Ford Aerostar 1996 Owner's Manual

Table of Contents

Introductory Information ............................... 1

Safety Restraints ............................................ 11

Starting Your Aerostar ................................. 61

Warning Lights and Gauges ....................... 73

Instrument Panel Controls .......................... 89

Steering Column Controls ........................ 109

Features .......................................................... 121

Electronic Sound Systems ......................... 149

Driving Your Aerostar ............................... 185

Roadside Emergencies ................................ 225

Customer Assistance ................................... 245

Reporting Safety Defects ...................... 252

Accessories .................................................... 257

Servicing Your Aerostar.............................. 265

Quick Index .................................................. 351

Index ............................................................... 359

Service Station Information ...................... 380

Introductory Information

At Ford Motor Company, excellence is the continuous commitment to achieve the best result possible. It is dedication to learning what you want, determination to develop the right concept, and execution of that concept with care, precision, and attention to detail. In short, excellence means being the standard by which others are judged.

Our Guiding Principles

Quality comes first. For your satisfaction, the

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quality of our products and services must be our number one priority.

You are the focus of everything we do. Our

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work must be done with you in mind, providing better products and services than our competition.

Continuous improvement is essential to our

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success. We must strive for excellence in everything we do: in our products — in their safety and value — and in our services, our human relations, our competitiveness, and our profitability.

Employee involvement is our way of life.

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We are a team. We must treat one another with trust and respect.

Dealers and suppliers are our partners. We

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must maintain mutually beneficial relationships with dealers, suppliers, and our other business associates.

Integrity is never compromised. Our conduct

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worldwide must be pursued in a manner that is socially responsible and commands respect for its integrity and for its positive contributions to society.

This Guide

Congratulations on the purchase of your new vehicle. This guide has information about the equipment and the options for your new vehicle. You may not have bought all of the options available to you. If you do not know which information applies to your vehicle, talk to your dealer.

This guide describes equipment and gives specifications for equipment that was in effect when this guide was approved for printing. Ford may discontinue models or change specifications or design without any notice and without incurring obligation.

NOTES and WARNINGS

NOTES give you additional information about

the subject matter you are referencing. WARNINGS remind you to be especially careful

in those areas where carelessness can cause damage to your vehicle or personal injury to yourself, your passengers or other people. Please read all WARNINGS carefully.

RWARNING

Finding Information in This Guide

After you have read this guide once, you will probably return to it when you have a specific question or need additional information. To help you find specific information quickly, you can use the Quick Index, Table of Contents, or the Index.

The Quick Index at the end of the book provides a page number following each item which indicates where detailed information can be found.

To use the Index, turn to the back of the book and search in the alphabetical listing for the word that best describes the information you need. If the word you chose is not listed, think of other related words and look them up. We have designed the Index so that you can find information under a technical term.

Canadian Owners — French Version

French Owner Guides can be obtained from your dealer or by writing to Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited, Service Publications, P.O. Box 1580, Station B, Mississauga, Ontario L4Y 4G3.

Record Booklet

The Maintenance Schedule and Record booklet lists the services that are most important for keeping your vehicle in good condition. A record log is also provided to help you keep track of all services performed.

Your vehicle is covered by three types of warranties: Basic Vehicle Warranty, Extended

Warranties on certain parts, and Emissions Warranties.

Read your Warranty Information Booklet carefully to find out about your vehicle’s warranties and your basic rights and responsibilities.

If you lose your Warranty Information Booklet, you can get a new one free of charge. Contact any Ford or Lincoln-Mercury dealer, or refer to the addresses and phone numbers on the first page of this owner guide.

Buying a Ford Extended Service Plan

If you bought your vehicle in the U.S., you can buy a Ford Extended Service Plan for your vehicle. This optional contract provides service protection for a longer period of time than the basic warranty that comes with your vehicle.

You do not have to buy this option when you buy your vehicle. However, your option to purchase the Ford Extended Service Plan runs out after 18 months or 18,000 miles. See your dealer for more details about the Ford Extended Service Plan.

If you purchased a Canadian vehicle and did not take advantage of the Ford Extended Service Plan at the time of purchase, you may still be eligible. See your dealer for the details.

E-4WD VEHICLES

As with other vehicles of this type, failure to operate this vehicle correctly may result in loss of control or an accident. Be sure to read the special driving instructions in the section Electronic 4-Wheel Drive (E-4WD) in this book.

Number (VIN)

Your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is the same as the warranty number that appears on your owner card. You should include this number any time you write to Ford Motor Company about your vehicle.

The Vehicle Identification Number is attached to your vehicle in the following places:

on the metal tag attached to the top of the

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instrument panel on the driver’s side — you can see the tag by looking through the windshield from outside your vehicle.

Vehicle Identification Number (VIN/Serial Number)

on the Safety Compliance Certification Label

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— this label is attached to the left front door lock facing or the door latch post pillar. It is required by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and is made of special material. If someone tampers with it, it will be destroyed and/or a destruction pattern will appear.

The label contains the name of the manufacturer, the month and year of manufacture, the certification statement and the Vehicle Identification Number. The label also contains Gross Vehicle Weight Rating and Gross Axle Weight Ratings, wheel and tire data and information codes for additional vehicle data. For further information about the Safety Compliance Certification Label and the information contained on it, refer to the Index.

Federal Highway Administration Regulation

Regulations such as those issued by the Federal Highway Administration or issued pursuant to the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), and/or state and local laws and regulations may require additional equipment for the way you intend to use the vehicle. It is the responsibility of the registered owner to determine the applicability of such laws and regulations to your intended use for the vehicle, and to arrange for the installation of required equipment. Your Ford dealer has information about the availability of many items of equipment which may be ordered for your vehicle.

Your new vehicle goes through an adjustment or break-in period during the first 1,000 miles (1,600 km) that you drive it. During the break-in period, you need to pay careful attention to how you drive your vehicle.

Avoid sudden stops. Because your vehicle

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has new brake linings, you should take these steps:

— Watch traffic carefully so that you can

anticipate when to stop. — Begin braking well in advance. — Apply the brakes gradually.

The break-in period for new brake linings lasts for 100 miles (160 km) of city driving or 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of highway driving.

Wheel lug nuts must be retightened to proper

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torque specifications at 500 miles/800 km of new vehicle operation. Proper torque specifications are provided in this guide. Also retighten to proper torque specification at 500 miles/800 km after any wheel change or any other time the wheel lug nuts have been loosened.

Use only the type of engine oil that Ford

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recommends. See Engine oil recommendations in the Index. Do not use special “break-in” oils.

Vehicle

Washing and Polishing Your Vehicle

Wash the outside of your vehicle, including the underside, with a mild detergent.

DO NOT:

Wash your vehicle with hot water

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Wash your vehicle while it sits in direct

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sunlight Wash your vehicle while the body is hot

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Pollen, bird droppings and tree sap can damage the paint, especially in hot weather. Wash your vehicle as often as necessary to keep it clean.

Take similar precautions if your vehicle is exposed to chemical industrial fallout.

Paint damage resulting from fallout is not related to a defect in paint materials or workmanship and therefore is not covered by warranty. Ford, however, believes that continual improvement in customer satisfaction is a high priority. For this reason, Ford has authorized its dealers to repair, at no charge to the owner, the surfaces of new vehicles damaged by environmental fallout within 12 months or 12,000 miles (20,000 km) of purchase, whichever comes first. Customers may be required to bring their vehicle in for inspection by a Ford representative.

Polish your vehicle to remove harmful deposits and protect the finish.

Cleaning Chrome and Aluminum Parts

Wash chrome and aluminum parts with a mild detergent. Do not use steel wool, abrasive cleaners, fuel or strong detergents.

Cleaning Plastic Parts

Some of your vehicle’s exterior trim parts are plastic. Clean with a tar and road oil remover if necessary. Use a vinyl cleaner for routine cleaning.

Do not clean plastic parts with thinners, solvents or petroleum-based cleaners.

If you have your vehicle rustproofed, remove oversprayed rustproofing with a tar and road oil remover. If rustproofing is not removed from plastic and rubber parts, it can cause deterioration.

Safety Restraints

The use of safety belts helps to restrain you and your passengers in case of a collision. In most states and in Canada the law requires their use.

Safety belts provide best restraint when:

the seatback is upright

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the occupant is sitting upright (not slouched)

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the lap belt is snug and low on the hips

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the shoulder belt is snug against the chest

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the knees are straight forward

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To help you remember to fasten your safety belt, a warning light may come on and a chime may sound. See Safety Belt Warning Light and Chime in the Warning Lights and Gauges chapter.

See the following sections in this chapter for directions on how to properly use these safety belts. Also see Safety Restraints for Children in this chapter for special instructions about using safety belts for children.

RWARNING

Make sure that you and your passengers wear safety belts. Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap belt snug and low across the hips.

RWARNING

Never wear the shoulder belt under the arm. Never swing it around the neck over the inside shoulder. Never use a single belt for more than one person or across more than one seating position. Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific safety belt assembly which is made up of one buckle and one tongue that are designed to be used as a pair. Failure to follow these precautions could increase the risk and/or severity of injury in a collision.

RWARNING

To reduce the risk of serious injury in a collision, children should always ride with the seatback upright.

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Never drive or ride with a twisted or jammed safety belt. If you cannot untwist or unjam the safety belt, see the nearest qualified technician immediately.

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Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap while the vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the child from injury in a collision.

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Lock the doors of your vehicle before driving to lessen the risk of the door coming open in a collision.

Belts

While your vehicle is in motion, the combination lap and shoulder belt adjusts to your movement. However, if you brake hard, turn hard, or if your vehicle receives an impact of 5 mph (8 km/h) or more, thelap/shoulder belt locks and helps reduce your forward movement.

After you get into your vehicle, close the door and lock it. Then adjust the seat to the position that suits you best.

Pull the combination lap/shoulder belt from the retractor so that the shoulder portion of the belt crosses your shoulder and chest. Be sure the belt is not twisted. If it is, remove the twist. Insert the belt tongue into the proper buckle until you hear a snap and feel it latch. Make sure the tongue is securely fastened to the buckle by pulling on tongue.

Fastening the front seat combination lap and shoulder belt

NOTE: Be sure to read and understand

Important Safety Belt Information at the beginning of this chapter.

Unfastening the combination lap and shoulder belts — front and rear outboard seating positions

While the belt retracts, guide the tongue to its original position to prevent it from striking you or the vehicle.

Safety Belts for Front Outboard Passenger and Rear Outboard Seating Positions

Your vehicle is equipped with a dual locking mode retractor on the shoulder belt portion of the combination lap/shoulder safety belt for the front seat outboard passenger and rear outboard passengers.

Dual locking mode retractors operate in two ways:

Vehicle sensitive (emergency) locking mode

In this operating mode, the shoulder belt retractor will allow the occupant freedom of movement, locking tight only on hard braking, hard cornering or impacts of approximately 5 mph (8 km/h) or more. The retractor can also be made to lock by pulling on the belt.

Automatic locking mode

In this operating mode, the shoulder belt retractor will be automatically locked and will remain locked when the combination lap/shoulder safety belt is buckled, and does not allow the occupant freedom of movement. This mode provides the following:

A tight lap/shoulder belt on the occupant.

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Child safety seat installation.

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This mode must be used when installing a child safety seat on the front passenger seat and rear outboard seats where dual locking retractors are provided.

To switch the retractor from the emergency locking mode to the automatic locking mode, perform the following steps:

1. Buckle the lap/shoulder combination belt.

2. Grasp the shoulder portion of the belt and pull downward until all of the belt is extracted and, when allowed to retract, a clicking sound is heard. At this time, the belt retractor is in the automatic locking mode (child restraint mode).

3. A clicking sound will continue to be heard as the belt is allowed to retract. This indicates that the retractor is in the automatic locking mode.

NOTE: When the combination lap/shoulder

belt is unbuckled and allowed to retract completely, the retractor will switch to the vehicle sensitive (emergency) locking mode. See the detailed instructions under Safety Seats for Children in this chapter.

All Two Passenger Bench or Bedseat

In addition to anchorages in the floor and roof structures, some rear safety belts have a detachable anchor mounted to the outboard side of the rear seats. This should remain attached, except when removing the rear seats.

The second row passenger side outboard seating position uses a hook above the sliding/cargo door to stow the shoulder safety belt when entering or exiting the vehicle or when it is not being used.

NOTE: When the belt is stowed using the

hook, DO NOT use the hanging belt as an assist when entering the vehicle.

Proper stowage of shoulder safety belt

Disengaging rear seat safety belts for seat removal

In order to remove the rear seat, the safety belt must be disengaged from the seat. To disengage the safety belt from the seat, insert a key or small screwdriver into the slot provided on the detachable anchor. Then lift upward.

Disengaging safety belt for rear seat removal

Whenever a rear seat has been removed, the tongue end of the detachable anchor must be correctly stowed. See the following illustration.

Rear seat shoulder safety belt — stowage (with seat removed)

RWARNING

When reinstalling a rear seat in your vehicle it must be placed in its original position. Improper installation of the seat will prevent correct use of the safety belts and could increase the risk of injury. Refer to the warning label on the seat belt.

After installing the rear seat, make sure the safety belt is not twisted before you insert it into the detachable anchor. A twisted safety belt may cause the retractor to not work properly. Then insert the detachable anchor tongue into the detachable anchor until you hear a “snap” and feel the latch engage.

Adjustable Lap Belts Without Retractors

On the center seat of the rear three-passenger seats you will find a lap-belt without a retractor. You must adjust the lap belt to fit snugly and as low as possible around your hips. Do not wear the lap belt around your waist.

Fastening and unfastening occupant safety lap belts

Pull the belt across your hips and insert the tongue into the correct buckle on your seat

until you hear a snap and feel it lock. Make sure the buckle is securely fastened.

If you need to lengthen the belt, unfasten it and tip the belt tongue at a right angle to the belt. Pull the belt tongue over your lap until it reaches the buckle.

If you need to shorten the belt, pull on the loose end of the webbing until the belt fits snugly.

Unfastening the lap belts for the center front and center rear seating positions — end release buckle shown (other buckle similar)

To unfasten the belt, push the release button on the end of the buckle. This allows the tongue to unlatch from the buckle.

RWARNING

The lap belts should fit snugly and as low as possible around the hips, not around the waist.

Safety Belt Extension Assembly

For some people, the safety belt may be too short even when it is fully extended. You can add about eight inches (20 cm) to the belt length with a safety belt extension assembly (part number 611C22). Safety belt extensions are available at no cost from your dealer.

Use only extensions manufactured by the same supplier as the safety belt. Manufacturer identification is located at the end of the webbing on the label. Also, use the safety belt extension only if the safety belt is too short for you when fully extended. Do not use extension to change the fit of the shoulder belt across the torso.

Check the safety belt systems periodically to make sure that they work properly and are not damaged.

RWARNING

Failure to follow these instructions will affect the performance of the safety belts and increase the risk of personal injury.

All safety belt assemblies, including retractors, buckles, front seat belt buckle support assemblies (slide bar) (if equipped), child safety seat tether bracket assemblies (if equipped), and attaching hardware, should be inspected after any collision. Ford recommends that all safety belt assemblies used in vehicles involved in a collision be replaced. However, if the collision was minor and a qualified technician finds that the belts do not show damage and continue to operate properly, they do not need to be replaced. Safety belt assemblies not in use during a collision should also be inspected and replaced if either damage or improper operation is noted.

Cleaning the Safety Belts

Clean the safety belts with any mild soap solution that is recommended for cleaning upholstery or carpets. Do not bleach or dye the belt webbing because this may weaken it.

How to Untwist or Unjam a Safety Belt Retractor

If you should jam the lap belt retractor by allowing the belt to retract when it is twisted, you can free the webbing with this procedure:

1. Pull on the belt with both hands to tighten it on the retractor spool.

2. Feed the belt back into the retractor until it is completely retracted. Repeat previous step if necessary.

3. Pull the belt out of its holder as far as it will go and untwist the belt or remove the object that is jamming the belt. Let the belt retract.

4. Then, pull the belt out and let it retract several times to make sure that the belt works properly.

For Twisted Rear Outboard Combination Lap and Shoulder Safety Belts — Detachable Anchor

Disengage the detachable anchor tongue from the detachable anchor, remove the twist and re-install the detachable anchor tongue end into the detachable anchor until you hear a snap and feel the latch engage.

Procedure to Correct a Twisted Safety Belt at the “D” Ring (if so equipped) Front and/or Rear Outboard Seating Positions

NOTE: The restraint system shown in the

following figures may be different than the restraint system in your vehicle. However, use these figures and this procedure to correct a twisted safety belt at any outboard seating position that has a “D” ring.

1. Grasp the belt webbing at the “D” ring. See Figure 2.

2. Rotate and fold the belt webbing over itself as required to remove the twist.

3. Feed the folded portion of the belt through the “D” ring.

4. When completed, the safety belt should look like Figure 3.

System (SRS)

The driver air bag is a Supplemental Restraint System (SRS), provided in addition to the driver lap/shoulder belt, and is designed to supplement the protection provided to a properly belted driver in moderate to severe frontal collisions. The supplemental air bag system does not provide restraint to the lower body.

The Importance of Wearing Safety Belts

RWARNING

Safety belts must be worn by all vehicle occupants to be properly restrained and help reduce the risk of injury in a collision.

RWARNING

All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, should always wear their safety belts, even when an air bag Supplemental Restraint System is provided.

There are four very important reasons to use safety belts even with an air bag system. Use your safety belts to:

help keep you in the proper position (away

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from the air bag) when it inflates reduce the risk of harm in rollover, side or

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rear impact collisions, because an air bag is not designed to inflate in such situations

reduce the risk of harm in frontal collisions

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that are not severe enough to activate the supplemental air bag

reduce the risk of being thrown from your

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vehicle

The Importance of Being Properly Seated

In a collision, the air bag must inflate extremely fast to help provide additional protection for you. In order to do this, the air bag must inflate with considerable force. If you are not seated in a normal riding position with your back against the seatback, the air bag may not protect you properly and could possibly hurt you as it inflates.

RWARNING

If a passenger is not properly seated and restrained, an inflating air bag could cause serious injury.

RWARNING

Do not place objects or mount equipment on or near the air bag cover on the steering wheel or in front seat areas that may come in contact with a deploying air bag. Failure to follow this instruction may increase the risk of personal injury in the event of a collision.

For further information about the proper mounting of equipment in the front seat of this vehicle, please refer to Ford’s brochure entitled

Some Important Information About Air Bag Supplemental Restraint System which can be

obtained by calling Helm Inc. at 1-800-782-4356. Ask for brochure FPS-8602.

For additional important safety information on the proper use of seat belts, child seats, and infant seats, please read the other sections of this chapter of the Owner Guide, especially sections entitled Safety Belts for Children and Safety Seats

for Children.

How the Air Bag Supplemental Restraint System Operates

The Air Bag Supplemental Restraint System consists of the driver air bag, impact sensor, a system diagnostic module, a readiness light and tone, and the electrical wiring which connects the components.

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