1998 Lexus LS400 airbag

INTRODUCTION
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New vehicle warranty
Your new vehicle is covered by the following Lexus limited
warranties:
 New vehicle warranty
 Emission control systems warranty
 Others
For further information, please refer to the separate ”Owner’s
Guide”, ”Owner’s Manual Supplement” or ”Warranty Booklet”.
Your responsibility for maintenance
It is the owner’s responsibility to make sure the specified
maintenance is performed. Section 5 of this Owner’s Manual gives
details of these maintenance requirements. Included in Section 6 is
general maintenance. For sche duled maintenance information,
please refer to the separate ”Owner’s Manual
Supplement/Maintenance Schedule”.
Accessories, spare parts and modification of your
Lexus
A wide variety of nongenuine spare parts and accessories for Lexus
vehicles are currently available in the market. You should know that
Toyota does not warrant these products and is not responsible either
for their performance, repair or replacement, or for any damage they
may cause to, or adverse effect they may have on, your Lexus
vehicle.
This vehicle should not be m odified with nongenuine Lexus
products. Modification with nongenuine Lexus products could
affect its performance, safety or durability, and may even violate governmental regulations. In addition, damage or performance
problems
resulting from the modification may not be covered under
warranty.
Spark ignition system of your Lexus
The spark ignition system in your Lexus meets all requirements of
the Canadian InterferenceCausing Equipment Standard.
Installation of a mobile twoway radio system
As the installation of a mobile twoway radio system in your vehicle
could affect electronic systems such as the multiport fuel injection
system/sequential multiport fuel injection system, cruise control
system, antilock brake system and Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS), be sure to check with your Lexus dealer for precautionary
measures or special instructions regarding installation.
Scrapping of your Lexus
The Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) in your Lexus consists of
driver and front passenger airbag s, side airbags and seat belt
pretensioners. The SRS device contains explosive chemicals. If the
vehicle is scrapped with the airbags and seat belt pretensioners left
as they are, it may cause an accident such as a fire. Be sure to have
the SRS removed and disposed of by a qualified service shop or by
your Lexus dealer before you scrap your vehicle.

GAUGES, METERS AND SERVICE REMINDER INDICATORS
38If the brake fluid level is correct ...
Have the warning system checked by your Lexus dealer.
(b) Driver’s Seat Belt Reminder Light and Buzzer
Once the ignition key is turned to ”ON” or ”START”, the reminder
light flashes and buzzer sounds if the driver’s seat belt is not
fastened. Unless the driver fastens the belt, the light stays flashing
and the buzzer stops after about 4 to 8 seconds.
(c) Front Passenger’s Seat Belt Reminder Light
Once the ignition key is turned to ”ON” or ”START”, the reminder
light flashes if a passenger sits in the front passenger seat and does
not fasten the seat belt. Unless the front passenger fastens the belt,
the light stays flashing.
If luggage load is placed on the front passenger seat, depending on
its weight and how it is placed on the seat, builtin sensors in the seat
cushion may detect the pressure, causing the reminder light to come
on.
(d) SRS Warning Light
The indicators come on when the ignition key is turned to the
”ACC” or ”ON” 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
airbags fail. If the light flashes, the side airbags and/or seat belt
pretensioners fail.

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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.

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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 ”Child restraint” 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
properly. 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.Pregnant woman. Lexus recommends the use of a seat belt. Ask
your doctor for specific recommendations. The lap belt should be
worn securely and as low as possible over the hips and not on the
waist.
Injured person. Lexus recommends the use of a seat belt.
Depending on the injury, first check with your doctor for specific
recommendations.
CAUTION
Persons should ride in their seats properly wearing their seat
belts whenever the vehicle is moving. Otherwise, they are
much more likely to suffer serious bodily injury in the event
of sudden braking or a collision.
When using the seat belts, observe the following:
Use the belt for only one person at a time. Do not use a
single belt for two or more people even children.
Avoid reclining the seatbacks too much. The seat belts
provide maximum protection when the seatbacks are in the
upright position. (See ”Adjusting seatback angle”.)
Be careful not to damage the belt webbing or hardware.
Take care that they do not get caught or pinched in the seat
or doors.
Inspect the belt system periodically. Check for cuts,
fraying, and loose parts. Damaged parts should be
replaced. Do not disassemble or modify the system.

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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 protection provided by the seat belts.
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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
front 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.

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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
passenger 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.
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The indicator comes on when the ignition key is turned to the
”ACC” or ”ON” 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.

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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
occupant wearing the seat belt correctly would not get serious injury.
The driver and front passenger airbags and seat belt pretensioners
will work if the severity of the impact is above the designed threshold
level, comparable to an approximate 20 km/h (14 mph) collision
when impacting straight into a fixed barrier that does not move or
deform.
If the severity of the impact is below the above threshold level, the
driver 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 collision in which the nose of the vehicle
”underrides”, 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.

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Collision from the rear
2
Vehicle rollover
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 rolls over, or if it is involved in a
lowspeed 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
occupant wearing the seat belt correctly would not get serious injury.
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1
Collision from the side at an angle
2
Collision 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
collision from the side at an angle, or a collision to the side of the
vehicle body other than the passenger compartment, which
impact is not severe enough for the passenger compartment.