2000 SUBARU OUTBACK warning

7-16
N (Neutral)
WARNING
Do not drive the vehicle with the selector lever in the “N” (neutral)
position. Engine braking has no effect in this condition and the risk of an accident is consequently increased.
This p osition is for restarting a stalled eng ine.
In this p osition the wheels and transmission are no t loc ked . In this
p osition, the transmission is neutral; the vehic le will roll freely, even on
the slig htest inc line unless the p arking b rake or f oot b rake is on.
D (Drive)
This p osition is for normal d riving .
The transmission automatic ally shifts into a suitab le g ear from 1st to
4th ac c ord ing to the vehic le sp eed and the ac c elera tion you req uire.
When more ac c eleration is req uired in this p osition , p ress the ac c eler-
ator p ed al fully to the floor and hold that p ositio n. The transmission
will automatic ally d ownshift to 3rd , 2nd or 1st g ea r. When you release
the p ed al, the transmission will return to the orig inal g ear p osition.
n While climbing a grade
When d riving up a hill, und esired up shift to 4th g e ar is p revented from
taking p lac e when the ac c elerator is released . This minimizes the
c hanc e of sub seq uent d ownshifting to a lower g ear w hen ac c elerat-
ing ag ain. This p revents rep eated up shifting and d o wnshifting result-
ing in a smoother op eration of the vehic le. NOTE
The transmission may downshift to 2nd or 1st gear, depending on the way the accelerator pedal is pressed to accelerate the vehicleagain. n While going down a hill
When d esc end ing a steep hill, d ep ressing the b rake p ed al will c ause
the transmission to d ownshift to 3rd g ear, thus ap p lying eng ine b rak-
ing . Reac c eleration for a short time will c ause the transmission to up -

7-18
Maximum speeds
WARNING
When shifting down a gear, ensure that the vehicle is not travel- ling at a speed exceeding the Maximum Allowable Speed for thegear which is about to be selected. Failure to observe this pre-caution can lead to engine over-revving and this in turn canresult in engine damage.In addition, sudden application of engine brakes when the vehicleis travelling on a slippery surface can lead to wheel locking; as a
consequence, control of the vehicle may be lost and the risk ofan accident increased.
The following tab les show the maximum sp eed s that a re p ossib le with
eac h d ifferent g ear. The tac hometer ’s (if so eq uip p ed ) need le will
enter the red area if these sp eed s are exc eed ed .
When shifting d own a g ear, it is imp ortant to c onfi rm that the c urrent
vehic le sp eed is not in exc ess of the Maximum Allow ab le Sp eed of
the g ear whic h is ab out to b e selec ted .
Exc eed ing the Maximum Allowab le Sp eed s will result in over-revving
of the eng ine. In ad d ition a p owerful eng ine b rake will eng ag e and
c ontrol of the vehic le may b e lost.
mph (km/h)
Vehicle type
PositionBrighton, LGTOUTBACK
133 (53)27 (43)29 (47)
264 (103)57 (92)62 (100)
3102 (164)97 (156)104 (167)
NOTE In order to prevent over-revving during acceleration of the
vehicle, the transmission will automatically shift to the next high- est gear if the Maximum Allowable Speed for the current gear isexceeded.

Starting and operating7-21
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Braking
Braking tips
WARNING
Never rest your foot on the brake pedal while driving. This can
cause dangerous overheating of the brakes and needless wearon the brake pads and linings.
When the brakes get wet
When d riving in rain or after washing the vehic le, the b rakes may g et
wet. As a result, b rake stop p ing d istanc e will b e l ong er. To d ry the
b rakes, d rive the vehic le at a safe sp eed while lig htly d ep ressing the
b rake p ed al to heat up the b rakes. Use of engine braking
Rememb er to make use of eng ine b raking in ad d ition to foot b raking .
When d esc end ing a g rad e, if only the foot b rake is used , the b rakes
may start working imp rop erly b ec ause of b rake fluid overheating ,
c aused b y overheated b rake p ad s. To help p revent th is, shift into a
lower g ear to g et strong er eng ine b raking . Braking when a tire is punctured
Do not d ep ress the b rake p ed al sud d enly when a tire is p unc tured .
This c ould c ause a loss of c ontrol of the vehic le. Keep d riving straig ht
ahead while g rad ually red uc ing sp eed . Then slowly p ull off the road
to a safe p lac e.
Brake system Two separate circuits
Your vehic le has two sep arate c irc uit b rake systems . Eac h c irc uit
works d iag onally ac ross the vehic le. If one c irc uit of the b rake system
should fail, the other half of the system still wor ks. If one c irc uit fails,
the b rake p ed al will g o d own muc h c loser to the flo or than usual and
you will need to p ress it d own muc h hard er. And a m uc h long er d is-
tanc e will b e need ed to stop the vehic le.

7-22
Brake booster
The b rake b ooster uses eng ine manifold vac uum to as sist b raking
forc e. Do not turn off the eng ine while d riving b ec ause that will turn off
the b rake b ooster, resulting in p oor b raking p ower.
The b rakes will c ontinue to work even when the b rak e b ooster c om-
p letely stop s func tioning . If this hap p ens, however , you will have to
p ush the p ed al muc h hard er than normal and the b rak ing d istanc e
will inc rease.
Disc brake pad wear warning indicators
OM-H0163
The d isc b rake p ad wear warning ind ic ators on the d isc b rakes g ive a
warning noise when the b rake p ad s are worn.
If a sq ueaking or sc rap ing noise is heard from the d isc b rakes while
b raking , immed iately have your vehic le c hec ked b y y our SUBARU d eal-
er.

Starting and operating7-23
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ABS (Anti-lock Brake System)
WARNING
Always use the utmost care in driving – overconfidence because
you are driving with an ABS equipped vehicle could easily lead to a serious accident.
CAUTION
The ABS system does not always decrease stopping distance.
You should always maintain a safe following distance from othervehicles. When driving on badly surfaced roads, gravel roads, icy road,
or over deep newly fallen snow, stopping distances may be long-er for a vehicle with the ABS system than one without. When driv-ing under these conditions, therefore, reduce your speed and
leave ample distance from other vehicles. When you feel the ABS system operating, you should maintain
constant brake pedal pressure. Do not pump the brake pedal
since doing so may defeat the operation of the ABS system.
The ABS system p revents the loc k-up of wheels whic h may oc c ur d uring
sud d en b raking or b raking on slip p ery road surfac es . This help s p revent
the loss of steering c ontrol and d irec tional stab il ity c aused b y wheel
loc k-up .
When the ABS system is op erating , you may hear a c h attering noise or
feel a slig ht vib ration in the b rake p ed al. This is normal when the ABS
op erates.
The ABS system will not op erate when the vehic le sp eed is b elow
ap p roximately 6 mp h (10 km/h).
ABS system self-check
You may feel a slig ht shoc k in the b rake p ed al and hear the op erating
sound of ABS from the eng ine c omp artment just after the vehic le is

7-24started . This is c aused b y an automatic func tional
test of the ABS sys-
tem b eing c arried out and d oes not ind ic ate any ab n ormal c ond ition.
ABS warning light
HB4010GA
The ABS warning lig ht c omes on when the ig nition sw itc h is turned to
the “ON ” p osition and g oes out after ab out two sec ond s.
This is an ind ic ation that the ABS system is workin g p rop erly.
If the warning lig ht b ehaves as follows, the ABS sy stem may not b e
working p rop erly. The warning lig ht d oes not c ome on when the ig nitio n switc h is
turned to the “ON ” p osition.
The warning lig ht c omes on when the ig nition switc h is turned to
the “ON ” p osition, b ut it d oes not g o out even when the veh ic le sp eed
exc eed s ap p roximately 8 mp h (12 km/h). The warning lig ht c omes on d uring d riving .
When the warning lig ht is on, the ABS func tion shut s d own; however,
the c onventional b rake system c ontinues to op erate normally. If this
oc c urs, have the ABS system rep aired at the first a vailab le op p ortuni-
ty b y your SUBARU d ealer. NOTE
If the warning light behavior is as described below, the ABS sys- tem may be considered normal. The warning light comes on right after the engine is started

Starting and operating7-25
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but goes out immediately, remaining off.
The warning light remains on after the engine has been
started, but it goes out when the vehicle speed reaches about 8mph (12 km/h). The warning light comes on during driving, but it goes out
immediately and remains off.
When d riving with an insuffic ient b attery voltag e s uc h as when the en-
g ine is jump started , the ABS warning lig ht may c om e on. This is d ue
to the low b attery voltag e and d oes not ind ic ate a malfunc tion. When
the b attery b ec omes fully c harg ed , the lig ht will g o out.
Parking your vehicle
WARNING
Never leave unattended children or pets in the vehicle. They
could accidentally injure themselves or others through inadver- tent operation of the vehicle. Also, on hot or sunny days, the tem-perature in a closed vehicle could quickly become high enoughto cause severe or possibly fatal injuries to them. Do not park the vehicle over flammable materials such as dry
grass, waste paper or rags, as they may burn easily if they comenear hot engine or exhaust system parts. Be sure to stop the engine if you take a nap in the vehicle. If
engine exhaust gas enters the passenger compartment, occu-pants in the vehicle could die from carbon monoxide (CO) con-tained in the exhaust gas.
CAUTION
Never drive while the parking brake is set because this will cause
unnecessary wear on the brake linings. Before starting to drive,always make sure that the parking brake has been fully released.
To set the p arking b rake, p ress the b rake p ed al fir mly and hold it d own

7-26while fully p ulling up the p arking b rake lever.
HB4001BA
To release the p arking b rake, p ull the lever up sli
g htly, p ress the release
b utton, then lower the lever while keep ing the b utt on p ressed .
When the p arking b rake is set while the eng ine is r unning , the p arking
b rake warning lig ht c omes on. After starting the ve hic le, b e sure that the
warning lig ht has g one out b efore the vehic le is d r iven. Refer to the
“ Warning and ind ic ator lig hts ” sec tion (c hap ter 3).
When p arking your vehic le, always set the p arking b rake firmly and p ut
the shift lever in the “1 ” (1st) for an up g rad e or “R ” (Reverse) for a d own-
g rad e for manual transmission vehic les, or in the “P ” (Park) p osition for
automatic transmission vehic les. Always set the p ar king b rake firmly
when p arking your vehic le. Never rely on the transm ission alone to hold
the vehic le.
HB4015AA
HB4014AA