1997 TOYOTA RAV4 battery

Part 1Headlights and turn signals
63
OPERATION OF INSTRUMENTS ANDCONTROLSÐ
Chapter 1-4
Lights, Wipers and Defogger
Headlights and turn signals
Emergency flashers
Instrument panel light control
Interior light
Personal lights
Windshield wipers and washer
Rear window wiper and washer
Rear window defogger
HEADLIGHTS
To turn on the following lights: Twist
the headlight/turn signal lever knob. Position 1ÐParking, tail, license plate,
side marker and instrument panel lights Position 2ÐHeadlights and all of the above
If you remove the key with the headlights
left on, a buzzer reminds you to turn the
lights off
when you open the driver's door.
NOTICE
To prevent the battery from being discharged, do not leave the lights
on for a long period when theengine is not running.
Daytime running light system (Canada only)
The headlights turn on when the parking brake is released with the engine started,
even with the light switch in the OFFº position. They will not go off until the igni-
tion switch is turned off.
To turn on the other exterior lights and in-
strument panel lights, twist the knob to the
position 1.
Under the daytime running light system,
the headlights turn on at reduced intensi-
ty. Twist the knob to the position 2 to turn
to full intensity for driving at night.

65
NOTICE
To prevent the battery from being discharged, do not leave the lights
on for a long period when the engine is not running.
To adjust the brightness of the instru-
ment panel lights, turn the knob.To turn on the interior light, slide the switch.
The interior light has the following posi- tion:
ONºÐKeeps the light on all the time.
OFFºÐTurns the light off.DOORºÐ
2-door models: Turns the light on when the back door is opened. The light goes
off when the back door is closed.
4-door models: Turns the light on when either rear door or back door is opened.
The light goes off when both rear doors
and back door are closed.
Instrument panel light control
Interior light

68
To defog or defrost the rear window,
push the switch. The key must be in the ONº position.
The thin heater wires on the inside of the rear window will quickly clear the surface. An indicator light will illuminate to indicatethe defogger is operating. Push the switch once again to turn the de-
fogger off.
Make sure you turn the defogger off when
the window is clear. Leaving the defogger
on for a long time could cause the battery
to discharge, especially during stop-and-
go driving. The defogger is not designed
for drying rain water or for melting snow.
NOTICE
To prevent the battery from being
discharged, turn the switch on
when the engine is running.
When cleaning the inside of the
rear window, be careful not to
scratch or damage the heaterwires.
Rear window defogger

72
(a) Brake System Warning Light This light has the following functions: Parking brake reminder
If this light is on, make sure the parking
brake is fully released. The light should go
off.
Low brake fluid level warning
If this light comes on and stays on while
you are driving, slowdown and pull off the
road. Then stop the vehicle carefully.There maybe a problem somewhere in
the brake system. check the fluid level of
the see-through reservoir.
To make sure the parking brake has not
caused the warning light to come on,
check to see that the parking brake is fully
released.
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 yournearest 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. (b) 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.
(c) 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 dis-
charged. Turn off the air conditioning,
blower, ra dio, ect., and drive directly to the
nearest Toyota dealer or repair shop.

Part 1Ignition switch with steering lock
75
OPERATION OF INSTRUMENTS ANDCONTROLSÐ
Chapter 1-6 Ignition switch,
Transmission and Parking brake
Ignition swi
tch with steering lock
Automatic transmission
Manual transmission
Center differential lock system
Parking brake
Cruise control
Startº - Starter motor on. The key will
return to the ONº position when re- leased.
For starting tips, see Part 3.
ONº - Engine on and all accessories on. This is the normal driving position. ACCº - Accessories such as the ra-
dio operate, but the engine is off.
If you leave the key in the ACCº or
LOCKº position and open the driver's
door, a buzzer will remind you to remove
the key. LOCKº - Engine is off and the steer-
ing wheel is locked. The key can be re-
moved only at this position. You must push in the key to turn the key
from ACCº to the LOCKº position. On
vehicles with an automatic transmission,
the selector lever must be in the Pº posi-
tion before pushing the key. When starting the engine, the key may
seem stuck at the LOCKº position. To
free it, first be sure the key is pushed all
the way in, and then rock the steering
wheel slightly
while turning the key gently.For manual transmission: Never remove the key when the ve-
hicle is moving, as this will lock the
steering wheel and result in loss ofsteering control. CAUTION
!
NOTICE
Do not leave the key in the ONº position if the engine is not running.
The battery will discharge and the ignition could be damaged.

901 2 3 4 5 6 (Preset buttons)
These buttons are useed to preset and tune in radio stations.
To preset a station to a button: Tune in the
desired station (see TUNEº). Push and
hold down the button until you hear a
beep-this
will set the station to the button.
The button number will appear on the dis-
play.
To tune in to a preset station: Push the
button for the station you want. The button
number and station frequency will appear
on the display.
These systems can store one AM and one
FM station for each button. The preset
station memeory will be canceled out if
the power source is interrupted (battery
disconnected or fuse blown). AM V FM
Push AM V FMº to switch between the AM
and FM brands. AMº or FMº will appear
on the display.
If the audio system is off, you can turn on the radio by pushing AM V FMº.
BAL (Balance)
This knob lets you adjust the balance be- tween the right and left speakers. PushBAL/FADEº so
that it pops out of its
retracted position. Turn the knob to adjust
the balance. Push the knob back into its
retracted position. BASS This knob lets you adjust the bass level. Push BASS/TREBº so that it pops out of
its retracted position. Turn the knob to ad-
just the bass. Push the knob back into its
retracted position.
FADE
This knob lets you adjust the balance be- tween the front and rear speakers. Push BAL/F ADEº so that it pops out of its
retracted position. Pull out the knob. Turn
the knob to adjust the front/rear balance.Push the knob back into its retracted posi-
tion.
PWR V VOL (Power V Volume)
Push PWR V VOLº to turn the audio sys-
tem on and off. Turn the PWR V VOLº
knob to adjust the volume.SCAN When you push SCANº, the radio finds
the next station up the station band, plays
it for 5 seconds, and then scans again. To select a station, push SCANº a second time.
ST (Stereo reception) display
Your radio automatically changes to re-
ception when a stereo broadcast is re- ceived.
STº appears on the display. If the
signal becomes weak, the radio reduces
the amount of channel separation to pre- vent the weak signal from creating noise.
If the signal becomes extremely weak, the
radio switches from stereo to mono recep- tion.
TREB (Treble)
This knob lets you adjust treble level. Push BASS/TREBº so that it pops out of
its retracted position. Pull out the knob.
Turn the knob to adjust the treble. Push the knob back into its retracted position. TUNE
Tuning
Your Toyota has an electronic tuning radio (ETR). Push and release the  ~º (up) or  !º
(down) side of TUNEº to step up or down
the station band. If you hear a beep, you
held the button too long and the radio will
go into the seek mode.

93
1 2 3 4 5 6 (Press buttons)
These buttons are used to preset and tune in radio stations.
To preset a station to a button: Tune in the
desired station (see TUNEº). Push and
hold down the button until you hear a
beep-this
will set the station to the button.
The button number will appear on the dis-
play.
To tune in to a preset station: Push the
button for the station you want. The button
number and station frequency will appear
on the display.
These systems can store one AM and one
FM station for each button. The preset
station memory will be canceled out if the
power source is interrupted (battery dis-
connected or fuse blown).
(Eject Button)
Push this button to eject a cassette.
After you turn the ignition to LOCKº, you
will be able to eject a cassette but you will
not be able to reinsert it. AM V FM
Push AM V FMº to switch between the AM
and FM bands. AMº or FMº will appear
on the display. If the audio system is off, you can turn onthe radio by pushing AM
V FMº. Also,
push the AM V FMº button to switch from
cassette operation to radio operation. BAL (Balance)
This knob lets you adjust the balance be- tween the right and left speakers.
Pull out PWR/VOL/BALº. Turn the knob
to adjust the balance. Push the knob backinto its normal position. BASS This knob lets you adjust the bass level. Push BASS/TREBº so that it pops out of
its retracted position. Turn the knob to ad-
just the bass. Push the knob back into its
retracted position. Dolby )
NR*
If you are listening to a tape that was re-
corded with Dolby )
Noise Reduction,
push the button marked with the
double-D symbol. The double-D symbol
will appear on the display. Push the button
again to turn off Dolby )
NR.
The Dolby NR mode reduces tape noise
by about 10 dB. For best sound reproduc- tion, play your tapes with this button on or off according to the mode used for record-
ing the tape.
*: Dolby noise reduction manufactured under license from Dolby Lab-
oratories Licensing Corporation. DOLBYº and the double D symbol
are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation.
FADE
Move the FADEº ring around PWR/
VOLº to adjust the front/rear balance. MTL (Metal) display
If a metal or chrome equivalent cassette
tape is put in the cassette player, the play-
er will automatically adapt to it and MTLº
will appear on the display. PROG (Program)
Push PROGº to select the other side of
a cassette tape. The display indicates
which side is currently selected (  ~º indi-
cates top side, !º indicates bottom side).
Auto-reverse featureÐAfter the cassette
player reaches the end of a tape side, it automatically reverses and begins to play
the other side. This is true whether the
cassette was playing or fast forwarding.

122
The driver and all passengers
should fasten their seat belts when-
ever the vehicle is moving.
NOTICE
If driving through water, such as
when crossing shallow streams,
first check the depth of the water
and the bottom of the river bed forfirmness. Drive slowly and avoid
deep water.
Take all necessary safety measuresto ensure that water damage to the
engine or other components does
not occur.Water entering the engine air in-
take will cause severe engine dam-age.Water can wash the grease from
wheel bearings, causing rusting and premature failure, and mayalso enter the differentials, trans-
mission and transfer case, reduc-ing the gear oil's lubricating quali-ties.
Sand and mud that has accumu-lated in brake drums and around
brake discs may affect braking ef-
ficiency and may damage brakesystem components.
Always perform a maintenance in-
spection after each day of off- road driving that has taken you
through rough terrain, sand, mud,
or water. For scheduled mainte-nance information, refer to the
separate Owner's Manual Sup- plement/Maintenance Scheduleº.
Make sure you have ethylene-glycol
antifreeze in the radiator.
Do not use alcohol type antifreeze.
NOTICE
Check the condition of the battery and cables. Cold temperatures reduce the capacity of
any battery, so it must be in top shape to provide enough power for winter starting. Chapter 7-3 tells you how to visually in-
spect the battery. Your Toyota dealer and
most service stations will be pleased to check the level of charge.
Make sure the engine oil viscosity is
suitable for the cold weather.
See Chapter 7-2 for recommended vis-
cosity. Leaving a heavy summer oil in your
vehicle during winter months may cause
harder starting. If you are not sure about
which oil to use, call your Toyota dealer- he will be pleased to help. Keep the door locks from freezing. Squirt lock de-icer or glycerine into the
locks to keep them from freezing. To open
a frozen lock, try heating the key before in-serting it.
Winter driving tips