1997 TOYOTA RAV4 ESP

Part 5Protecting your Toyota from corrosion
149
CORROSION
PREVENTION ANDAPPEARANCECARE
Protecting your Toyota from corrosion
Washing and waxing your
Toyota
Cleaning the interior
Toyota, through its diligent research, de-
sign and use of the most advanced
technology available, has done its part to
help prevent corrosion and has provided you with the finest quality vehicle
construction. Now, it is up to you. Proper
care of
your Toyota can help ensure long-
term corrosion prevention.
The most common causes of corro-
sion to your vehicle are: The accumulation of road salt, dirt and
moisture in hard-to-reach areas un- der the vehicle.
Chipping of paint, or undercoating
caused by minor accidents or by
stones and gravel.
Care is especially important if you live
in particular areas or operate your ve-
hicle under certain environmentalconditions: Road salt or dust control chemicals will
accelerate corrosion, as will the pres-
ence of salt in the air near the sea-
coast or in areas of industrial pollution.
High humidity accelerates corrosion
especially when temperatures rangejust above the freezing point.
Wetness or dampness to certain parts
of your vehicle for an extended period
of time, may cause corrosion even
though other parts of the vehicle may
be dry.
High temperatures will cause corro-
sion to those components of the ve-
hicle which are prevented from quick-
drying due to lack of proper ventilation.
The above signifies the necessity to keep
your vehicle, particularly the underside,
as clean as possible and to repair any
damage to paint or protective coatings as
soon as possible.
To help prevent corrosion on your To-
yota, follow these guidelines:
Wash your vehicle frequently: It is, of
course, necessary to keep your vehicle
clean by regular washing, but to prevent corrosion, the following points should beobserved: If you drive on salted roads in the win-
ter or if you live near the ocean, you
should hose off the undercarriage atleast once a month to minimize corro- sion.

151
1. Rinse off loose dirt with a hose. Re-
move any mud or road salt from the
underside of the vehicle or in the wheel
wells.
2. Wash with a mild car-wash soap, mixed according to the manufacturer's
instructions. Use a soft cotton mit and
keep it wet by dipping it frequently into
the wash water. Do not rub hardÐlet the soap and water remove the dirt.
Aluminum wheels: Use only a mild soap or
neutral detergent.
Plastic bumpers: Wash carefully. Do not scrub w ith abrasive cleaners. The bumper
faces are soft.
Road tar: Remove with turpentine or
cleaners that are marked safe for painted surfaces.
Do not use gasoline or strong sol-
vents, which may be toxic or cause
damage.
NOTICE
3. Rinse thoroughlyÐdried soap can cause streaking. In hot weather you
may need to rinse each section right
after you wash it. 4. To prevent water spots, dry the vehicle
using a cl ean soft cotton towel. Do not
rub or press hardÐyou might scratchthe paint.
Automatic car wash
Your vehicle may be washed in an auto-
matic car wash, but remember that the
paint can be scratched by some type of
brushes, unfiltered washing water, or the
washing process itself. Scratching re- duces paint durability and gloss, especial-
ly on darker colors. The manager of the car wash should be able to advise you whether the process is safe for the paint
on your vehicle.
To prevent damage to the antenna,
make sure it is retracted before driv-
ing your Toyota through an auto-matic car wash.
NOTICE
Waxing your Toyota
Polishing and waxing is recommend-
ed to maintain the original beauty of
your Toyota's finish.
Once a month or if the vehicle does not re-
pel water well, apply wax. 1. Always wash and dry the vehicle be-
fore you begin waxing, even if you are
using a combined cleaner and wax.
2. Use a good quality polish and wax. If the finish has become extremely
weathered, use a car-cleaning polish,
followed by a separate wax. Carefully
follow the manufacturer's instructions
and precautions. Be sure to polish and
wax the chrome trim as well as the paint.
3. Wax the vehicle again when water does not bead but remains on the sur-
face in large patches.
Always remove the plastic bumpers
if your vehicle is re-painted and
placed in a high heat paint waxingbooth. High temperatures could damage the bumpers.
NOTICE

Part 6Maintenance requirements
155
VEHICLE MAINTENANCEAND CARE
Maintenance requirements
General maintenance
Does your vehicle need repairing?
For scheduled maintenance infor-
mation, please refer to the sep-
arate Owner's Manual Sup-
plement/Maintenance Scheduleº.
Your Toyota vehicle has been designed to
for fewer maintenance requirements with longer service intervals to save both your
time and money. However, each regular
maintenance, as well as day-to-day
care, is more important than ever before
to ensure smooth, and trouble-free, safe,
and economical drivings.
It is the owner's responsibility to make sure
the specified maintenance, including
general maintenance service, is per-
formed. Note that both the new vehicle
and emission control system warranties
specify that proper maintenance and care
must be performed. See Owner's Guide,
Owner 's Manual Supplement or W arranty
Booklet for complete warranty informa- tion.
General maintenance General maintenance items are those
day-to-day care practices that are impor-
tant to your vehicle for proper operation.
It is the owner's responsibility to ensure
that the general maintenance items are
performed regularly.
These checks or inspections can be done
either by yourself or a qualified technician,
or if you prefer, your Toyota dealer will be
pleased to do them at a nominal cost. Scheduled maintenance
The scheduled maintenance items listed
in the Owner's Manual Supplementº arethose
required to be serviced at regular in-
tervals.
For details of your maintenance Sched-
ule, read the separate ºOwner's Manual
Supplement/Maintenance Scheduleº.
It is recommended that any replace-
ment parts used for maintenance or
for the repair of the emission control
system be Toyota supplied.
The owner may elect to use non-Toyo- ta supplied parts for replacement
purposes without invalidating the
emission control system warranty.
However, use of replacement parts
which are not of equivalent quality
may impair the effectiveness of the
emission control systems.
You may also elect to have mainte-
nance, replacement, or repair of the
emission control devices and system
performed by any automotive repair
establishment or individual without
invalidating this warranty. See Own-
er's Guide, Owner's Manual Supple-
ment or Warranty Booklet for complete
warranty information.

164
If you perform maintenance by your-
self, be sure to follow the correct pro- cedure given in this part.
You should be aware that improper or in- complete servicing may result in operat-
ing problems.
Performing do-it-yourself maintenance
during the warranty period may affect
your warranty coverage. Read the sepa-
rate Toyota Warranty statement for details
and suggestions.
This part gives instructions only for those
items that are relatively easy for an owner
to perform. As explained in Part 6, there
are still a number of items that must be
done by a qualified technician with special
tools.
For information on tools and parts for do-
it-yourself maintenance, see Parts andtoolsº.
Utmost care should be taken when work-
ing on your vehicle to prevent accidental
injury. Here are a few precautions that
you should be especially careful to ob- serve:
When the engine is running, keep
hands, clothing, and tools away
from the moving fan and engine
drive belts. (Removing rings,
watches, and ties is advisable.)
Right after driving, the engine
compartmentÐthe engine, radia-
tor, exhaust manifold, power
steering fluid reservoir and spark
plug boots, etc.Ðwill be hot. So
be careful not to touch them. Oil,
fluids and spark plugs may also be
hot.
If the engine is hot, do not remove
the radiator cap or loosen the
drain plugs to prevent burning yourself.
Do not smoke, cause sparks or al-
low open flames around fuel or the
battery. Their fumes are flamable.
Be extremely cautious when work-
ing on the battery. It contains poi-
sonous and corrosive sulfuric acid.
Do not get under your vehicle with
just the body jack supporting it.
Always use automotive jack
stands or other solid supports. CAUTION
!
Do-it-yourself service precautions

200
Instrument panel
19 DEF-I/UP 7.5A: Multiport fuel injec-
tion system/sequential multiport fuel in-
jection system
20 IGN 7.5A: Multiport fuel injection sys-
tem/sequential multiport fuel injection
system, discharge warning light
21 ECU-IG, 7.5A: Anti-lock brake sys-
tem, electronically controlled automatic transmission system
22 WIPER 20A: Windshield wipers and
washer, rear wiper and washer23 SRS 7.5A: SRS airbag system
24 OBD 7.5A: On-board diagnosis sys-
tem
25 STOP 10A: Stop lightsInstrument panel
26 A/C 7.5A: Air conditioning system
Fuses (type B)
27 MAIN No. 1 30A: Starting system,
headlights
28 RDI FAN 30A: Electric cooling fan
29 CDS FAN 30A: Electric cooling fan
30 POWER 30A: Power windows, power
door lock system 31 DEF 30A: Rear window defogger
32 AM1 40A: CIG & RADº, WIPERº,
GAUGEº, ECU-IGº, TURNº and TAILº fusesPassenger 's side kick panel Fuses (type C)
33 Main 80A: AM2º, HAZ-HORNº,
EFIº, DOMEº, RADIOº and ALT-Sº fuses
34 ALT 100A: Tail lights, ABSº, RADIOº,
HTRº, AM1º, POWERº, STOPº and
DEFº fuses 35 HTR 50A: Air conditioning system
36 ABS 60A: Anti-lock brake system

202This
information has been prepared in ac-
cordance with regulations issued by the
National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis-
tration of the U.S. Department of Trans-
portation. It provides the purchasers and/
or prospective purchasers of Toyota
vehicles with information on uniform tire
quality grading.
Your Toyota dealer will help answer any
questions you may have as you read this information.
DOT quality gradesÐAll passenger
vehicle tires must conform to Federal
Safety Requirements in addition tothese grades. These quality grades are
molded on the sidewall.
Treadwear ÐThe treadwear grade is a
comparative rating based on the wear
rate of the tire when tested under con-
trolled conditions on a specified govern-
ment test course. For example, a tire
graded 150 would wear one and a half
(1-1/2) times as well on the government course as a tire graded 100. The relative
performance of tires depends upon the
actual conditions of their use, however,
and may depart significantly from the norm due to variations in driving habits,
service practices and differences in road characteristics and climate. Traction A, B, C
ÐThe traction grades,
from highest to lowest, are A, B, and C,
and they represent the tire's ability to stop
on wet pavement as measured under
controlled conditions on specified govern-
ment test surfaces of asphalt and con-
crete. A tire marked C may have poor trac-
tion performance.
Warning: The traction grade assigned to this tire is based on braking (straight
ahead) traction tests and does not include
cornering (turning) traction.
Temperature A, B, C ÐThe temperature
grades are A (the highest), B, and C, rep-
resenting the tire's resistance to the gen-
eration of heat and its ability to dissipate heat when tested under controlled condi-tions on a specific indoor laboratory test
wheel. Sustained high temperature can
cause the material of the tire to degener- ate and reduce tire life, and excessive
temperature can lead to sudden tire fail-
ure. The grade C corresponds to a level of
performance which all passenger car tires
must meet under the Federal Motor Ve-
hicle Safety Standard No. 109. Grades B
and A represent higher levels of perfor- mance on the laboratory test wheel than
the minimum required by law. Warning: The temperature grades for this tire
are established for a tire that is proper-
ly inflated and not overloaded. Excessivespeed, underinflation, or excessive load- ing, either separately or in combination,can cause heat buildup and possible tire failure.
Uniform tire quality grading