1998 TOYOTA TACOMA light

'98 Tacoma (U)
16 2. To remove the fuel tank cap, turn
the cap slowly counterclockwise,
then pause slightly before removing
it. After removing the cap, hang it
on the cap hanger.
It is not unusual to hear a slight swoosh
when the cap is opened. When insta lling,
turn the cap clockwise till you hear a click.
If the cap is not tightened securely, the
malfunction indicator lamp comes on.
Make sure the cap is tightened securely.
The indicator lamp goes off after driving
several times. If the indicator lamp does
not go off, contact your Toyota dealer as
soon as possible.
CAUTION
Make sure the cap is tightened se-
curely to prevent fuel sp illage in
case of an accident.
Use only a genuine Toyota fuel tank
cap for replacement. It has a built-
in check valve to reduce fuel tank
vacuum.
CAUTION
To avoid serious personal injury, you
must do the following. While the vehicle is moving, always
keep the head, hands and other
parts of the body of all occupants
away from the roof opening. Other-
wise, you could be seriously injured
if the vehicle stops suddenly or if
the vehicle is involved in an acci-
dent.
Never sit on top of the vehicle
around the roof opening.
Never attempt to remove the moon
roof panel while driving. Otherwise,
the panel may become a hazard by
falling into or flying off the vehicle.
After installing the moon roof pan-
el, make sure they are firmly se-
cured by pushing up on the under-
side of the panel.
Never put your hands between the
moon roof panel and the surround-
ing roof.
ÐTilting up and closing
To tilt up the moon roof, first pull down
on the handle while pushing in one of
the lock buttons. Then push up the
moon roof until it locks.
After tilting up the moon roof, make sure
the handle is securely in place.
When closing the moon roof, slowly pull
down the handle while supporting the roof
with your hand. Close and lock the moon
roof by pushing the handle. Be sure to
use your palm to push the handle. After
closing the moon roof, make sure it is
securely locked.
Detachable moon roofÐ
ÐMoon roof precautions

'98 Tacoma (U)
20
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.1. SEAT POSITION ADJUSTING LEVER
Pull the lever up. Then slide the seat
to the desired position with slight
body pressure and release the lever.
2. SEATBACK ANGLE ADJUSTING LEVER (except bench seat)
Lean forward and pull the lever up.
Then lean back to the desired angle
and release the lever.
CAUTION
To reduce the risk of sliding under
the lap belt during a collision, avoid
reclining the seatback any more than
needed. The seat belts provide maxi-
mum protection in a frontal or rear
collision when the driver and the pas-
senger are sitting up straight and
well back in the seats. If you are
reclined, the lap belt may slide past
your hips and apply restraint forces
directly to the abdomen. Therefore, in
the event of a frontal collision, the
risk of personal injury may increase
with increasing recline of the seat- back.
ÐAdjusting front seats

'98 Tacoma (U)
22
ÐFolding seatback (bench seat)
Pull the seatback lock release lever and
fold down the seatback.
Hold the lever until you have swung the
seatback forward slightly.
CAUTION
When returning the seatback to the
upright position:
Make sure the seat belts are not
twisted or caught in the seatback
and are arranged in their proper
position for ready use.
Make sure the seatback is securely
locked by pushing forward and rear-
ward on the top of the seatback.
Rear seats (jump seats)
To raise the bottom cushion, pull it up.
To lower the bottom cushion, push it down.
See ºLuggage stowage precautionsº in
Part 2 for precautions to observe in load-
ing luggage.
CAUTION
When returning the bottom cushion to
its original position: Make sure the seat belts are not
twisted or caught under the bottom
cushion and are arranged in their
proper position for ready use.
Make sure the bottom cushion is
securely locked by trying to pull up
the edge of the bottom cushion.

'98 Tacoma (U)
24
Toyota strongly urges that the driver and
passengers in the vehicle be properly re-
strained 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 ap-
propriate for the child until the child be-
comes large enough to properly wear the
vehicle's seat belts. See ºChild restraintк
for details.
NORMAL-CAB MODELSÐ
If a child is too large for a child restraint
system, the child s hould sit in the seat
and must be restrained using the vehicle's
seat belt.
XTRA-CAB MODELSÐ
If a child is too large for a child restraint
system, the child s hould 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 prop-
erly. If a child must sit in the front seat, the
seat belts should be worn properly. If an
accident occurs and the seat belts are not
worn properly, the force of the rapid infla-
tion of the airbag may cause death or
serious 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 in-
jury during emergency braking or a colli-
sion. Also, do not let the child sit on your
lap. It does not provide sufficient restraint.
Small-framed person or youth in a
3-point type seat belt.
On models with a
bench seat, have a small-framed person
or youth sit slightly closer to the center
of the vehicle (so the shoulder belt does
not cross over the neck). On models with
separate seats, move the seat fully back-
ward.
Pregnant woman. Toyota 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. Toyota recommends the
use of a seat belt. Depending on the inju-
ry, 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 or
death 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 peopleÐeven children.
Avoid reclining the seatbacks too
much. The seat belts provide maxi-
mum protection when the seatbacks
are in the upright position. (Refer
to the seat adjustment instructions.)
Be careful not to damage the belt
webbing or hardware. Take care that
they do not get caught or pinched
in the seat or side doors.
Inspect the belt system periodically.
Check for cuts, fraying, and loose
parts. Damaged parts should be re-
placed. Do not disassemble or
modify the system.
Seat beltsÐ
ÐSeat belt precautions

'98 Tacoma (U)25
Keep the belts clean and dry. If
they need cleaning, use a mild soap
solution or lukewarm water. Never
use bleach, dye, or abrasive clean-
ers±they may severely weaken the
belts. (See Cleaning the interiorº
in Part 5.)
Replace the belt assembly (includ-
ing bolts) if it has been used in a
severe impact. The entire assembly
should be replaced even if damage
is not obvious.
Adjust the seat as needed (front seats
only) and sit up straight and well back
in the seat. To fasten your belt, pull it
out of the retractor and insert the tab
into the buckle.
You will hear a click when the tab locks
into the buckle.
The seat belt length automatically adjusts
to your size and the seat position.
The retractor will lock the belt during a
sudden stop or on impact. It also may
lock if you lean forward too quickly. A
slow, easy motion will allow the belt to
extend, and you can move around freely. If the seat belt cannot be pulled out of the
retractor, firmly pull the belt and release
it. You will then be able to smoothly pull
the belt out of the retractor.
When a passenger 's shoulder belt is com-
pletely extended and is then retracted
even slightly, the belt is locked in that
position and cannot be extended. This fea-
ture is used to hold the child restraint
system securely. (For details, see ºChild
restraintº in this chapter.) To free the belt
again, fully retract the belt and then pull
the belt out once more.CAUTION

After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and
that the belt is not twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in
the buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab and
buckle.
If the seat belt does not function
normally, immediately contact your
Toyota dealer. Do not use the seat
until the seat belt is fixed. It cannot
protect an adult occupant or your
child from injury.
ÐFront outside seat belts and
rear seat belts

'98 Tacoma (U)31
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.
The passenger airbag system is
equipped with a cutoff switch and indi-
cator light. Turning the passenger air-
bag switch to the ONº position makes
the passenger airbag system operation-
al. Turning the passenger airbag switch
to the OFFº position disables the pas-
senger airbag system. The indicator
light on the passenger airbag switch
will come on when the passenger air-
bag system has been disabled.
See Passenger airbag cutoff systemº in
this chapter for detail.
CAUTION
Make sure that the indicator light is
off.
Do not turn off the passenger air-
bag system except when you use a
rear- facing child restraint system in
the front seat unavoidably.
When the passenger airbag switch
is turned off, the passenger airbag
will not inflate in a collision.

'98 Tacoma (U)
32
This indicator comes on when the igni-
tion key is turned to the ºACCº or
ºONº 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
buzzersº in chapter 1- 5.)The SRS airbag system is 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 SRS air-
bags 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 severi-
ty of the impact is above the designed
threshold level, comparable to an approxi-
mate 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 involved 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 ve-
hicle's two airbags will deploy.
For the safety of all occupants, be sure
to always wear seat belts.

'98 Tacoma (U)33
Collision from the rear
Collision from the side 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.
The SRS airbag system mainly consists of
the following components and their loca-
tions are shown in the illustration.
1 SRS airbag warning light
2 Airbag module for driver (airbag and inflator)
3 Passenger airbag cutoff switch
4 Airbag module for passenger (airbag and inflator)
5 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 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.