1997 TOYOTA RAV4 Owners Manual

79
NOTICE
Do not hold the vehicle on an upgrade with the accelerator pedal.
It can cause the transmission tooverheat. Always use the brake pedal or parking brake.
(g) Rocking your vehicle if stuck
To rock you vehicle if it becomes
stuck in snow, mud, sand, etc., first check that there are no objects or
people around the vehicle. During
the rocking operation the vehicle
may suddenly move forward or
backward as it becomes unstuck,
causing injury or damage to nearby
people or objects. CAUTION
!
NOTICE
If you rock your vehicle, observe the following precautions to prevent
damage to the transmission andother parts.
Do not depress the acceleratorpedal while shifting the selectorlever or before the transmission is
completely shifted to forward or reverse gear.
Do not race the engine and avoid
spinning the wheels.
If your vehicle remains stuck afterrocking the vehicle several times,
consider other ways such as tow-ing.
(h) Driving in POWERº mode In the POWERº mode, the transmission
is shifted up and down at a higher vehicle
speed than in the NORMALº mode and a
more powerful acceleration is achieved.
To set the POWERº mode, push in the
driving pattern selector button. The
POWERº mode indicator light comes on.
For ordinary driving, Toyota recommends
using the NORMALº mode to improve
fuel economy.
(i) If you cannot shift the selector lever
out of Pº position
If you cannot shift the selector lever from the Pº position even though the brake
pedal is depressed, use the shift lock
override button. For instructions, see If you cannot shift automatic transmission selector leverº in Part 4.

80
The shift pattern is as shown above.
Press the clutch pedal down fully while
shifting, and then release it slowly. Do not
rest your foot on the pedal while driving, because it will cause clutch trouble. And do not use the clutch to hold the vehicle
when stopped on an uphill grade-use the
parking brake. Recommended shifting speeds
The transmission is fully synchronized
and upshifting or downshifting is easy.
For the best compromise between fuel
economy and vehicle performance, you
should upshift or downshift at the follow-
ing speeds: gear km/h (mph)
1 to 2 or 2 to 1 24 (15)
2 to 3 or 3 to 2 41 (25)
3 to 4 or 4 to 3 65 (40)
4 to 5 or 5 to 4 72 (45)
Downshift to the appropriate gear if accel-
eration is needed when you are cruising
below the above downshifting speeds.
Upshifting too soon or downshifting too late will cause lugging and, possibly, ping-
ing. Regularly revving the engine to maxi-
mum speed in each gear will cause exces-sive engine wear and high fuel consump- tion.
Maximum allowable speeds
To get on a highway or to pass slower traf- fic, maximum acceleration may be neces-
sary. Make sure you observe the following
maximum allowable speeds in each gear:
Two-wheel drive models
gear km/h (mph)
1 47 (29)
2 95 (59)
3 144 (89)
4 198 (114) Four-wheel drive models 215/60R16 tires
gear km/h (mph)
1 44 (27)
2 88 (53)
3 133 (83)
4 183 (114)
235/60R16 tires
gear km/h (mph)
1 43 (26)
2 86 (53)
3 121 (75)
4 165 (102)
NOTICE
Do not downshift if you are going faster than the maximum allowable
speed for the next lower gear.
Good driving practice If it is difficult to shift into reverse, put
the transmission in neutral, release
the clutch pedal momentarily, and then
try again.
Manual transmission

81

When towing a trailer, in order to main-
tain engine braking efficiency, do not
use the fifth gear.
Be careful when downshifting on a
slippery surface. Abrupt shifting
could cause the vehicle to spin orskid. CAUTION
!
NOTICE
Make sure the vehicle is completely stopped before shifting into
reverse.
The center differential lock system is pro-
vided for use only when the vehicle does not have enough traction to move itself out of the following situations. All front wheels or rear wheels are off the ground or on a slippery surface.
One of the four wheels is off the ground or on a slippery surface.
Operating precautions If the front wheels and rear wheels are
worn unevenly, the center differential
may not lock or unlock smoothly.
Before locking the center differential,
make sure the wheels have stopped spinning.
Unlock the center differential immedi-
ately after you finish using the center
differential lock system. An indicatorbuzzer will sound while the center dif-ferential is being unlocked.
After you have pushed the center dif-ferential lock switch to lock and moved
the vehicle a short distance, the indi-
cator light in the instrument panel
stays on. If the light either fails to come
on or goes out, ask your Toyota dealer
to check the electrical system and the
locking mechanism.
The center differential must be un- locked in normal driving. Locking the center differential will result in
difficult cornering control. CAUTION
!
NOTICE
Do not drive on a dry paved surface with the center differential locked.
This may damage the lockingmechanism and the drive system.
Center differential lock system (four-wheel drive models with manual transmission)

82
To lock the center differential:
1. Press the brake pedal and stop thewheel spinning.
2. Put the front wheels in as straight- ahead position as possible.
3. Push the center differential lock switch
and check that the indicator light in the
instrument panel comes on.To unlock the center differential:
1. Put the front wheels in as straight- ahead a position as possible.
2. Push the center differential lock switch
once again and check that the indica-
tor light in the instrument panel goes
out and that the indicator buzzer stops sounding.
The indicator buzzer will sound while the
center differential is being unlocked. It
stops sounding when unlocking is com- pleted.
Sometimes complete unlocking of the
center differential may take longer. If unlocking of the center differential is notcompleted, check
the area around you for
safety, then accelerate or decelerate, or move the vehicle backward.
NOTICE
While the indicator buzzer is sounding, do not make turns, and
do not put the vehicle into a garage.This may damage the locking mechanism and the drive system.

83
Type A
Type BWhen parking, firmly apply the park-
ing brake to avoid inadvertent creep- ing.
To set: Pull up the lever. For better holding
power, first depress the brake pedal and
hold it while setting the brake.
To release: Pull up the lever slightly, press
the thumb button, and lower.
To remind you that the parking brake is
set,
the parking brake reminder light in the
instrument panel remains on until you re- lease the parking brake.
Before driving, be sure the parking brake is fully released and the park-
ing brake reminder light is off. CAUTION
! The cruise control allows you to cruise
the vehicle at a desired speed over 40 km/h (25 mph) even with your foot offthe accelerator pedal.
Your cruising speed can be maintained up
or down grades within the limits of engine
performance, although a slight speed
change may occur when driving up or
down the grades. On steeper hills, a greater speed change will occur so it is
better to drive without the cruise control.
To help maintain maximum con-
trol of your vehicle, do not use the
cruise control when driving in heavy or varying traffic, or in slip-
pery (rainy, icy or snow-covered)
or winding roads.
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. CAUTION
!
Parking brake
Cruise control

84
TURNING ON THE SYSTEM
To operate the cruise control, push the
CRUISE ON-OFFº switch. This turns the system 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 beforeyou 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 acceleration Ð for 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 control
on, do not shift to neutral without
depressing the clutch pedal, as this
may cause engine racing or overrev-ing. CAUTION
!
CANCELLING THE PRESET SPEED
You can cancel the preset speed by:
a. Pulling the lever in the CANCELº di- rection 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.

85
If the preset speed automatically cancels
out other than for the above cases or, if the
indicator light flashes several times, the
cruise control may be malfunctioning. In such
cases, have your vehicle checked by
your Toyota dealer at the earliest opportu-
nity.
RESETTING AT A FASTER SPEED Push the lever up in the RES/ACCº direc-
tion and hold it. Release the lever when
the desired speed is attained. While the
lever is held up, the vehicle will graduallygain speed.
However, a faster way to reset is to accel-
erate the vehicle and then push the lever down in the SET/COASTº direction.
RESETTING AT A SLOWER SPEED Push the lever down in the SET/COASTº
direction and hold it. Release the lever
when the desired speed is attained. While
the lever is held down, the vehicle speedwill gradually decrease.
However, a faster way to reset is to de- press the brake pedal and then push the
lever down in the SET/COASTº direction.
On vehicles with automatic transmission,
even if you turn off the overdrive switchwith the cruise control on, engine braking will
not be applied because the cruise con-
trol is not cancelled. To decrease the ve-
hicle speed, reset to a slower speed with
the cruise control lever or depress the brake pedal. If you use the brake pedal, cruise control is cancelled. RESUMING THE PRESET SPEED
If the preset speed is cancelled by pulling
the control lever or by depressing the
brake pedal or clutch pedal, pushing the
lever up in the RES/ACCº direction will
restore the speed set prior to cancellation.
However, once the vehicle speed falls be-
low about 40 km/h (25 mph), the preset
speed will not be resumed.
CRUISE CONTROL FAILURE WARN- ING
If the CRUISEº indicator light in the in-
strument cluster flashes when using the
cruise control, press the CRUISE ON-
OFFº button to turn the system off and then press it again to turn it on. If any of the following conditions then oc-
curs, there is some trouble in the cruise control system.
The indicator light does not come on.
The indicator light flashes again.
The indicator light goes out after it
comes on.
If this is the case, contact your Toyota
dealer and have your vehicle inspected.

Part 1Car audio systemÐ ÐReference
87
OPERATION OF INSTRUMENTS ANDCONTROLSÐ
Chapter 1-7 Car audio system and Air conditioning system
Car audio system
Reference
Using your audio system: some basics
Using your audio system: controls and features
Car audio system operating hints
Air conditioning system
Controls
Air flow selector settings
Operating tips
Instrument panel vents
Type 1: AM´FM ETR radio
Type 2: AM
VFM ETR radio/cassette
player