1996 TOYOTA SUPRA check engine

53
If the brake fluid level is low...
At a safe place, test your brakes by start-
ing and stopping.
If you judge that the brakes still work
adequately, drive cautiously to your nearest dealer or shop for repairs.
If the brakes are not working, have the
vehicle towed in for repairs. (For tow-ing information, see Part 4.)
It is dangerous to continue driving
normally when the brake fluid level
is low. CAUTION
!
If the brake fluid level is correct...
Have the warning system checked by
your Toyota dealer.
(c) Seat Belt Reminder Light and Buzzer
Once the ignition key is turned to ONº or
STARTº, the reminder light and buzzer
come on if the driver's seat belt is not fas-tened. Unless the driver fastens the belt,
the light stays on and the buzzer stops af-
ter about 4 to 8 seconds.
(d) Discharge Warning Light
This light warns that the battery is being discharged.
If it comes on while you are driving, there
is a problem somewhere in the charging system. The engine ignition will continue to oper-
ate, however, until the battery is dischar-
ged. Turn off the air conditioning, blower,
radio, etc., and drive directly to the near-
est Toyota dealer or repair shop.
NOTICE
Do not continue driving if the engine drive belt is broken or loose.
(e) Malfunction Indicator Lamp
This lamp comes on in the following cases.
a. The fuel tank is completely empty. (See Fuel gaugeº in Chapter 1-5 for in-structions.)
b. There is a problem somewhere in your
engine or automatic transmission electri- cal system.
If it comes on while you are driving in case
b, have your vehicle checked/repaired by
your Toyota dealer as soon as possible.
(f) Low Fuel Level Warning Light
This light comes on when the fuel level in
the tank becomes nearly empty. Fill up the
tank as soon as possible.
(g) Low Oil Pressure Warning Light
This light warns that the engine oil pres-
sure is too low. If it flickers or stays on while you are driv-
ing, pull off the road to a safe place and
stop the
engine immediately. Call a Toyota
dealer or qualified repair shop for assis- tance.
The light may occasionally flicker when
the engine is idling or it may come on brief-
ly after a hard stop. There is no cause for concern if it then goes out when the en-
gine is accelerated slightly.
The light may come on when the oil level
is extremely low. It is not designed to indi-cate low oil level, and the oil level must be checked using the level dipstick.
NOTICE
Do not drive the vehicle with the warning light onÐeven for one
block. It may ruin the engine.
(h) Low Engine Oil Level Warning Light
The light warns that the engine oil level is
too low. Add oil as soon as possible. (For instructions, see Checking the engine oil
levelº in Chapter 7-2.)
NOTICE
Continued engine operation with low engine oil will damage the
engine.

54(i) ABSº Warning Light
This light warns that there is a problem
somewhere in your anti-lock brake sys-tem.
If the light comes on while you are driving,
have your vehicle checked by your T
oyota
dealer as soon as possible.
The light will come on when the ignition key is turned to the ONº position. After
about 3 seconds, the light will go off. When the ABSº warning light is on (and
the brake system warning light is off), thebrake system operates conventionally but
without anti-lock function.
(j) Open Door Warning Light
This light remains on until both side doors
and back door are completely closed.
(k) Rear Light Failure Warning LightIf this light comes on when the headlight
switch is turned on (at the first or second
clickstop), it indicates that one or more ofthe tail lights are burned out.
If it comes on when the brake pedal is de-
pressed, one or more stop lights are
burned out or the stop light circuit is in
need of repair.
Have defective bulbs replaced as soon as
possible. (l) SRS Airbag Warning Light
This light will come on when the igni-
tion
key is turned to the ACCº or ONº
position. After about 6 seconds, the
light will go off. This means the airbag
system is operating properly.
The warning light system monitors the
front airbag sensors, center airbag sensor
assembly, inflators, warning light, inter-
connecting wiring and power sources.
If either of the following conditions occurs, this indicates a malfunction somewhere in the parts monitored by the warning light
system. Contact your Toyota dealer as
soon as possible to service the vehicle. The light does not come on when the
ignition key is turned to the ACCº or
ONº position or remains on.
The light comes on while driving.
(m) TRAC OFFº Indicator/Warning light
This light comes on when the ignition key
is turned to ONº, and will go off after 3
seconds. This means that the system is
operating properly. If one of the following conditions occurs, this
indicates a malfunction somewhere in
the parts monitored by the warning light
system. Contact your Toyota dealer as
soon as possible to service the vehicle. The light remains on more than 3 sec- onds after the ignition switch is turned on.
The light comes on while driving evenif the TRAC OFFº switch is not pushed.
The light flashes.
(n) Key Reminder Buzzer
This buzzer reminds you to remove the
key when you open the driver's door with the ignition key in the ACCº or LOCKº position.
CHECKING SERVICE REMINDER INDI-
CATORS (except the low fuel level
warning light)
1. Apply the parking brake.
2. Open one of the side doors or the back
door.
The open door warning light should come on.
3. Close the side door.
The open door warning light should go off.
4. Turn the ignition key to ACCº.
The SRS airbag warning light should
come on. It goes off after about 6 sec-onds.
5. Turn the ignition key to ONº, but do not
start the engine.

63
Avoid vehicle speed increases
when driving downhill. If the ve-
hicle speed is too fast in relation to
the cruise control set speed, can-
cel the cruise control then down-
shift the transmission to use en-
gine braking to slow down.
TURNING ON THE SYSTEM
To operate the cruise control, push the
CRUISE ON-OFFº switch. This turns thesystem on. The indicator light in the instru-
ment panel shows that you can now set
the vehicle at a desired cruising speed.Another push will turn the system com-
pletely off.
To avoid accidental cruise control
engagement, keep the CRUISE
ON-OFFº switch off when not using
the cruise control. CAUTION
!
SETTING AT A DESIRED SPEED
On vehicles with automatic transmission,
the transmission must be in Dº before you set the cruise control speed. Bring your vehicle to the desired speed, push the lever down in the SET/COASTº
direction and release it. This sets the ve-
hicle at
that speed. If the speed is not sat-
isfactory, tap the lever up for a faster
speed, or tap it down for a slower speed.
Each tap changes the set speed by 1.6
km/h (1.0 mph). You can now take your
foot off the accelerator pedal.
If you need accelerationÐfor example,
when passingÐdepress the accelerator
pedal enough for the vehicle to exceed the
set speed. When you release it, the ve-
hicle will return to the speed set prior to the
acceleration.For manual transmission:
While driving with the cruise con-
trol on, do not shift to neutral with-
out depressing the clutch pedal, as
this may cause engine racing oroverrevving. CAUTION
!
CANCELLING THE PRESET SPEED
You can cancel the preset speed by:
a. Pulling the control lever in the
CANCELº direction and releasing it.
b. Depressing the brake pedal.
c. Depressing the clutch pedal (manual transmission). If the vehicle speed falls below about 40
km/h (25 mph), the preset speed will auto- matically cancel out.
If the vehicle speed drops 16 km/h (10 mph) below the preset speed, the preset speed will also automatically cancel out.
If the preset speed automatically cancels
out other than for the above cases, have your
vehicle checked by your Toyota deal-
er at the earliest opportunity.
RESETTING AT A FASTER SPEED
Press the control lever upward in the
RES/ACCº direction and hold it. Release
the lever when the desired speed is at- tained. While the lever is held upward, the
vehicle will gradually gain speed.
However, a faster way to reset is to accel-
erate the vehicle and then press the con- trol lever downward in the SET/COASTº direction.
RESETTING AT A SLOWER SPEED Push the control lever downward in the
SET/COASTº direction and hold it. Re-
lease the lever when the desired speed is
attained. While the lever is held down-
ward, the vehicle speed will gradually de- crease.

105
Leave the system on during ordinary
driving so that it can operate when
needed. When traction control is ap-
plied, the slip indicator light blinks. If
your vehicle still skids even though
traction control is applied, more pow-
erful
traction control is applied and the
SNOWº indicator light comes on.
You may hear a slight clicking noise in the
engine compartment when the engine is
started. This means that the traction con-
trol system is in the self-check mode, and
does not indicate malfunction. When the
traction control system is operating, you
may feel vibration of your vehicle, causedby operation of the brakes. This indicates
the system is functioning properly.
When getting the vehicle out of mud or
new snow, etc. the traction control system
will operate to prevent the wheels from
spinning. Even though the accelerator
pedal is fully depressed, the engine speed
will be restrained to a certain level.
MANUAL SNOW OPERATION
You can select the snow mode by
pushing the SNOWº switch. The
SNOWº indicator light will come on.
To select the automatic mode, push
the OFFº switch. The SNOWº indi-cator light will go off. If your vehicle
still skids, the system automatically operates.
MANUAL TRACTION CONTROL OFF
OPERATION
You can turn off the traction control
system by pushing the OFFº switch.
The TRAC OFFº indicator/warning
light will come on. Pushing the OFFº
switch a second time turns on the trac-
tion control system and the TRAC
OFFº indicator/warning light will go off. If the SNOWº indicator light is on,
pushing the OFFº switch once se-lects the automatic mode and pushing
it a second time turns off the traction
control system.

109
The three-way catalytic converter is
an emission control device installed in
the exhaust system.
Its purpose is to reduce pollutants in the exhaust gas.
CAUTION!
Keep people and combustible ma- terials away from the exhaust pipe
while the engine is running. The
exhaust gas is very hot.
Do not drive, idle or park your ve-
hicle over anything that might
burn easily such as grass, leaves, paper or rags.
A large amount of unburned gases
flowing into the three-way catalytic
converter may cause it to overheat and create a fire hazard. To preventthis and other damage, observe the
following precautions:
Use only unleaded gasoline.
Do not drive with an extremely low fuel level; running out of fuel
could cause the engine to mis-fire, creating an excessive load
on the three-way catalytic con-verter.
Do not allow the engine to run atidle speed for more than 20 min-
utes.
NOTICE
Avoid racing the engine.
Do not push-start or pull-start
your vehicle.
Do not turn off the ignition whilethe vehicle is moving.
Keep your engine in good run-
ning order. Malfunctions in theengine electrical system, elec-
tronic ignition system/distributorignition system or fuel systemcould cause an extremely high
three-way catalytic converter
temperature.
If the engine becomes difficult to start or stalls frequently, takeyour vehicle in for a check-up assoon as possible. Remember,
your Toyota dealer knows your
vehicle and its three-way catalyt-ic converter system best.
To ensure that the three-way cat-
alytic converter and the entireemission control system operate
properly, your vehicle must re-
ceive the periodic inspections re-quired by the Toyota Maintenance
Schedule. For scheduled mainte-
nance information, refer to theseparate Owner's Manual Sup-
plement/Maintenance Scheduleº.
Three-way catalytic converters

11 0
CAUTION!
Avoid inhaling the engine exhaust.
It contains carbon monoxide,
which is a colorless and odorless
gas. It can cause unconsciousness
or even death.
Make sure the exhaust system has
no holes or loose connections. The
system should be checked from
time to time. If you hit something,
or notice a change in the sound of
the exhaust, have the system
checked immediately.
Do not run the engine in a garage or
enclosed area except for the time
needed to drive the vehicle in or
out. The exhaust gases cannot es-
cape, making this a particularly
dangerous situation.
Do not remain for a long time in a
parked vehicle with the engine run-
ning. If it is unavoidable, however,
do so only in an unconfined area and adjust the heating or cooling
system to force outside air into the vehicle.
Keep the back door closed while
driving. An open or unsealed back
door may cause exhaust gases to
be drawn into the vehicle. If you
must drive with the back door
open to accommodate a large ob-
ject, close the windows, open all
the instrument panel vents and have the heating or cooling sys- tem deliver fresh air into the ve-
hicle by turning the fan to high
speed with the air intake control
button in the OUTSIDE AIR mode.
To allow proper operation of your
vehicle's ventilation system, keep
the inlet grilles in front of the wind-
shield clear of snow, leaves, or
other obstructions.
If you smell exhaust fumes in the
vehicle, drive with the windows
open and the back door closed.
Have the cause immediately lo-cated and corrected. FUNCTIONS OF ENGINE OIL
Engine oil has the primary functions of lu-
bricating and cooling the inside of the en-
gine,
and plays a major role in maintaining
the engine in proper working order. ENGINE OIL CONSUMPTION
It is normal that an engine should con-
sume some engine oil during normal
engine operation. The causes of oil
consumption in a normal engine are
as follows. Oil is used to lubricate pistons, piston
rings and cylinders. A thin film of oil is left on the cylinder wall when a piston
moves downwards in the cylinder.
High negative pressure generated
when the vehicle is decelerating sucks
some of this oil into the combustion
chamber. This oil as well as some part
of the oil film left on the cylinder wall is
burned by the high temperature com-
bustion gases during the combustionprocess.
Oil is also used to lubricate the stems
of the intake valves. Some of this oil is
sucked into the combustion chamber
together with the intake air and is
burned along with the fuel. High tem- perature exhaust gases also burn the
oil used to lubricate the exhaust valve stems.
Engine exhaust cautions
Facts about engine oil consumption

111
The amount of engine oil consumed
depends on
the viscosity of the oil, the
quality of the oil and the conditions
the vehicle is driven under.
More oil is consumed by high-speed driv-
ing and frequent acceleration and decel- eration.
A new engine consumes more oil, since
its pistons, piston rings and cylinder walls
have not become conditioned.
When judging the amount of oil con-
sumption, note that the oil may be- come diluted and make it difficult to
judge the true level accurately.
As an example, if a vehicle is used for re-
peated short trips, and consumes a nor- mal amount of oil, the dipstick may not
show any drop in the oil level at all, even
after 1000 km (600 miles) or more. This is
because the oil is gradually becoming di-
luted with fuel or moisture, making it ap-
pear that the oil level has not changed.
The diluting ingredients evaporate out
when the vehicle is then driven at high
speeds, as on an expressway, making it appear that oil is excessively consumed
after driving at high speeds. IMPORTANCE OF ENGINE OIL LEVEL CHECK
One of the most important points in proper vehicle maintenance is to keep the engine
oil at the optimum level so that oil function
will
not be impaired. Therefore, it is essen-
tial that the oil level be checked regularly.
Toyota recommends that the oil level be checked every time you refuel the vehicle.
NOTICE
Failure to check the oil level regularly could lead to serious
engine trouble due to insufficientoil.
For detailed information on oil level check,
see Checking the engine oil levelº in Chapter 7-2. TANDEM MASTER CYLINDER BRAKE SYSTEM
The tandem master cylinder brake sys-
tem is a hydraulic system with two sepa-
rate sub-systems. If either sub-system
should fail, the other w
ill still work. Howev-
er, the pedal will be harder to press, and
your stopping distance will be longer.
Also, the brake system warning light may come on.
Do not drive your vehicle with only
a single brake system. Have your
brakes fixed immediately.
CAUTION!
BRAKE BOOSTER
The brake booster uses engine vacuum to
power-assist the brakes. If the engine
should quit while you are driving, you can
bring the vehicle to a stop with normal
pedal pressure. There is enough reservevacuum for one or two stopsÐbut no more!
Do not pump the brake pedal if the
engine stalls. Each push on the
pedal uses up your vacuum re- serve.
CAUTION!
Brake system

11 2
Even if the power assist is com-
pletely lost, the brakes will still
work. But you will have to push the
pedal hardÐmuch harder t han nor-
mal. And your braking distance will
be longer.
ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM
The anti-lock brake system is designed to prevent lock-up of the wheels during sud-
den braking or braking on slippery road surfaces. This assists the driver in con-
trolling the vehicle under these circum-stances.
The anti-lock brake system becomes op- erative after the vehicle has accelerated
to a speed in excess of approximately 10
km/h (6 mph). It stops operating when the
vehicle decelerates to a speed below
approximately 5 km/h (3 mph).
You may hear a sound in the engine
compartment for a few seconds when the
engine is started or just after the vehicle is started. This means that the anti-lock
brake system is in the self check mode,
and does not indicate a malfunction.
When the anti-lock brake system function is in action, you may feel the brake pedal
pulsating and hear a noise. In this situa-
tion, to let the anti-lock brake system work for you, just hold the brake pedal
down more firmly. Do not pump the brake. The brake pedal pulsation caused by the
anti-lock brake system may indicate haz- ardous road surface conditions. Althoughthe anti-lock brake system assists in pro-
viding
vehicle control, it is still important to
drive with all due care, because the anti-
lock brake system cannot overcome the
laws of physics that act on your vehicle: Braking c apability is dependent on tire
friction with the road surface.
Even though the anti-lock brake sys-
tem is operating, a driver cannot main- tain full control on certain slippery road
surfaces, when cornering at highspeeds, or in violent maneuvers.
Avoid high speeds on wet roads. The
anti-lock brake system cannot elimi-
nate the risk of hydroplaning and lossof tire friction.
Always maintain a safe distance from the
vehicle in front of you. Compared with ve-
hicles not fitted with an anti-lock brake
system, your vehicle may require a longer
stopping distance in the following cases: Driving on rough, gravel or snow-cov-
ered roads.
Driving with tire chains installed.
Driving on roads where the road sur-
face is pitted or has other differences in surface height.
ABSº warning light
This light comes on when the ignition key is turned to the ONº position. After about
3 seconds, the light will go off.
If either of the following conditions occurs, this indicates a malfunction somewhere inthe parts monitored by the warning light
system. Contact your Toyota dealer as
soon as possible to service the vehicle. The light does not come on as de-
scribed above, or remains on.
The light comes on while driving.