2003 TOYOTA CAMRY tow

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CAUTION
To avoid serious personal injury, you
must do the following.
Before you close the power win-
dows, always make sure there is
nobody around the power windows.
You must also make sure the
heads, hands and other parts of the
bodies of all occupants are kept
completely inside the vehicle. If
someone’s neck, head or hands get
caught in a closing window, it
could result in a serious injury.
When anyone closes the power win-
dows, make sure he or she oper-
ates the windows safely.
When small children are in the ve-
hicle, never let them use the power
window switches without supervi-
sion. Use the window lock switch to
prevent them from making unex-
pected use of the switches.
Never leave small children alone in
the vehicle, especially with the igni-
tion key still inserted. They could
use the power window switches and
get trapped in a window. Unat-
tended children can be involved in
serious accidents.
To open the trunk lid from the outside,
insert the master key and turn it clock-
wise.
See “Luggage stowage precautions” on
page 202 in Section 2 for precautions
when loading luggage.
To close the trunk lid, lower it and press
down on it. After closing the trunk lid, try
pulling it up to make sure it is securely
closed.
The trunk lid can be opened with the wire-
less remote control transmitter, see
“—Wireless remote control” on page 20 in
this section.
Trunk lid—

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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 properly seated. Do
not allow passengers to sit on top
of a foldeddown seatback, or in
the luggage compartment or cargo
area. Persons not properly seated
and/or properly restrained by seat
belts can be severely injured in the
event of emergency braking or a
collision.
During driving, do not allow pas-
sengers to stand up or move
around between seats. Otherwise,
severe injuries can occur in the
event of emergency braking or a
collision.
Driver seat
CAUTION
The SRS driver airbag deploys with
considerable force, and can cause
death or serious injury especially if
the driver is very close to the airbag.
The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (“NHTSA”) advises:
Since the risk zone for driver airbag
is the first 50—75 mm (2—3 in.) of
inflation, placing yourself 250 mm (10
in.) from your driver airbag provides
you with a clear margin of safety.
This distance is measured from the
center of the steering wheel to your
breastbone. If you sit less than 250
mm (10 in.) away now, you can
change your driving position in sever-
al ways:
Move your seat to the rear as far
as you can while still reaching the
pedals comfortably.
Slightly recline the back of the
seat. Although vehicle designs vary,
many drivers can achieve the 250
mm (10 in.) distance, even with the
driver seat all the way forward, sim-
ply by reclining the back of the
seat somewhat. If reclining the back
of your seat makes it hard to see
the road, raise yourself by using a
firm, nonslippery cushion, or raise
the seat if your vehicle has that
feature.
If your steering wheel is adjustable,
tilt it downward. This points the air-
bag toward your chest instead of
your head and neck.
The seat should be adjusted as rec-
ommended by NHTSA above, while
still maintaining control of the foot
pedals, steering wheel, and your view
of the instrument panel controls.
Seats Front seats—
—Front seat precautions

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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. In the event
of a frontal collision, the more the
seat is reclined, the greater the risk
of personal injury.
3. SEAT LUMBAR SUPPORTADJUSTING KNOB
Turn the knob either way.
1. Pull up the seatback security lock lever 1 to the unlock position.
2. Pull up the lock release button 2.
3. Fold down the seatback.
Each seatback can be folded separately.This will enlarge the trunk as far as the
seatbacks. See “ Luggage stowage precau-
tions” on page 202 in Section 2 for pre-
cautions when loading luggage.
NOTICE
Make sure the luggage loaded in the
enlarged trunk will not damage the
webbing of the rear center seat belt
when the left seatback is folded
down.
Folddown rear seat

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To change the steering wheel angle,
hold the steering wheel, push down the
lock release lever, tilt the steering
wheel to the desired angle and return
the lever to its original position.
CAUTION
Do not adjust the steering wheel
while the vehicle is moving. Doing
so may cause the driver to mishan-
dle the vehicle and an accident may
occur resulting in death or serious
injuries.
After adjusting the steering wheel,
try moving it up and down to make
sure it is locked in position.
To adjust the position of the accelerator
and brake pedals, push the switch.
The ignition key must be in the “ON” posi-
tion with the automatic transmission selec-
tor lever in the “P” position.
To move the pedals toward the front of
the vehicle: Push the “” side of the
switch.
To move the pedals back toward you:
Push the “ ” side of the switch.
The accelerator and brake pedals will
move simultaneously as long as you hold
the switch.
Tilt steering wheel Power adjustable pedals
(some models with an
automatic transmission)

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When you set your driving position:1. Set the parking brake firmly.
2. Move the accelerator and brake pedals to the front most position.
3. Adjust the seat position and steering wheel angle properly. (See “Front
seats” on page 38 and “Tilt steering
wheel” on page 85.)
4. Move the pedals toward you until you can fully depress the brake pedal.
5. After adjusting, depress the pedals a few times to get used to the feel.
CAUTION
Never put your foot on the acceler-
ator pedal while the pedals are
moving. It may cause racing of the
engine or sudden acceleration.
Make sure that you can fully de-
press the brake pedal before driv-
ing. Otherwise, you may not be able
to hold down the brake pedal firmly
in an emergency stop.
Adjust the mirror so that you can just
see the side of your vehicle in the mir-
ror.
Be careful when judging the size or dis-
tance of any object seen in the outside
rear view mirror on the passenger ’s side
because it is a convex mirror. 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 mirror surface. (See “Rear
window and outside rear view mirror de-
foggers” on page 99 in Section 14.)
CAUTION
Do not adjust the mirror while the
vehicle is moving. Doing so may
cause the driver to mishandle the
vehicle and an accident may occur
resulting in death or serious inju-
ries.
Since the mirror surfaces can get
hot, do not touch them when the
defogger switch is on.
NOTICE
The outside rear view mirrors are
fixed in place. Do not try to fold the
mirrors. It may damage the mirrors.
Outside rear view mirrors—

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With interval adjuster: The “INT TIME”
band lets you adjust the wiping time inter-
val when the wiper lever is in the intermit-
tent position (position 1). Twist the band
upward to increase the time between
sweeps, and downward to decrease it.
To squirt washer fluid, pull the lever
toward you.
If the windshield wipers are off, they will
operate a couple of times after the washer
squirts.
For instructions on adding washer fluid,
see “Adding washer fluid” on page 279 in
Section 73.
In freezing weather, warm the windshield
with the defroster before using the washer.
This will help prevent the washer fluid
from freezing on your windshield, which
can block your vision.
NOTICE
Do not operate the wipers if the wind-
shield is dry. It may scratch the
glass.
When waxing your vehicle, make sure that
the washer nozzles do not become
blocked. If a nozzle becomes blocked,
contact your Toyota dealer to have the
vehicle serviced.
NOTICE
If a nozzle becomes blocked, do not
try to clear it with a pin or other
object. The nozzle will be damaged.
With manual air conditioning controls
With automatic air conditioning controls
Rear window and outside rear
view mirror defoggers

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Idling for a long period with the air
conditioning on in stopandgo traffic.
Towing a trailer.
NOTICE
Do not remove the thermostat in
the engine cooling system as this
may cause the engine to overheat.
The thermostat is designed to con-
trol the flow of coolant to keep the
temperature of the engine within
the specified operating range.
 Do not continue driving with an
overheated engine. See “If your ve-
hicle overheats” on page 226 in
Section 4.
The tachometer indicates engine speed
in thousands of rpm
( revolutions per
minute). Use it while driving to select
correct shift points and to prevent en-
gine lugging and overrevving.
Driving with the engine running too fast
causes excessive engine wear and poor
fuel economy. Remember, in most cases
the slower the engine speed, the greater
the fuel economy.
NOTICE
Do not let the indicator needle get
into the red zone. This may cause
severe engine damage.
This meter displays the odometer and
two trip meters when the ignition
switch is on.
1. Odometer—Shows the total distance the vehicle has been driven.
2. Two trip meters—Show two different distances independently driven since
the last time each trip meter was set
to zero.
You can use one trip meter to calculate
the fuel economy and the other to
measure the distance on each trip. All
trip meter data is cancelled if the elec-
trical power source is disconnected.
Tachometer Odometer and two trip meters

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(b) Overdrive switch
You can select either third gear (with
overdrive off) or fourth gear (with over-
drive on) by pushing this switch.
To turn the overdrive off, push the switch.
The “O/D OFF” indicator light should come
on. To turn the overdrive on again, push
the switch again. The “O/D OFF” indicator
light should go off.
Always drive your vehicle with the over-
drive on for better fuel economy and
quieter driving.
If the engine is turned off when the over-
drive is off and restarted, the overdrive
will be on automatically.Vehicles with cruise control—When the
cruise control is being used, even if you
downshift the transmission by pushing and
releasing the overdrive switch, engine
braking will not be enabled because the
cruise control is not cancelled.
For ways to decrease the vehicle speed,
see “Cruise control” on page 129 in this
section.
(c) Normal driving
1. Start the engine as instructed in “How to start the engine” on page 208 in
Section 3. The transmission must be in
“P” or “N”.
2. With your foot holding down the brake pedal, shift the selector lever to “D”.
When the lever is in the “D” position, the
automatic transmission system will select
the most suitable gear for running condi-
tions such as normal cruising, hill climb-
ing, hard towing, etc.
Always turn the overdrive on for better
fuel economy and quieter driving. If the
engine coolant temperature is low, the
transmission will not shift into overdrive
gear even with the overdrive on.
CAUTION
Never put your foot on the accelera-
tor pedal while shifting.
3. Release the parking brake and brake pedal. Depress the accelerator pedal
slowly for smooth starting.
If the automatic locking operation linked
with the shift position is set, all doors are
automatically locked when the shift lever
is moved out of the “P” position with the
ignition switch is in the “ON” position and
all the doors are closed. For details, see
“—Automatic door locking and unlocking
functions” on page 19 in Section 12.
(d) Using engine braking
To use engine braking, you can downshift
the transmission as follows:
Push the overdrive switch. The “O/D
OFF” indicator light will come on and
the transmission will downshift to third
gear.