1998 Lexus ES300 airbag

GAUGES, METERS AND SERVICE REMINDER INDICATORS
32
If the brake fluid level is correct ...
Have the warning system checked by your Lexus dealer.
(b) Seat Belt Reminder Light and Buzzer
Once the ignition key is turned to ºONº or ºSTARTº, the reminder light and
buzzer come on if the driver's seat belt is not fastened. Unless the driver
fastens the belt, the light stays on and the buzzer stops after about 4 to 8
seconds.
(c) SRS Warning Light
The indicator comes on when the ignition key is turned to the ºACCº o\
r
ºONº position. It goes off after about 6 seconds. This means the SRS is
operating properly.
The SRS warning light system monitors the airbag sensor assemblies,
inflators, seat belt pretensioners, warning light, interconnecting 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
Lexus dealer as soon as possible to service the vehicle.

The light does not come on as described above.
 The light stays on or flashes.
 The light comes on or starts flashing while driving.
If the light stays on, it indicates that the driver and front passenger air\
bags fail.
If the light flashes, the side airbags and/or seat belt pretensioners fa\
il.
(d) Discharge Warning Light
This light warns that the battery is being discharged.
If it comes on while you are driving, stop the vehicle, turn off the engine, and
check for the cause. Look first at the engine drive belt.
 If it is loose or broken, the generator will not charge the battery properly.
 If the belt is O.K., there is a problem somewhere in the charging system.
The engine ignition will continue to operate, however, until the battery is
discharged. Turn off the air conditioning, blower, radio, etc., and drive
directly to the nearest Lexus dealer or repair shop.
NOTICE
Do not continue driving if the engine drive belt is broken or loose.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT57
FRONT SEATS
Front seat precautions
CAUTION
The SRS side airbags are installed in the driver and front
passenger seats. Observe the following precautions.
Do not lean over the front door when the vehicle is in use.
The side airbag inflates with considerable speed and force;
you may be killed or severely injured.
 Do not modify or replace the seats or the surface of the seats
with side airbags. Such changes may disable the system, or
cause the side airbags to inflate, resulting in death or
serious injury. Consult your Lexus dealer.
 Do not use accessories for the seats which cover the parts
where the side airbags should inflate. Such accessories may
prevent the side airbags from activating correctly, causing
death or serious injury.
Seat adjustment precautions
Adjust the driver's seat so that the foot pedals, steering wheel and instrument
panel controls are within easy reach of the driver.
CAUTION
 Do not adjust the seat while the vehicle is moving as the seat
may unexpectedly move and cause the driver to lose control
of the vehicle.
 Be careful not to hit the seat against a passenger, luggage or
the rear seat.
NOTICE
Do not operate the control switch in more than one dimension at a time.
It may cause electrical overload.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT
64
INSIDE REAR VIEW MIRROR
16E013

1Day 2Night
When driving at night, pull the lever toward you to reduce the glare from
the headlights of vehicles behind you.
Before adjusting the mirror to the position with most clarity, push the
day±night change lever forward (daylight driving position).
Remember that by reducing glare you also lose some rear view clarity.
SEAT BELTS
Seat belt precautions
Lexus strongly urges that the driver and passengers in the vehicle be properly
restrained at all times with the seat belts provided. Failure to do so could
increase the chance of injury and/or the severity of injury in accidents.
Child. Use a child restraint system appropriate for the child until the child
becomes large enough to properly wear the vehicle's seat belts. See ºChild
restraintº for details.
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. According to accident
statistics, the child is safer when properly restrained in the rear seat than in the\
front seat.
If a child must sit in the front seat, the seat belts should be worn properl\
y. Do
not let the child sit on your lap. It does not provide sufficient restraint. If an
accident occurs and the seat belts are not worn properly, the force of the rapid
inflation of the airbag may cause severe injury to the child.
Do not allow the child to stand up or kneel on either rear or front seats. An
unrestrained child could suffer serious injury during emergency braking or a
collision.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT69
SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM(SRS)
The Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) consists of driver and front
passenger airbags, side airbags and seat belt pretensioners. The
combination of these 3 systems is designed to provide further protection
for the driver and front passenger when added to the primary pr otection
provided by the seat belts.
16E124

Driver and front passenger airbags, and seat belt pretensioners
Driver and front passenger airbags:
In response to a severe frontal impact, the driver and front passenger
airbags work together with the seat belts to help preventing or reduce
injury by inflating, in order to decrease the likelihood of the driver's or
front passenger's heads or chests from directly hitting the steering wheel
or dashboard. Seat belt pretensioners:
In response to a severe frontal impact, the seat belts are quickly drawn
back in by the retractors so that the belts snugly restrain the driver and
front passenger.
The front passenger airbag is activated even with no passenger in the front\
seat.
The seat belt pretensioners are activated together with the driver and fron\
t
passenger airbags, even with no passenger in the front seat.
Be sure to wear your seat belt.
CAUTION
The driver or front passenger too close to the steering wheel
or dashboard during airbag deployment can be killed or
seriously injured. Lexus strongly recommends that:

The driver sit as far back as possible from the steering
wheel while still maintaining control of the vehicle.
 The front passenger sit as far back as possible from the
dashboard.
 All vehicle occupants be properly restrained using the
available seat belts.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT
70
16E125±1

Side airbags
Side airbags:
In response to a severe side impact, the side airbag for the driver or front
passenger works together with the seat belt to help preventing or
reducing injury by inflating, in order to decrease the impact mainly on the
driver or front passenger's chest.
The side airbag on the passenger seat is activated even with no passenge\
r in
the front seat.
Be sure to wear your seat belt.
CAUTION
SRS side airbags inflate with considerable force. To avoid
potential death or serious injury during inflation of a side
airbag, Lexus strongly recommends that the driver and front
passenger;
 Wear their seat belt.
 Remain properly seated with their back against the seat at
all times.
16E022
The indicator comes on when the ignition key is turned to the ºACCº o\
r
ºONº position. It goes off after about 6 seconds. This means the SRS is
operating properly.
The SRS warning light system monitors the airbag sensor assemblies,
inflators, seat belt pretensioners, warning light, interconnecting wiring and
power sources.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT71
16E023
The driver and front passenger airbags and seat belt pretensioners are
designed to activate in response to a severe frontal impact within the
shaded area between the arrows in the illustration.
There may be the case that the driver and passenger airbags and seat belt
pretensioners will not activate with such an impact in which the occupan\
t
wearing the seat belt correctly would not get serious injury.
The driver and front passenger airbags and seat belt pretensioners will wor\
k
if the severity of the impact is above the designed threshold level, compa\
rable
to an approximate 20 km/h (14 mph) collision when impacting straight i\
nto
a fixed barrier that does not move or deform.
If the severity of the impact is below the above threshold level, the driv\
er and
front passenger airbags and seat belt pretensioners may not work. 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 impact, or if it is involved in an underride collision (e.g. a collisio\
n
in which the nose of the vehicle ºunderridesº, or goes under, the bed of a
truck).
It is possible with collision severity at the marginal level of driver and
passenger airbag sensor detection and activation that only one of your
vehicle's driver and front passenger airbags and seat belt pretensioners will
work.
For the safety of all occupants, be sure to always wear seat belts.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT
72
16E134±1

1Collision from the rear
2Vehicle roll±over
The driver and front passenger airbags and seat belt pretensioners are
not designed to inflate if the vehicle is subjected to a rear impact, if it r olls
over, or if it is involved in a low±speed frontal collision.
The side airbags are designed to inflate when the passenger compartment
gets a severe impact from the side.
The side airbags may rather not to activate in the impact in which the occu\
pant
wearing the seat belt correctly would not get serious injury.
16E135

1 Collision from the side at an angle
2Collision from the side to the vehicle body other
than the passenger compartment
The side airbags may not inflate if the vehicle is subjected to a collis\
ion from the side at an angle, or a collision to the side of the vehicle body ot\
her
than the passenger compartment, which impact is not severe enough for
the passenger compartment.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT73
16E136

Vehicle roll±over
The side airbags are not designed to inflate if the vehicle is rolled over.
If the impact on the body of the passenger compartment is not strong as
illustrated above, the relevant side airbag may not inflate.
16L137

1 Side airbag module (airbag and inflator)
2Front passenger airbag module (airbag and inflator)
3Side airbag sensor assembly
4Seat belt pretensioner
5Steering wheel pad assembly (airbag and inflator)
6SRS warning light
7Driver and front passenger airbag sensor assembly
The SRS airbag sensor assemblies consist of a safing sensor and driver and
front passenger airbag sensor.
In a severe frontal impact, the driver and front passenger airbag sensor d\
etects
deceleration and the system triggers the front airbag inflators and seat belt
pretensioners. In a severe side impact, the side airbag sensor triggers the side
airbag inflator. Then a chemical reaction in the inflators momentarily fills the
airbags with non±toxic gas to help restrain the forward or lateral motion of \
the
occupants. Then the inflators fill the airbags and the seat belts are quickly
drawn back in by the retractors to help restrain forward motion of the
occupants.
When the SRS operates, it produces a fairly loud noise and release some
smoke along with non±toxic gas. This 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 fraction of a second, so the airbags
must inflate with considerable force. While the system is designed to reduc\
e