2003 Subaru Forester Owner's Manual - Page 52

Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags Front seatbelt pretensioners 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 activate in minor frontal impacts, in side or rear impacts or in roll-over accidents. " The driver's seat and passenger's seat pretensioners and frontal SRS airbag operate simultaneously. " Pretensioners are designed to function 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 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. - CONTINUED - HS1067BA The driver's and front passenger's seatbelts 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. The pretensioner sensor also serves as the frontal SRS airbag sensor. If the sensor detects a certain predetermined amount of force during a frontal 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 operat- 1-27