrumen t pa nel ba se
trim. The a irba g door is also secured t o t he airbag
housin g by two wide woven stra ps that serve as
hinges for the door upon an airba g deployment.
Located behin d t he passenger airba g door is th e
pa ssen ger a irbag unit (Fig. 28). The air bag housing
is constructed of a long U-shaped alu minum extr u-
sion with two st amped st eel en d pla tes. A stepped
flan ge th at exten ds from th e back of the extrusion
serves a s the air bag mount ing flan ge. Th is moun ting
flan ge is secured with screws to a stam ped steel air-
bag m ounting bracket that is secured with screws to
the tubula r steel instrument panel str uctur al su pport
above the glove box open ing. The en d plates a re
secured to each side of the passenger airbag housing
with screws.
The passenger airba g unit u sed in t his model is a
Next Gen eration-type that complies wit h revised fed-
eral airba g stan da rds to deploy with less force tha n
those u sed in some pr ior m odels. Th e air bag housing
contains the folded airba g cushion, the airbag
reta iner, a nd the airbag infla tor. Th e airbag is a rect-
angula r fabr ic cu sh ion. The airbag infla tor is a solid
fuel, pyrotech nic-t ype un it that is secured to an d
sealed wit hin th e airbag housing a long with the
folded a irbag cushion. The inflator init iator conn ector
recepta cle is con nected to the vehicle electr ical sys-
tem throu gh a dedica ted t ake out of the vehicle wire
harness with a yellow connect or insulator.
The passenger airba g and airba g door u nit cann ot
be repair ed, and m ust be replaced if deployed, faulty
or in any way dama ged.
OPERATION
The passenger air bag is deployed by an electrical
signal gen erat ed by th e Airba g Contr ol Module
(ACM) through the passenger a irba g squib cir cuits to
the init iator in th e air bag inflator. Wh en the ACM
sends the pr oper electr ical sign al t o the initia tor the
electrical ener gy generat es enough hea t t o initia te a
sm all pyr otechn ic cha rge which, in tu rn, ignit es
chemical pellets with in the inflator. Once ignited,
these chem ical pellets burn ra pidly an d produce a
lar ge qu ant ity of inert gas. The infla tor is sealed to
the back of th e airba g housin g and a diffu ser in the
Fig. 27 Passenger Airbag Door
1 - INSTRUMENT PANEL TRAY
2 - PASSENGER AIRBAG DOOR
3 - GLOVE BOX DOOR
Fig. 28 Passenger Airbag Unit
1 - DOOR
2 - CLIP (2)
3 - HOUSING
4 - CONNECTOR RECEPTACLE
5 - END PLATE (2)
8O - 24 RESTRAINTS VA
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