1998 TOYOTA 4RUNNER Owners Manual

4RUNNER (1998)
The SRS airbag system is designed
to activate in response to a severe
frontal impact within the shaded
area between the arrows in the il-
lustration.
There may be the case that the SRS
airbags will not activate with such an
impact in which the occupant wearing
the seat belt correctly would not get
serious injury.
The SRS airbags will deploy 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 SRS
airbags 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 impact, or if it is in-
volved in an underride collision (e.g.
a collision 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 airbag sensor
detection and activation that only one
of your vehicle's two airbags will
deploy.
For the safety of all occupants, be
sure to always wear seat belts.

4RUNNER (1998)
Collision from the side Collision from the rear
Vehicle roll- over
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 frontal collision.

4RUNNER (1998)
The SRS airbag system mainly con-
sists of the following components and
their locations are shown in the il-
lustration.
1 SRS airbag warning light
2 Airbag module for driver (airbag
and inflator)
3 Airbag module for passenger (air-
bag
and inflator)
4 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 inflators. Then a
chemical reaction in the inflators mo-
mentarily fills the air
bags with non-
toxic 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 non- toxic gas. This
does not indicate a fire. Be sure to
wash off any residue as soon as pos-
sible 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 re-
duce 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 them-
selves will not be hot. The airbags are
designed to inflate only once.
A crash severe enough to inflate the
airbags may break the windshield as
the vehicle buckles. In vehicles with
a passenger airbag the windshield
may also be damaged by absorbing
some of the force of the inflating air- bag.
CAUTION
The SRS airbag system is de-
signed only as a supplement to
the primary protection of the
driver side and front passenger
side seat belt systems. The
front seat occupants can be
killed or seriously injured by an
inflating airbag if they do not
wear the available seat belts.
During sudden braking just be-
fore a collision, an unrestrained
driver or front passenger can
move forward into direct con-
tact with or close proximity to
the airbag which may then
deploy during the collision. To
obtain maximum protection in
an accident, the driver and all
passengers in the vehicle must
wear their seat belts. Wearing a
seat belt during an accident re-
duces the chances of death or
serious injuries or being thrown
out of the vehicle. For instruc-
tions and precautions concern-
ing the seat belt system, see
Seat beltsº in this chapter.

4RUNNER (1998)
Improperly seated and/or re-
strained infants and children
can be killed or seriously in-
jured by a deploying airbag. An
infant or child who is too small
to use a seat belt should be
properly secured using a child
restraint system. Toyota strong-
ly recommends that all infants
and children be placed in the
rear seat of the vehicle and
properly restrained. The rear
seat is the safest for infants
and children. For instructions
concerning the installation of a
child restraint system, see
Child restraintº in this chapter.

4RUNNER (1998)
Never put a rear- facing child
restraint system in the front
seat because the force of the
rapid inflation of the passenger
airbag can cause death or seri-
ous injury to the child.
Move seat fully back
A forward- facing child restraint
system should be allowed to
put on the front seat only when
it is unavoidable. Always move
the seat as far back as pos-
sible, because the force of a
deploying airbag could cause
death or serious injury to the
child. For instructions concern-
ing the installation of a child
restraint system, see ºChild re-
straintº in this chapter.

4RUNNER (1998)
Do not sit on the edge of the
seat or lean over the dashboard
when the vehicle is in use. The
airbags inflate with considerable
speed and force; you may be
killed or seriously injured. Sit
up straight and well back in the
seat, and always use your seat
belt.

4RUNNER (1998)
Do not allow a child to stand
up, or to kneel on the front
passenger seat. The airbag in-
flates with considerable speed
and force; the child may be
killed or seriously injured.
Do not hold a child on your lap
or in your arms. Use a child
restraint system in the rear
seat. For instructions concern-
ing the installation of a child
restraint system, see ºChild re-
straintº in this chapter.

4RUNNER (1998)
Do not put objects or your pets
on or in front of the dashboard
or steering wheel pad that
houses the airbag system. They
might restrict inflation or cause
death or serious injury as they
are projected rearward by the
force of deploying airbags. Like-
wise, the driver and front pas-
senger should not hold things
in their arms or on their knees.
Do not modify or remove any
wiring. Do not modify, remove,
strike or open any components
such as the steering wheel col-
umn cover, front passenger air-
bag cover, front passenger air-
bag, airbag sensor assembly.
Doing any of these may cause
sudden SRS airbag inflation or
disable the system, which could
result in death or serious injury.
Failure to follow these instruc-
tions can result in death or seri-
ous injuries.