1997 TOYOTA TACOMA brake

78
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.
(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 lever. For instructions, see If you
cannot shift automatic transmission se- lector leverº in Part 4.
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: 2RZ-FE engine Low altitude Ð1219 m (4000 ft) or lower
gear km/h (mph)
1 to 2 or 2 to 1 24 (15)
2 to 3 or 3 to 2 40 (25)
3 to 4 or 4 to 3 64 (40)
4 to 5 or 5 to 4 72 (45)
High altitude
ÐHigher than 1219 m (4000 ft) Upshifting
gear km/h (mph)
1 to 2 24 (15)
2 to 3 40 (25)/58 (36)*
3 to 4 64 (40)/72 (45)*
4 to 5 72 (45)/85 (53)*
Downshifting gear km/h (mph)
2 to 1 25 (15)
3 to 2 40 (25)
4 to 3 64 (40)
5 to 4 72 (45)
*: Applicable under heavy acceleration
conditions.
Manual transmission

84If the indicator light does not go off when you shift the transfer into H2º, drive
straight ahead while accelerating or de-celerating, or drive in reverse. With A.D.D.
To shift from H2º to H4º
, reduce your
speed to less than 80 km/h (50 mph) and
move the front drive control lever.
If you have trouble shifting in cold weath-
er, reduce your speed or stop the vehicle and reshift.
Never move the front drive control
lever if wh eels are slipping. Stop the
slipping or spinning before shifting. CAUTION
!
To shift from H4º to H2º , simply move
the front drive control lever. This can be done at any vehicle speed.
If the indicator light does not go off when you shift the transfer into H2º, drive
straight ahead while accelerating or de- celerating, or drive in reverse. SHIFTING BETWEEN H4º AND L4º
To shift between H4º and L4º
, stop
the vehicle and put the transmission in
Nº. With your foot holding down the brake
pedal, move the front drive control lever. SHIFTING BETWEEN H2º AND H4º
To shift from H2º to H4º
, reduce your
speed to less than 100 km/h (62 mph) and
push in the 4WDº button. You need not depress the clutch pedal.
If the indicator light does not come on
when you push in the 4WDº button, drive
straight ahead while accelerating or de-celerating.
If the indicator light flashes and the buzzer
sounds when you push in the 4WDº but-
ton, reduce your speed or stop the vehicle
and reset.
Never push the 4WDº button if
wheels are slipping. Stop the
slipping or spinning before shifting. CAUTION
!
(d) Shifting procedure (lever/button type withmanual transmission)

86To shift from H4º to H2º
, push the
4WDº button again to turn it off. This can be done at any vehicle speed.
If the indicator light does not go off when you shift the transfer into H2º, drive
straight ahead while accelerating or de-celerating, or drive in reverse. SHIFTING BETWEEN H2º OR H4º AND L4º
To shift from H2º or H4º to L4º
, stop
the vehicle and put the transmission in
Nº. With your foot holding down the brake
pedal, move the front drive control lever.
To shift from L4º to H2º or H4º , stop
the vehicle and put the transmission in
Nº. With your foot holding down the brake pedal, move the front drive control
lever. When the 4WDº button is pushed in, the transfer shifts into H4º; when the button is left out, the transfer shifts intoH2º.
If the indicator light does not go off when you shift the transfer into H2º, drive
straight ahead while accelerating or de- celerating, or drive in reverse.
The rear differential lock system is
provided for use only when wheel
spinning occurs in a ditch or on a slip-
pery or ragged surface.
This differential lock system is effective in case one of the rear wheels is spinning.
Before using the rear differential lock sys-
tem, first shift the front drive control into L4º with the free-wheeling hubs engaged
to see if it works. If this has no ef fect, addi-
tionally use the rear differential lock sys-tem.
Rear differential lock system

87
Do not use the rear differential lock
in the conditions other than above.
Large steering effort and careful
cornering control will be required.CAUTION
!
To lock the rear differential, push the switch.
Be sure to stop the wheels before locking
the differential.
For easy locking, depress the clutch ped- al,
push the lock switch and slowly release
the clutch pedal.
The indicator light will blink when the
switch is turned on. Wait a few seconds for
the system to complete operation. After
the differential is locked, the light will stop
blinking and remain on.
The anti-lock brake system does not op-
erate when the rear differential is locked.
It is normal operation for the ABSº warn-
ing light to be on at this time.
Do not lock the differential until
the wheels have stopped spin-
ning. Otherwise, the vehicle may
move in an unexpected direction
when the differential lock is en-
gaged, resulting in an accident.
This may also lead to possible
damage to differential lock com-
ponent parts.
Do not drive over 8 km/h (5 mph)
when the differential is locked. CAUTION
!
To unlock the differential, push the
switch once again.
Unlock the differential as soon as the ve- hicle moves out.
For easy unlocking, slightly turn the steer-
ing wheel in either direction while the ve- hicle is in motion.
When the differential lock is disengaged, the indicator light will go out.
The differential will also unlock if you shift
the front drive control lever out of L4º. Never forget to turn off the switch after us-
ing this feature.

88To check the indicator bulb, turn the igni-
tion key to the ONº position, but do not
start the engine.
Do not keep driving with the
differential lock switch on.
CAUTION
!
When parking, firmly apply the park-
ing brake to avoid inadvertent creep- ing.
To set: Pull out on the lever. For better
holding power, first depress the brake
pedal and hold it while setting the parking brake.
To release: Press the lock release button,
turn the lever, and push it in.
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
parking brake reminder light is off. CAUTION
!
Parking brake

90If 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 oroverreving. 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. 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 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.

Part 2Off-road vehicle precautions
(four-wheel drive models only)
11 3
INFORMATION
BEFORE DRIVING
YOUR TOYOTA
Off-road vehicle precautions
Break-in period
Fuel
Operation in foreign countries
Three-way catalytic converter
Engine exhaust cautions
Facts about engine oil consumption
Twin ground electrode spark plugs
Brake system
Brake pad wear limit indicators
Luggage stowage precautions
Rear step bumper
Your Toyota's idenitification
Suspension and chassis
Types of tires
This vehicle is one of the class of ve-
hicles which have higher ground
clearance and narrower tread in rela-
tion to the height of their center of
gravity to make them capable of per- forming in a wide variety of off-road applications. Specific design charac-
teristics give it a hi
gher center or grav-
ity than ordinary cars. An advantage ofthe higher ground clearance is a better view of the road allowing you to antici-
pate problems. It is not designed for
cornering at the same speeds as con-
ventional two-wheel drive vehicles
any more than low-slung sports cars
are designed to perform satisfactorily under off-road conditions.
CAUTION!
Always obeserve the following pre-
cautions to minimize the risk of seri-
ous personal injury or damage to
your vehicle: Avoid sharp turns or abrupt maneu-
vers, if at all possible. As with other
vehicles of this type, failure to oper-
ate this vehicle correctly may result
in loss of control or vehicle rol-
lover.
Avoid l oading any items on the roof
that will make the center of gravity
even higher.
Always slow down in gusty cross-
winds. Because of its high center of
gravity, your vehicle is more sensi-
tive to side winds than an ordinary
passenger car. Slowing down will
allow you to have much better con- trol.
Do not drive horizontally across
steep slopes. Driving straight up or
straight down is preferred. Your ve-
hicle (or any similar off-road ve-
hicle) can tip over sideways much
more easily than forward or back- ward.

11 9
Your engine is fitted with twin ground electrode spark plugs.
Use only twin ground electrodespark plugs for your engine
performance.
NOTICE
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 fa il, the other will 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.
CAUTION!
Do not drive your vehicle with only
a single brake system. Have your
brakes fixed immediately.
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 reserve
vacuum for one or two stops - but no more!
CAUTION!
Do not pump the brake pedal if the
engine stalls. Each push on the
pedal uses up your vacuum re- serve.
Even if the power assist is com-
pletely lost, the brakes will still
work. But you will have to push
the pedal hard-much harder than
normal. And your braking dis- tance will be longer
ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM (with ABSº warning light)
The anti- lock brake system is designed to
automatically help prevent lock- up of the
wheels during sudden braking or braking on
slippery road surfaces. This assists in pro-
viding directional stability and steering per -
formance of the vehicle under these cir -
cumstances.
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 approximate-
ly 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.
Twin ground electrode spark plugs
(5VZ-FE engine)
Brake system