2003 SUBARU BAJA Owners Manual

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The SRS airbag deploys with considerable force and can injure or even kill the child.
HB0291
Put children in the REAR seat prop- erly restrained at all times.
CAUTION
When the SRS airbag deploys, some smoke will be released.
This smoke could cause breathing problems for people with a history of asthma or other breathing trouble. If you or your pas-
sengers have breathing problems after SRS airbag deploys, get
fresh air promptly. A deploying SRS airbag releases hot gas. Occupants could get
burnt if they come into direct contact with the hot gas.
Your vehicle is equipped with a supplemental restraint system in addition
to a lap/shoulder belt at each front seating position.
The supplemental restraint system (SRS) consists of two airbags (driver ’s
and front passenger ’s frontal airbags).
These SRS airbags are designed only as a supplement to the prima-ry protection provided by the seatbelt.
The system also controls front seatbelt pretensioners. For operation,
instructions are precautions concerning the seatbelt pretensioner, seethe “Front seatbelt pretensioner ” section in this chapter.

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NOTE When you sell your vehicle, we urge you to explain to the buyer that
it is equipped with SRS airbags by alerting him to the applicablesection in this owner’s manual.
Components
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1 Airbag control module(including impact sensors)
2 Airbag module (driver ’s side)
3 Airbag module
(passenger’ s side)
4 Front sub sensor (left hand side) 5
Front sub sensor (right hand side)
6 Seatbelt pretensioner
(driver’ s side)
7 Seatbelt pretensioner
(passenger’ s side)

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SRS frontal airbag
WARNING
NEVER INSTALL A REARWARD FACING CHILD SAFETY SEAT
IN THE FRONT SEAT. DOING SO RISKS SERIOUS INJURY OR
DEATH TO THE CHILD BY PLACING THE CHILD ’S HEAD TOO
CLOSE TO THE SRS AIRBAG. Never allow a child to stand up, or to kneel on the front pas-
senger’ s seat, or never hold a child on your lap or in your arms.
The SRS airbag deploys with considerable force and can injure oreven kill the child. The SRS airbag deploys with considerable speed and force.
Occupants who are out of proper position when the SRS airbag
deploys could suffer very serious injuries. Because the SRS air-bag needs enough space for deployment, the driver should al-ways sit upright and well back in the seat as far from the steeringwheel as practical while still maintaining full vehicle control and
the front passenger should move the seat as far back as possibleand sit upright and well back in the seat. It is also important to wear your seatbelt to help avoid injuriesthat can result when the SRS airbag contacts an occupant not inproper position such as one thrown toward the front of the carduring pre-accident braking.
HB0306 HB0307
Never install rearward facing child restraint system in the front passen-
ger’
s seat.
Never allow a child to stand up, or to kneel on the front passenger ’s
seat

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HB0308
Never hold a child on your lap or in your arms.HS0233
Adjust the seatback to upright position. Sit well back and upright.
Move the seat as far from the steering wheel as practical.
HB0290
Adjust the seatback to upright position. Sit well back and upright.
Move the seat as far back as possible.
WARNING
Do not put any objects over the steering wheel pad and dash-
board. If the SRS frontal airbag deploys, those objects could in-
terfere with its proper operation and could be propelled inside the
vehicle and cause injury. Do not attach accessories to the windshield, or fit an extra-
wide mirror over the rear view mirror. If the SRS airbag deploys,those objects could become projectiles that could seriously in-jure vehicle occupants.

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The driver’s SRS frontal airbag is stowed in the center portion of the
steering wheel. The passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag is stowed near the
top of the dashboard under an “SRS AIRBAG ” mark.
In a moderate to severe frontal collision, the driver ’s and front passen-
ger’ s SRS frontal airbags deploy and supplement the seatbelts by reduc-
ing the impact on the driver ’s and front passenger ’s head and chest.
Operation
CAUTION
Do not touch the SRS airbag system components around the steering wheel and dashboard with bare hands right after deploy-ment. Doing so can cause burns because the components can bevery hot as a result of deployment.

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SRS airbags deploy as soon as a collision occurs. After deployment, SRS airbags start to deflate immediately so that the driver’s
vision is not obstructed.
OM-H0384
Driver’
s side Passenger ’s side
The SRS airbag can function only when the ignition switch is in the
“ON” position.
If the front sub sensors inside the both front fenders and the impact
sensors in the airbag control module detect a certain predetermined
amount of force during a frontal collision, the control module sends
signals to the frontal airbag modules instructing them to inflate the
SRS frontal airbags. Then both airbag modules produce gas, whichinstantly inflates driver ’s and passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags. After
the deployment, the SRS airbags immediately start to deflate so thatthe driver ’s vision is not obstructed. The time required from detecting
impact to the deflation of the SRS airbag after deployment is shorter
than the blink of an eye.
The front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag deploys together with driv-
er’ s SRS frontal airbag even when no one occupies the front passen-
ger’ s seat.
When the SRS frontal airbags deploy, the driver ’s and front passen-
ger’ s seatbelt pretensioners operate at the same time.
Although it is highly unlikely that the SRS airbag would activate in a
non-accident situation, should it occur, the SRS airbag will deflate
quickly, not obscuring vision and will not interfere with the driver ’s
ability to maintain control of the vehicle.

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When the SRS airbag deploys, a sudden, fairly loud inflation noise will
be heard and some smoke will be released. These occurrences are
normal result of the deployment. This smoke does not indicate a fire inthe vehicle.
The SRS frontal airbag is designed to deploy in the event of an acci-
dent involving a moderate to severe frontal collision. It is basically not
designed to deploy in lesser frontal impacts because the necessary
protection can be achieved by the seatbelt alone. Also, it is basically
not designed to deploy in side or rear impacts or in roll-over acci-
dents because deployment of the SRS frontal airbag would not helpthe occupant in those situations. The SRS airbag is designed to func-
tion on a one-time-only basis.
SRS airbag deployment depends on the level of force experienced in
the passenger compartment during a collision. That level differs from
one type of collision to another, and it may have no bearing on thevisible damage done to the vehicle itself. nExamples of accident in which the SRS frontal airbag will most
likely deploy.
A head-on collision against a thick concrete wall at a vehicle speed of
12 to 19 mph (20 to 30 km/h) or higher activates the SRS frontal air-
bag. The SRS frontal airbag will also be activated when the vehicle is
exposed to a frontal impact similar in fashion and magnitude to the
above-mentioned collision.
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nExamples of the types of accidents in which it is possible that
the SRS frontal airbag will deploy.
The SRS frontal airbag may be activated when the vehicle sustains a
hard impact in the undercarriage area from the road surface (such as
when the vehicle plunges into a deep ditch, is severely bumped or
knocked hard against an obstacle on the road such as a curb).
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HB1137BA
n Examples of the types of accidents in which the SRS frontal
airbag is unlikely to deploy.
There are many types of collisions which might not necessarily require
SRS frontal airbag deployment. If the vehicle strikes an object, suchas a telephone pole or sign pole, or if it slides under a truck ’s load
bed, or if it sustains an oblique offset frontal impact, the SRS frontal
airbag may not deploy depending on the level of accident forces in-volved.
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