My car keeps hugging me

[CCalvinN]

On my way home from work there is one particular intersection where my FFH keeps giving me hugs. By hugs I mean the seat belt not only locks up, but actually tightens a bit. This particular intersection is where a country road meets a to lane highway. The highway is on an incline and just past a pretty severe curve. The vast majority of the times that I take that corner I have to accelerate a lot harder than normal as when I pull out a car comes around the corner and I have to get up to 55+ mph a lot faster than normal. In the first month that I had the car the intersection also had quite a lot of ice built up and I'd spin the tires a little. Between the hard acceleration up a hill and the slippery road I just assumed the car was getting ready for a crash as I've had this and other cars lock the seat belt in similar situations.

 

For the past few trips home though the roads have been dry and there has been no ice. In addition I've accelerated at a more normal rate as I didn't have another car barreling down on me. But the seat belt is still tightening up and locking. And where I've had other cars lock the seat belt in similar situations I don't recall ever having them actually tighten up around me.

 

So... am I just fretting over nothing? Is this normal behavior? Does taking a 90 degree turn and immediately accelerating up a hill equate somehow to my car getting nervous? Or is this something that I should worry about?

[SteveB_TX]

The seat belts have a pre-tensioner system that tightens the belt when a possible collision/rollover situation is detected. I am guessing here that the angle-of-attack and acceleration/deceleration inputs to the computer are making your car think you are about to run into something (or roll over), so it is giving you a nice tight seat belt to help save you. This means only one thing... Your car loves you! :)

Edited March 28, 2015 by SteveB_TX

[GrySql]

This means only one thing... Your car loves you! :)

Or, the RCM is starting to get a little wonky.

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/9347-recalls-and-outstanding-field-service-actions-fsas/?p=87933

Edited March 28, 2015 by GrySql

[FordService]

On my way home from work there is one particular intersection where my FFH keeps giving me hugs. By hugs I mean the seat belt not only locks up, but actually tightens a bit. This particular intersection is where a country road meets a to lane highway. The highway is on an incline and just past a pretty severe curve. The vast majority of the times that I take that corner I have to accelerate a lot harder than normal as when I pull out a car comes around the corner and I have to get up to 55+ mph a lot faster than normal. In the first month that I had the car the intersection also had quite a lot of ice built up and I'd spin the tires a little. Between the hard acceleration up a hill and the slippery road I just assumed the car was getting ready for a crash as I've had this and other cars lock the seat belt in similar situations.

 

For the past few trips home though the roads have been dry and there has been no ice. In addition I've accelerated at a more normal rate as I didn't have another car barreling down on me. But the seat belt is still tightening up and locking. And where I've had other cars lock the seat belt in similar situations I don't recall ever having them actually tighten up around me.

 

So... am I just fretting over nothing? Is this normal behavior? Does taking a 90 degree turn and immediately accelerating up a hill equate somehow to my car getting nervous? Or is this something that I should worry about?

 

Per your Owner Guide:

 

Safety Belts - page 30

 

All safety restraints in the vehicle are combination lap and shoulder belts. The driver safety belt has the vehicle sensitive locking mode. The front outboard passenger and rear seat safety belts have both the vehicle sensitive locking mode and the automatic locking mode.

 

Vehicle Sensitive Mode

This is the normal retractor mode, which allows free shoulder belt length adjustment to your movements and locking in response to vehicle movement. For example, if the driver brakes suddenly or turns a corner sharply, or the vehicle receives an impact of about 5 mph (8 km/h) or more, the combination safety belts will lock to help reduce forward movement of the driver and passengers. In addition, the retractor is designed to lock if the webbing is pulled out too quickly. If this occurs, let the belt retract slightly and pull webbing out again in a slow and controlled manner.

 

Meagan

[CCalvinN]

Thanks for the replies!

 

I guess that particular corner is just all the wrong inputs for the car and she assumes I'm about to crash. I had the opportunity to take this corner last night at a ridiculously slow rate (I let it stay in EV mode and didn't get it up to 20mph for several long seconds!) and the belt stayed loose and unlocked.

[dalesky]

On my way home from work there is one particular intersection where my FFH keeps giving me hugs. By hugs I mean the seat belt not only locks up, but actually tightens a bit. This particular intersection is where a country road meets a to lane highway. The highway is on an incline and just past a pretty severe curve. The vast majority of the times that I take that corner I have to accelerate a lot harder than normal as when I pull out a car comes around the corner and I have to get up to 55+ mph a lot faster than normal. In the first month that I had the car the intersection also had quite a lot of ice built up and I'd spin the tires a little. Between the hard acceleration up a hill and the slippery road I just assumed the car was getting ready for a crash as I've had this and other cars lock the seat belt in similar situations.

 

For the past few trips home though the roads have been dry and there has been no ice. In addition I've accelerated at a more normal rate as I didn't have another car barreling down on me. But the seat belt is still tightening up and locking. And where I've had other cars lock the seat belt in similar situations I don't recall ever having them actually tighten up around me.

 

So... am I just fretting over nothing? Is this normal behavior? Does taking a 90 degree turn and immediately accelerating up a hill equate somehow to my car getting nervous? Or is this something that I should worry about?

These are very smart cars!

[FordService]

Thanks for the replies!

 

I guess that particular corner is just all the wrong inputs for the car and she assumes I'm about to crash. I had the opportunity to take this corner last night at a ridiculously slow rate (I let it stay in EV mode and didn't get it up to 20mph for several long seconds!) and the belt stayed loose and unlocked.

:thumbsup: I'll be around if you have any other questions.

 

Meagan