1997 TOYOTA TERCEL Owners Manual

31
In a severe frontal impact, sensors detect
deceleration and the system triggers the
airbag inflators. Then a chemical reaction in
the inflators momentarily fills the airbags
with non- toxic nitrogen gas to help restrain
the forward motion of the occupants.
When the airbags inflate, they produce a
fairly loud noise and release some smoke
along with the nitrogen gas. This is not
harmful and does not indicate a fire. Be sure
to wash off any residue as soon as possible
to prevent minor skin irritation.
Deployment of the airbags happen in a frac-
tion of a second, so the airbags must inflate
with considerable force. While the system
is designed to reduce serious injuries, it
may also cause minor burns or abrasions
and swellings.
Parts of the airbag module (steering wheel
hub, dashboard) may be hot for several
minutes, but the airbags themselves will not
be hot. The airbags are designed to inflate
only once.
A crash severe enough to inflate the air-
bags may break the windshield as the ve-
hicle buckles. In vehicles with a passenger
airbag the windshield may also be dam-
aged by absorbing some of the force of the
inflating airbag.
CAUTION!
The SRS airbag system is designed
only as a supplement to the prima-
ry protection of the seat belt sys-
tems of the driver and front passen-
ger. The front seat occupants are
particularly susceptible to injury if
they do not wear their seat belts;
when sudden braking or a collision
occurs, they may be thrown for-
ward. To obtain maximum protec-
tion in an accident, the driver and
all passengers in the vehicle
should always wear their seat belts
when driving because serious in-
juries can result to unrestrained
occupants. For instructions and
precautions concerning the seat
belt system, see Seat beltsº in this
chapter.
A baby or small child who is too
small to use a seat belt should be
properly secured in a rear seat us-
ing a child restraint system.
Never put a rear-facing child re-
straint system in the front seat be- cause the force of the rapid infla-
tion of the passenger airbag can cause severe injury to the child.

32
Only when it is unavoidable
should a forward-facing child re-
straint system be used on the front
seat. Always move the seat as far
back as possible because the force
of a deploying airbag would cause
serious injury to the child. For in-
structions concerning the installa-
tion of a child restraint system, see
Child restraintº in this chapter. Do not sit on the edge of the seat or
lean over the dashboard when the
vehicle is in use. The airbags in-
flate with considerable speed and
force; you may be severely injured.
Sit up straight and well back in the seat, and always use your seat belt. Do not allow a child to stand up, or
to kneel on the front passenger seat. The airbag inflates with con-
siderable speed and force; the
child may be severely injured.
Do not hold a child on your lap or in your arms. Use a child restraint
system in the rear seat. For in-
structions concerning the installa- tion of a child restraint system, see
Child restraintº in this chapter.

33
Do not put objects on or in front of
the dashboard or steering wheel
pad that houses the airbag sys-
tem. They might restrict inflation
or cause personal injury as they
are projected rearward.
Do not modify, remove or open
any components or wiring, such
as the steering wheel, column
cover, front passenger airbag cov-
er, front passenger airbag, airbag
sensor assembly. Doing any of
these may cause sudden SRS air-
bag inflation or disable the sys-
tem, which could result in person-
al injury.
Failure to follow these instructions
can result in severe injuries.
Do not perform any of the following
changes without consulting your
Toyota dealer. Such changes caninterfere with proper operation ofthe SRS airbag system in some
cases.
Installation of electronic itemssuch as a mobile two-way radio,
cassette tape player or compactdisc player
Modification of the suspension
system
Modification of the front endstructure
Attachment of a grille guard (bullbar, kangaroo bar, etc.), snow-plow, winches or any other equip-
ment to the front end
Repairs made on or near the frontend structure, console, steering
column, steering wheel or dash-board near the front passenger
airbag
NOTICE
This SRS airbag system has a service re-
minder indicator to inf orm the driver of op-
erating problems. If either of the following
conditions occurs, this indicates a mal-
function of the airbags. Contact your To-
yota dealer as soon as possible to service
the vehicle. The light does not come on when the
ignition key is turned to the ACCº or
ONº position, or remains on.
The light comes on while driving.

34
In the following cases, contact your
Toyota dealer as soon as possible: The SRS airbags have been inflated.
The front part of the vehicle (shaded in the illustration) was involved in an ac-
cident not of the extent to cause the
SRS airbags to inflate.
The pad section of the steering wheel
or front passenger airbag cover
(shaded in the illustration) is
scratch-ed, cracked, or otherwise damaged.The SRS (Supplemental Restraint Sys-
tem) airbag is designed to provide fur-
ther protection to the driver when add-
ed to the primary protection providedby the seat belt.
In response to a severe frontal impact, the
SRS airbag works together with the seat
belt to help preventing or reduce injury byinflating, in order to decrease the likeli-
hood of the driver's head or chest directly hitting the steering wheel.This indicator comes on when the
ignition key is turned to the ACCº or
ONº position. It goes off after about 6
seconds. This means the SRS airbag
is operating properly.
The SRS airbag warning light system
monitors the airbag sensor assembly, in-
flators, warning light, interconnecting wir-
ing and power sources.
SRS airbag (for Canada)

35
The SRS airbag system is designed to
activate in response to a severe frontal
impact within the shaded area be-
tween the arrows in the illustration.
The SRS airbag will deploy if the severity
of the impact is above the designed
threshold level, comparable to an approxi-
mate 20 km/h (14 mph) collision when im-
pacting straight into a fixed barrier that
does not move or deform.
If the severity of the impact is below the
above threshold level, the SRS airbag
may not deploy. However, this threshold velocity will be
considerably higher if the vehicle strikes
an object, such as a parked vehicle or sign
pole, which can move or deform on im-
pact, or if it is
involved in an underride col-
lision (e.g. a collision in which the nose of
the vehicle underridesº, or goes under, the bed of a truck.
For the safety of all occupants, be sure to
always wear your seat belts.The SRS airbag is not designed to in-
flate if the vehicle is subjected to a side
or rear impact, if it rolls over, or if it is
involved in a low-speed frontal colli-sion.

36
The SRS airbag system mainly consists
of the follwoing components and their
locations are show in the illustration.
1. SRS airbag warning light
2. Steering wheel pad (airbag and inflat-or)
3. Airbag sensor assembly.
The airbag sensor assembly consists of a
safing sensor and airbag sensor. In a severe frontal impact, sensors detect
deceleration and the system triggers the
airbag inflator. Then a chemical reaction
in the inflator momentarily fills the airbag
with non-toxic nitrogen gas to help re-
strain the forward motion of the driver. When the airbag inflates, it produces a fairly loud noise and releases some
smoke
along with the nitrogen gas. This is
not harmful and does not indicate a fire.
Be sure to wash off any residue as soon
as possible to prevent minor skin irritation.
Deployment of the airbag happens in a
fraction of a second, so the airbag must in-
flate with considerable force. While the
system is designed to reduce serious inju-
ries, it may also cause minor burns or
abrasions and swellings.
The steering wheel hub may be hot for
several minutes, but the airbag itself will
not be hot. The airbag is designed to in-
flate only once.
CAUTION!
The SRS airbag system is designed
only as a supplement to the primary
protection of the seat belt system of
the driver. The driver is particularly
susceptible to injury if he/she does
not wear his/her seat belt; when
sudden braking or a collision oc-
curs, he/she may be thrown for-
ward. To obtain maximum protec-
tion in an accident, the driver and all
passengers in the vehicle should
always wear their seat belts whendriving. For instructions and pre-
cautions concerning the seat belt system, see Seat beltsº in this
chapter.

37
Do not put objects on the steering
wheel pad. They might restrict
inflation or cause personal injury
as they are projected rearward.
Do not modify, remove or open
any components or wiring, such
as the steering wheel, column
cover, airbag sensor assembly.
Doing any of these may cause sudden SRS airbag inflation or
disable the system, which could
result in personal injury.
Failure to follow these instructions can result in severe injuries.
Do not perform any of the following
changes without consulting your
Toyota dealer. Such changes can interfere with proper operation of theSRS airbag system in some cases.
Installation of electronic itemssuch as a mobile two-way radio,
cassette tape player or compact
disc player
Modification of the suspensionsystem
Modification of the front endstructure
Attachment of a grille guard (bull
bar, kangaroo bar, etc.), snow-plow, winches or any other equip-
ment to the front end
Repairs made on or near the frontend structure, console, steering
column, steering wheel
NOTICE
This SRS airbag system has a service re-
minder indicator to inf orm the driver of op-
erating problems. If either of the following
conditions occurs, this indicates a mal-
function of the airbag. Contact your Toyo-
ta dealer as soon as possible to service the vehicle. The light does not come on when the
ignition key is turned to the ACCº or
ONº position, or remains on.
The light comes on while driving.

38
In the following cases, contact your Toyo-
ta dealer as soon as possible: The SRS airbags have been inflated.
The front part of the vehicle (shaded in the illustration) was involved in an ac-
cident not of the extent to cause the
SRS airbags to inflate
The pad section of the steering wheel
(shaded in the illustration) is scratch-ed, cracked, or otherwise damaged. Toyota strongly urges the use of child
restraint systems for children small
enough to use it.
The laws of all fifty states in the U.S.A.
and Canada now require the use of a child
restraint system.
Your vehicle conforms the SAEJ1819.
If a child is too large for a child restraint
system,
the child should sit in the rear seat
and must be restrained using the vehicle's
seat belt. See Seat beltsº for details.CAUTION!
For effective protection in automo-
bile accidents and sudden stops,
children must be properly re-
strained using a seat belt or child
restraint system depending on the
age and size of the child. Holding
a child in your arms is not a substi-
tute for a child restraint system. In
an accident, the child can be
crushed against the windshield, or
between you and the vehicle's in-
terior.
Toyota strongly urges use of a
proper child restraint system that
conforms to the size of the child on
the rear seat. According to acci-dent statistics, the child is safer
when properly restrained in the
rear seat than in the front seat.
Vehicles with a passenger airbag:
Never install a rear-facing child re-
straint system on the front seat. In
the event of an accident, the force
of the rapid inflation of the airbag
can cause severe injury if a rear-
facing child restraint system is
installed on the front seat.
Unless it is unavoidable, do not install a forward-facing child re-
straint system on the front seat.
If you must install a forward-facing
child restraint system on the front
seat, move the seat as far back as possible.
Make sure that you have complied
with all installation instructions
provided by the child restraint
manufacturer and that the system
is properly secured.
Child restraintÐ ÐChild restraint precautions