1997 TOYOTA RAV4 cruise control

3
1. Instrument panel light control knob
2. Headlight and turn signal switch
3. Wiper and washer switch
4. Clock
5. Center differential lock button or
driving pattern selector buton
6. Air conditioning controls
7. Emergency flasher switch
8. Rear window defogger switch
9. Car audio
10. Cigarette lighter 11. Ignition switch
12. Cruise control switch
13. Tilt steering lock release lever
14. Power rear view mirror control switch

6
Driving pattern indicator light
Center differential lock indicator light Cruise control indicator light *2
*1
: For details, see Service reminder indicators and warning
buzzersº in Chapter 1-5.
* 2
: If this light flashes, see Cruise controlº in Chapter 1-6.

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.

76Automatic transmission
Vehicles with cruise control - When the cruise control is being used, even if you downshift the transmission by turning off the
overdrive switch, engine braking will not be applied because the cruise control is not cancelled. For ways to decrease the vehicle
speed, see Cruise controlº in this chapter.

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.