1998 TOYOTA AVALON steering wheel

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Part 1
OPERATION OF
INSTRUMENTS
AND CONTROLS—
Chapter 1 −3
Seats, Seat belts,
Steering wheel
and Mirrors
 Seats
 Front seats
 Driving position memory system
 Head restraints
 Armrest
 Seat heaters
 Seat belts
 SRS driver and front passenger
airbags
 SRS side airbags
 Child restraint 
Tilt steering wheel
 Outside rear view mirrors
 Anti −glare inside rear view
mirror
 Vanity mirrors
Seats
While the vehicle is being driven, all ve-
hicle occupants should have the seatback
upright, sit well back in the seat and prop-
erly wear the seat belts provided.
CAUTION
Do not drive the vehicle unless the
occupants are not properly seated.
Do not allow sitting on top of a
folded −down seatback, or in the
luggage compartment. Persons not
properly seated and not properly re-
strained by seat belts can be se-
verely injured in the event of emer-
gency braking or a collision.
During driving, do not allow pas-
sengers to stand up or move
around between seats. Severe inju-
ries can occur in the event of emer-
gency braking or a collision.
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CAUTION
The SRS side airbags are installed in
the driver and front passenger seats.
Observe the following precautions.
Do not lean against the front door
when the vehicle is in use. The side
airbag inflates with considerable
speed and force; you may be killed
or seriously injured.
Do not modify or replace the seats
or surface of the front seats with
the side airbags. Such changes may
disable the system or cause the
side airbags to inflate, resulting in
death or serious injury. Consult
your Toyota 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 correct-
ly, 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
Adjustments should not be made
while the vehicle is moving, as the
seat may unexpectedly move and
cause the driver to lose control of
the vehicle.
When adjusting the seat, be careful
not to hit the seat against a pas-
senger or luggage.
After adjusting the seat position,
try sliding it forward and backward
to make sure it is locked in posi-
tion.
After adjusting the seatback, exert
body pressure to make sure it is
locked in position.
Do not put objects under the seats.
The objects may interfere with the
seat −lock mechanism or unexpect-
edly push up the seat position ad-
justing lever; the seat may suddenly
move, causing the driver to lose
control of the vehicle.
While adjusting the seat, do not put
your hands under the seat or near
the moving parts. You may catch
and injure your hands or fingers.
Front seats—
—Front seat precautions (with
SRS side airbags)
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CAUTION
Do not start the vehicle while the
adjustment are being made.
Take care not to select the wrong
button, or the seat could strike the
rear passenger or hit your body
against the steering wheel. If this
happens, you can stop the move-
ment by pressing another driving
position memory switch, or de-
pressing the brake pedal.
Head restraints
For your safety, adjust the head re-
straint before driving.
To raise: Pull it up.
To lower: Push it down while pressing the
lock release button.
You can also move the head restraint for-
ward or backward, pull or push the head
restraint.
The head restraint is most effective when
it is close to your head. Therefore, using
a cushion on the seatback is not recom-
mended.
CAUTION
Adjust the center of the head re-
straint so that it is closest to the
top of your ears.
After adjusting the head restraint,
make sure it is locked in position.
Do not drive with the head re-
straints removed.
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In response to a severe frontal impact,
the SRS airbags work together with the
seat belts to help prevent 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 airbag
is activated even with no passenger in the
front seat.
Be sure to wear your seat belt.CAUTION
A driver or front passenger too close
to the steering wheel or dashboard
during airbag deployment can be
killed or seriously injured. Toyota
strongly recommends that:
The driver sit as far back as pos-
sible from the steering wheel while
still maintaining control of the ve-
hicle.
The front passenger sit as far back
as possible from the dashboard.
All vehicle occupants be properly
restrained using the available seat
belts.This indicator comes on when the igni-
tion key is turned to the ”ACC” or
”ON” 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. (For details, see
”Service remainder indicators and warning
buzzers” in chapter 1 −5.)
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The SRS airbag system mainly consists of
the following components and their loca-
tions are shown in the illustration.
1. Airbag module for driver (airbag and inflator)
2. Airbag module for passenger (airbag and inflator)
3. Airbag sensor assembly
4. SRS airbag warning light
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 momentarily 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 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 desi gned to reduce serious inju-
ries, 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
vehicle buckles. In vehicles with a pas-
senger airbag the windshield may also be
damaged 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 driver side and
front passenger side seat belt sys-
tems. The front seat occupants can
be killed or seriously injured by an
inflating airbag if they do not wear
the available seat belts. During sud-
den braking just before a collision,
an unrestrained driver or front pas-
senger can move forward into direct
contact with or close proximity to
the airbag which may then deploy
during the collision. To obtain maxi-
mum protection in an accident, the
driver and all passengers in the ve-
hicle must wear their seat belts.
Wearing a seat belt during an acci-
dent reduces the chances of death
or serious injuries or being thrown
out of the vehicle. For instructions
and precautions concerning the seat
belt system, see ”Seat belts” in this
chapter.
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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 rear-
ward by the force of deploying air-
bags. Likewise, the driver and front
passenger should not hold things in
their arms or on their knees.
Do not modify or remove any wir-
ing. Do not modify, remove, strike
or open any components such as
the steering wheel column cover,
front passenger airbag cover, front
passenger airbag, airbag sensor as-
sembly. 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 instructions
can result in death or serious inju-
ries.NOTICE
Do not perform any of the following
changes without consulting your
Toyota dealer. Such changes can
interfere with proper operation of the
SRS airbag system in some cases.
 Installation of electronic items such
as a mobile two −way radio, cassette
tape player or compact disc player
 Modification of the suspension sys-
tem
 Modification of the front end struc-
ture
 Attachment of a grille guard (bull
bar, kangaroo bar, etc.), snowplow,
winches or any other equipment to
the front end
 Repairs made on or near the front
end structure, console, steering col-
umn, steering wheel or dashboard
near the front passenger airbag
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This SRS airbag system has a service
reminder indicator to inform the driver of
operating problems. If either of the
following conditions occurs, this indicates
a malfunction of the airbags. 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 ”ACC” or
”ON” position, or remains on.
The light comes on while driving.
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) were involved in an
accident that did not cause the SRS
airbags to inflate.
The pad section of the steering wheel
or front passenger airbag cover
(shaded in the illustration) is scratched,
cracked, or otherwise damaged.
NOTICE
Do not disconnect the battery cables
before contacting your Toyota dealer.
SRS side airbags
The SRS (Supplemental Restraint Sys-
tem) side airbags are designed to pro-
vide further protection for occupants in
the following seats when added to the
primary protection provided by the seat
belts.
Vehicles with separate front seats −The
SRS side airbags are designed to pro-
tect the driver and front passenger.
Vehicles with bench front seats −The
SRS side airbags are designed to pro-
tect the driver and right −front passen-
ger. They are not designed to protect
occupant in the center position.
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Tilt steering wheel
To change the steering wheel angle,
hold the steering wheel, pull the lock
release lever, tilt the steering wheel to
the desired angle and release the lever.
When the steering wheel is in a low posi-
tion, it will spring up as you release the
lock release lever.
CAUTION
Do not adjust the steering wheel
while the vehicle is moving.
After adjusting the steering wheel,
try moving it up and down to make
sure it is locked in position.
Outside rear view mirrors—
Adjust the mirror so you can see the
side of your vehicle in the mirror.
Be careful when judging the size or dis-
tance of any object seen in the outside
rear view mirror on the passenger ’s side.
It is a convex mirror with a curved sur-
face. Any object seen in a convex mirror
will look smaller and farther away than
when seen in a flat mirror.
On some models, when you push the rear
window defogger switch, the heater panels
in the outside rear view mirrors will quick-
ly clear the surface.
CAUTION
Do not adjust the mirror while the
vehicle is moving. It may cause the
driver to mishandle the vehicle and
an accident may occur resulting in
personal injuries.
Since the mirror surfaces can get
hot, keep your hands off them when
the defogger switch is on.
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