2003 TOYOTA AVALON Owners Manual

’03 AVALON U (L/O 0206)
532003 AVALON (OM41401U)
CAUTION
Always make sure the shoulder belt
is positioned across the center of
your shoulder. The belt should be
kept away from your neck, but not
falling off your shoulder. Failure to
do so could reduce the amount of
protection in an accident and cause
serious injuries in a collision.Ta k e u p
slack
To o h i g h
Keep as low on
hips as possible
Adjust the position of the lap and
shoulder belts.
Position the lap belt as low as possible
on your hips—not on your waist, then ad-
just it to a snug fit by pulling the shoulder
portion upward through the latch plate.
CAUTION
Both highpositioned lap belts and
loosefitting belts could cause seri-
ous injuries due to sliding under
the lap belt during a collision or
other unintended result. Keep the
lap belt positioned as low on hips
as possible.
For your safety, do not place the
shoulder belt under your arm.

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To release the belt, press the bucklere-
lease button and allow the belt to re-
tract.
If the belt does not retract smoothly, pull
it out and check for kinks or twists. Then
make sure it remains untwisted as it re-
tracts.
Lengthen
Sit up straight and well back in the
seat. To fasten your belt, insert the tab
into the buckle.
You will hear a click when the tab locks
into the buckle.
If the belt is not long enough for you, hold
the tab at a right angle to the belt and
pull on the tab.
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.
—Front center seat belt
(2point type)

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To o h i g h
Adjust to
a snug fit
Keep as low on hips as possible
Remove excess length of the belt and
adjust the belt position.
To shorten the belt, pull the free end of
the belt.
Position the lap belt as low as possible
on your hips—not on your waist, then ad-
just it to a snug fit.
CAUTION
Both highpositioned and loosefit-
ting lap belts could cause serious in-
juries due to sliding under the lap
belt during a collision or other unin-
tended result. Keep the lap belt posi-
tioned as low on hips as possible.
To release the belt, press the bucklere-
lease button.The front center seat belt can be
stowed when not in use.
—Stowing the front center
seat belt

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If your seat belts cannot be fastened se-
curely because they are not long enough,
a personalized seat belt extender is avail-
able from your Toyota dealer free of
charge.
Please contact your local Toyota dealer so
that the dealer can order the proper re-
quired length for the extender. Bring the
heaviest coat you expect to wear for prop-
er measurement and selection of length.
Additional ordering information is available
at your Toyota dealer.
CAUTION
When using the seat belt extender,
observe the following precautions.
Failure to follow these instructions
could reduce the effectiveness of the
seat belt restraint system in case of
vehicle accident, increasing the
chance of personal injury.
Never use the seat belt extender if
you can fasten the seat belt without
it.
Remember that the extender pro-
vided for you may not be safe when
used on a different vehicle, for
another person or at a different
seating position, than the one origi-
nally intended.
To connect the extender to the seat
belt, insert the tab into the seat belt
buckle so that the “PRESS” signs on
the bucklerelease buttons of the ex-
tender and the seat belt are both facing
outward as shown.
You will hear a click when the tab locks
into the buckle.
When releasing the seat belt, press on
the bucklerelease button on the extender,
not on the seat belt. This helps prevent
damage to the vehicle interior and extend-
er itself.
When not in use, remove the extender
and store in the vehicle for future use.
—Seat belt extender

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CAUTION
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and
that the seat belt extender 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.
The driver and front outside passen-
ger ’s seat belt pretensioners are de-
signed to be activated in response to
a severe frontal impact.
When the airbag sensor detects the shock
of a severe frontal impact, the front out-
side seat belts are quickly drawn back in
by the retractors so that the belts snugly
restrain the front outside seat occupants.
The front outside seat belt pretensioners
are activated even with no passenger in
the front outside seat.This indicator comes on when the igni-
tion key is turned to the “ON” position.
It goes off after about 6 seconds. This
means the front outside seat belt pre-
tensioners are operating properly.
This warning light system monitors the
airbag sensor assembly, front airbag sen-
sors, side airbag sensors, driver ’s seat
position sensor, driver ’s seat belt buckle
switch, front seat belt pretensioner assem-
blies, inflators, warning light, interconnect-
ing wiring and power sources. (For details,
see “Service reminder indicators and
warning buzzers” in Section 15.)
—Front seat belt
pretensioners

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The front outside seat belt pretensioner
system mainly consists of the following
components and their locations are shown
in the illustration.
1. Front airbag sensors
2. SRS warning light
3. Front seat belt pretensioner assemblies
4. Airbag sensor assembly
The front outside seat belt pretensioners
are controlled by the airbag sensor as-
sembly. The airbag sensor assembly con-
sists of a safing sensor and airbag sen-
sor.When the front outside seat belt preten-
sioners are activated, an operating noise
may be heard and a small amount of
smokelike gas may be released. This gas
is harmless and does not indicate that a
fire is occurring.
Once the front outside seat belt preten-
sioners have been activated, the seat belt
retractors remain locked.
CAUTION
Do not modify, remove, strike or open
the front seat belt pretensioner as-
semblies, airbag sensor or surround-
ing area or wiring. Doing so may
cause sudden operation of the front
outside seat belt pretensioners or dis-
able the system, which could result in
death or serious injury.
Failure to follow these instructions
can result in death or serious inju-
ries. Consult your Toyota dealer
about any repairs and modifications.
NOTICE
Do not perform any of the following
changes without consulting your
Toyota dealer. Such changes can
interfere with proper operation of the
front outside seat belt pretensioners
in some cases.
Installation of electronic devices
such as a mobile twoway radio,
cassette tape player or compact
disc player
Repairs on or near the front seat
belt retractor assemblies
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
fenders, front end structure or con-
sole

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This front outside seat belt pretensioner
system has a service reminder indicator to
inform the driver of operating problems. If
any of the following conditions occurs, this
indicates a malfunction of the airbags or
pretensioners. 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 “ON” posi-
tion, or remains on.
The light comes on or flashes while
driving.
If either front outside seat belt does
not retract or cannot be pulled out due
to a malfunction or activation of the
relevant front outside seat belt preten-
sioner.
In the following cases, contact your Toyota
dealer as soon as possible:
The front of the vehicle (shaded in the
illustration) was involved in an accident
that was not severe enough to cause
the front outside seat belt pretension-
ers to operate.
Either front outside seat belt preten-
sioner assembly or surrounding area is
scratched, cracked, or otherwise dam-
aged.

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The SRS (Supplemental Restraint Sys-
tem) front airbags are designed to pro-
vide further protection for occupants in
the following seats in addition to the
primary safety protection provided by
the seat belts.
Vehicles with bucket front seats—The
SRS front airbags are designed to pro-
tect the driver and front passenger.
Vehicles with bench type front seats—
The SRS front airbags are designed to
protect the driver and front outside
passenger. They are not designed to
protect occupant in the center position.In response to a severe frontal impact,
the SRS front airbags work together with
the seat belts to help reduce injury by
inflating. The SRS front airbags help to
reduce injuries mainly to the driver ’s or
front passenger ’s head or chest caused by
directly hitting the steering wheel or dash-
board. The front passenger airbag is acti-
vated even with no passenger in the front
seat.
Be sure to wear your seat belt properly.
CAUTION
The driver or front passenger who is
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.
SRS driver airbag and front
passenger airbag