1997 TOYOTA TACOMA Owners Manual

48
CAUTION!
Always make sure the shoulder
belt is positioned across the cen-
ter of the child's shoulder. The belt
should be kept away from child's
neck, but not falling off child's
shoulder. Failure to do so could re-
duce the amount of protection in
an accident and cause serious in- juries in a collision.
High-positioned lap belts and
loose-fitting belts both could cause serious injuries due to slid-
ing under the lap belt during a col-
lision. Keep the lap belt positioned
as low on hips as possible.
For child's safety, do not place the
shoulder belt under child's arm.
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and
that the lap and shoulder portions
of the belt are not twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in
the buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab and buckle.If the seat belt does not function
normally, it cannot protect your
child from injury. Contact your To-
yota dealer immediately. Do not
use the seat until the seat belt isfixed.
2. To remove the child restraint system,
press the buckle-release button and
allow the belt to retract.

49
To change the steering wheel angle,
hold the steering wheel, pull up the
lock release lever, tilt the steering
wheel to the desired angle and release
the lever.
When the steering wheel is in a low posi-
tion, it will spring up as you release the
lock release lever.
Do not adjust the steering wheel
while the vehicle is moving.
After adjusting the steering wheel,try moving it up and down to make sure it is locked in position.
CAUTION!
Adjust the mirror so you can just see
the side of your vehicle in the mirror. Be careful when judging the size of dis- tance of any object seen in the outside
rear view mirror on the passenger's side.
It is a convex mirror with a curved surface.
Any object seen in a convex mirror will
look smaller and farther away than when
seen in a flat mirror.
CAUTION!
Do not adjust the mirror while the ve-
hicle is moving. It may cause the
driver to mishandle the vehicle and
an accident may occur resulting in
personal injuries.
Tilt steering wheel Outside rear view mirrorsÐ

50
To adjust a mirror, use the switches.
1 Master switchÐTo select the mirror to
be adjusted.
Place the switch at Lº (le ft) or Rº (rightº).
2 Control switchÐTo move the mirrorPush the switch in the desired direction.
If the engine is not running, the key must be in the ACCº position.
NOTICE
If ice should jam the mirror, do not operate the control or scrape the
mirror face. Use a spray de-icer tofree the mirror.
The rear view mirrors can be folded
backward for parking in restriced areas.
To fold the rear view mirror, push back- ward.
Do not drive with the mirrors folded
down, or it may cause an accident
due to a poor or inaccurate view of
objects to the rear.
CAUTION!
To reduce glare from the headlights of
the vehicle behind you during night
driving, operate the lever on the lower
edge of the mirror. Daylight drivingÐLever at position 1
The reflection in the mirror has greater
clarity at this position. Night drivingÐLever at position 2 Remember that by reducing glare you
also lose some rear view clarity.
ÐPower rear view mirror
control ÐFolding rear view mirrors
Anti-glare inside rear viewmirror

Part 1Headlights and turn signals
51
OPERATION OF INSTRUMENTS ANDCONTROLSÐ
Chapter 1-4
Lights and Wipers
Headlights and turn signals
Emergency flashers
Instrument panel light control
Interior light
Personal light
Ignition switch light
Windshield wipers and washer
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 turn the ignition switch to the
LOCKº position with the headlights lefton, a 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.

52
High-Low beamsÐFor high beams,
turn the headlights on and push the lever away from you (position 1). Pull the lever
toward you (position 2) for low beams.
The headlight high beam indicator light
(blue light) on the instrument panel will tell
you that the high beams are on.
Flashing the high beam headlights
(position 3) ÐPull the lever all the way
back. The high beam headlights turn off
when you release the lever.
You can flash the high beam headlights with knob turned to OFFº.TURN SIGNAL
To signal a turn, push the headlight/
turn signal lever up or down to posi-
tion 1. The key must be in the ONº position. The lever automatically returns after you make a turn, but you may have to return it by hand after you change lanes.
To signal a lane change, move the lever
up or down to the pressure point (position 2) and hold it.
If the turn signal indicator lights (green
lights) on the instrument panel flash faster
than normal, a front or rear turn signal bulbis burned out.To turn on the emergency flashers,
push the switch.
All the turn signal lights will flash. To turn
them off, push the switch once again.
Turn on the emergency flashers to warn other drivers if your vehicle must be
stopped where it might be a traf fic hazard.
Always pull as far off the road as possible.
The turn signal light switch will not work
when the emergency flashers are operat- ing. Emergency flashers

53
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.Front light
Rear light (Xtra-cab models)
Instrument panel light control Interior light

54To 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.
DOORºÐTurns the light on when either
door is opened. The light goes off when both doors are closed.
The personal lights operate separately
with each other switch.
To turn on the light, push the switch on
your side. To turn the light off, push the
switch once again.
The center switch has the following posi- tions:
Position 1ÐTurns both lights on when ei-
ther
door is opened. The lights go off when
both doors are closed.
Position 2ÐThe lights are off unless you operate either outerswitch.For easy access to the ignition switch,
the ignition switch light comes on
when the driver's door is opened.
The light remains on for a some time after
the driver's door is closed.
Ignition switch light
Personal light

55
To turn on the windshield wipers, move the lever to the desired setting. The key must be in the ONº position.Lever position
Speed setting
Position 1Intermittent
Position 2Slow
Position 3Fast
The INT TIMEº band lets you adjust the wiping time interval when the wiper lever is in the intermittent position (position 1).
Twist the band upward to increase the
time between sweeps, and downward to
decrease it. To squirt washer fluid, pull the lever to-
ward you and release it.
If the windshield wipers are off, they will
operate a
couple of times after the washer
squirts.
For instructions on adding washer fluid, see Adding washer fluidº in Chapter 7-3.
In freezing weather, warm the windshield with the defroster before using the wash-
er. This will help prevent the washer fluid
from freezing on your windshield, which can block your vision.
NOTICE
Do not operate the wipers if the windshield is dry. It may scratch the
glass.To turn on the windshield wipers, move the lever to the desired setting. The key must be in the ONº position.
Lever position
Speed setting
Position 1Slow
Position 2Fast
For a single sweep of the windshield, push the lever up and release it.
To squirt washer fluid, push the button
at the end of the lever.
For instructions on adding washer fluid, see Adding washer fluidº in Chapter 7-3.
Wind shield wipers and washer (intermittent type)
Wind shield wipers and washer(mist type)