1997 TOYOTA TERCEL sensor

29
The SRS (Supplemental Restraint Sys-
tem) airbags are designed to provide
further protection to the driver and
front passenger when added to the pri-
mary protection provided by the seatbelts.
In response to a severe frontal impact, the
SRS airbags work together with the seat
belts to help preventing or reduce injury by
inflating, in order to decrease the likeli-
hood of the driver's or front passenger's
head or chest directly hitting the steering
wheel or dashboard. The passenger air-
bag is activated even with no passenger
in the front seat.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 airbags
are operating properly.
The SRS airbag warning light system
monitors the airbag sensor assembly, in-
flators, warning light, interconnecting wir-
ing and power sources.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 airbags 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 airbags
may not deploy.
SRS airbags (for U.S.A.)

30However, 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 (a collision in which the nose of the
vehicle underridesº, or goes under, the
bed of a truck.) It is possible with collision severity at the marginal level of airbag sensor detection
and activation that only one of your ve-
hicle's two airbags will deploy.
For your safety, be sure to always wear your seat belts.
The SRS airbags are not designed to inflate if the vehicle is subjected to a
side or rear impact, if it rolls over, or if
it is involved in a low-speed frontalcollision.The SRS airbag system mainly consists
of the following components and their
locations are shown in the illustration.
1. SRS airbag warning light
2. Steering wheel pad (airbag and inflat-
or)
3. Passenger airbag module (airbag and inflator)
4. Airbag sensor assembly
The airbag sensor assembly consists of a
safing sensor and airbag sensor.

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.

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)

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.

67
(e) Malfunction Indicator Lamp
This lamp comes on in the following cases.
a. The fuel tank is completely empty. (See Fuel gaugeº in Chapter 1-5 for in- structions.)
b. The fuel tank cap is not tightened se-
curely. (See Fuel tank capº in Chapter
1-2 for instructions.)
c. There is a problem somewhere in your engine or automatic transmission
electrical system.
If it comes on while you are driving in case
c, have your vehicle checked/repaired by
your Toyota dealer as soon as possible.
(f) ABSº Warning Light
This light warns that there is a problem
somewhere in your anti-lock brake sys-tem.
If the light comes on while you are driving,
have your vehicle checked by your T
oyota
dealer as soon as possible.
The light will come on when the ignition
key is turned to the ONº position. After
about 3 seconds, the light will go off. When the ABSº warning light is on (and
the brake system warning light is off), the brake system
operates conventionally but
anti-lock brake system is not assistingbrake performance so that the wheels can
lock-up during sudden braking or braking
on slippery road surfaces.
(g) Open Door Warning Light
This light remains on until all the side doors and back door are completelyclosed.
(h) SRS Airbag Warning Light
This light will come on when the igni-
tion key is turned to the ACCº or ONº
position. After about 6 seconds, the
light w ill go off. This means the airbag
system is operating properly.
The warning light system monitors the
front airbag sensors, center airbag sensor
assembly, inflators, warning light, inter-
connecting wiring and power sources.
If either of the following conditions occurs, this indicates a malfunction somewhere in the parts monitored by the warning light
system. Contact your Toyota 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. (i) Light Reminder Buzzer
This buzzer will sound if the driver's door is opened with the key removed from the
ignition switch and the headlight switch
left on.
(j) Key Reminder Buzzer
This buzzer reminds you to remove the
key when you open the driver's door with the ignition key in the ACCº or LOCKºposition.