2003 TOYOTA MATRIX parking brake

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NOTICE
Do not crank for more than 30 se-
conds at a time. This may overheat
the starter and wiring systems.
 Do not race a cold engine.
 If the engine becomes difficult to
start or stalls frequently, have the
engine checked immediately.
Always slow down in gusty crosswinds.
This will allow you much better control.
Drive slowly onto curbs and, if pos-
sible, at a right angle. Avoid driving
onto high, sharpedged objects and
other road hazards. Failure to do so
can lead to severe tire damage result-
ing in tire bursts.
Drive slowly when passing over bumps
or travelling on a bumpy r oad. Other-
wise the impact could cause severe
damage to the tires and/or wheels.
When parking on a hill, turn the front
wheels until they touch the curb so
that the vehicle will not roll. Apply the
parking brake, and place the transmis-
sion in “P” (automatic) or in first or
reverse (manual). If necessary, block
the wheels.
Washing your vehicle or driving through
deep water may get the brakes wet. To
see whether they are wet, check that
there is no traffic near you, and then
press the pedal lightly. If you do not
feel a normal braking force, the brakes
are probably wet. To dry them, drive
the vehicle cautiously while lightly
pressing the brake pedal with the park-
ing brake applied. If they still do not
work safely, pull to the side of the road
and call a Toyota dealer for assistance.
CAUTION
Before driving off, make sure that
the parking brake is fully released
and the parking brake reminder
light is off.
Do not leave your vehicle unat-
tended while the engine is running.
Do not rest your foot on the brake
pedal while driving. It can cause
dangerous overheating, needless
wear, and poor fuel economy.
To drive down a long or steep hill,
reduce your speed and downshift.
Remember, if you ride the brakes
excessively, they may overheat and
not work properly.
Tips for driving in various
conditions

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Make sure you have a proper freeze
protection of engine coolant.
Your coolant must contain ethyleneglycol
type coolant for a proper corrosion
protection of aluminum components. Use
“TOYOTA Long Life Coolant” or equivalent.
See page 244 in Section 72 for details
about coolant type selection.
NOTICE
Do not use alcohol type antifreeze or
plain water alone.
When it is extremely cold, we recommend
to use 60% solution for your Toyota, to
provide protection down to about 50C
(58 F). Do not use more than 70% solu-
tion for better coolant performance.
Check the condition of the battery and
cables.
Cold temperatures reduce the capacity of
any battery, so it must be in top shape
to provide enough power for winter start-
ing. Section 73 tells you how to visually
inspect the battery. Your Toyota dealer
and most service stations will be pleased
to check the level of charge. Make sure the engine oil viscosity is
suitable for the cold weather.
See page 242 in Section 72 for recom-
mended viscosity. Leaving a heavy sum-
mer oil in your vehicle during winter
months may cause harder starting. If you
are not sure about which oil to use, call
your Toyota dealer–he will be pleased to
help.
Keep the door locks from freezing.
Squirt lock deicer or glycerine into the
locks to keep them from freezing. To open
a frozen lock, try heating the key before
inserting it.
Use a washer fluid containing an anti-
freeze solution.
This product is available at your Toyota
dealer and most auto parts stores. Follow
the manufacturer ’s directions for how
much to mix with water.
NOTICE
Do not use engine antifreeze or any
other substitute because it may dam-
age your vehicle’s paint.
Do not use your parking brake when
there is a possibility it could freeze.
When parking, put the transmission into
“P” (automatic) or into first or reverse
(manual) and block the rear wheels. Do
not use the parking brake, or snow or
water accumulated in and around the
parking brake mechanism may freeze,
making it hard to release.
Keep ice and snow from accumulating
under the fenders.
Ice and snow built up under your fenders
can make steering difficult. During bad
winter driving, stop and check under the
fenders occasionally.
Depending on where you are driving,
we recommend you carry some emer-
gency equipment.
Some of the things you might put in the
vehicle are tire chains, window scraper,
bag of sand or salt, flares, small shovel,
jumper cables, etc.
NOTICE
Do not use window scraper or deicer
when the plastic resin moon roof is
heavily coated with frost or ice. The
plastic resin moon roof is easily dam-
aged.
Winter driving tips

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Your vehicle is not designed to be
dinghy towed (with four wheels on the
ground) behind a motorhome.
NOTICE
Do not tow your vehicle with four
wheels on the ground. This may
cause serious damage to your vehicle.
Your vehicle can be dinghy towed (with
four wheels on the ground) from the
front behind a motorhome.
CAUTION
Dinghy towing requires special equip-
ment and accessories. Please refer to
your service outlet of the motorhome
manufacture for the recommended
equipment.
NOTICE
Dinghy towing does not eliminate the
possibility of damage to your vehicle.
DINGHY TOWING TIPS
Before dinghy towing, be sure to ob-
serve the following in order to reduce
the damage to your vehicle.1. Put the shift lever in neutral.
2. Turn the ignition switch to the “ACC” position. Make sure the audio is turned
off and any item is not plugged into
the power outlet.
NOTICE
To avoid the locking of the steering
wheel, turn the ignition switch to the
“ACC” position.
3. Release the parking brake.
After dinghy towing, let the engine idle for
more than 3 minutes before driving the
vehicle.
Dinghy towing
(with automatic transmission) Dinghy towing
(with manual transmission)

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Crosswinds and rough roads will ad-
versely affect handling of your vehicle
and trailer, causing sway. Pay attention
to the rear from time to time to pre-
pare yourself for being passed by large
trucks or buses, which may cause your
vehicle and trailer to sway. If swaying
happens, firmly grip the steering wheel
and reduce speed immediately but
gradually. Never increase speed. Steer
straight ahead. If you make no extreme
correction with the steering or brakes,
the vehicle and trailer will stabilize.
Be careful when passing other ve-
hicles. Passing requires considerable
distance. After passing a vehicle, do
not forget the length of your trailer and
be sure you have plenty of room be-
fore changing lanes.
In order to maintain engine braking effi-
ciency, do not use fifth gear (manual
transmission) or overdrive (automatic
transmission).
Because of the added load of the trail-
er, your vehicle’s engine may overheat
on hot days (at temperatures over
30C [85 F]) when going up a long or
steep grade with a trailer. If the engine
coolant temperature gauge indicates
overheating, immediately turn off the air
conditioning (if in use), pull off the road
and stop in a safe spot. Refer to “If
your vehicle overheats” on page 201 in
Section 4.
Always place wheel blocks under both
the vehicle and trailer wheels when
parking. Apply the parking brake firmly.
Put the transmission in “P” (automatic)
or in first or reverse (manual). Avoid
parking on a slope with a trailer, but
if it cannot be avoided, do so only
after performing the following:
1. Apply the brakes and hold.
2. Have someone place wheel blocks un- der both the vehicle and trailer wheels.
3. When the wheel blocks are in place, release your brakes slowly until the
blocks absorb the load.
4. Apply the parking brake firmly.
5. Shift into first or reverse (manual) or “P” (automatic) and turn off the engine. When restarting out after parking on a
slope:
1. With the transmission in “P” position (automatic) or the clutch pedal de-
pressed (manual), start the engine.
(With an automatic transmission, be
sure to keep the brake pedal de-
pressed.)
2. Shift into gear.
3. Release the parking brake (also foot brake on automatic transmission ve-
hicles) and slowly pull or back away
from the wheel blocks. Stop and apply
your brakes.
4. Have someone retrieve the blo cks.
CAUTION
Do not exceed 72 km/h (45 mph) or
the posted towing speed limit,
whichever is lower. Because insta-
bility (swaying) of a towing vehicle
trailer combination usually in-
creases as the speed increases, ex-
ceeding 72 km/h (45 mph) may
cause loss of control.

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5. Start your engine in the normal way.After starting, run it at about 2000 rpm
for several minutes with the accelerator
pedal lightly depressed.
6. Carefully disconnect the cables in the exact reverse order: the negative cable
and then the positive cable.
7. Carefully dispose of the battery cover cloths—they may now contain sulfuric
acid.
8. If removed, replace all the battery vent plugs.
If the cause of your battery discharging is
not apparent (for example, lights left on),
you should have it checked. If your engine stalls while driving...
1. Reduce your speed gradually, keeping a straight line. Move cautiously off the
road to a safe place.
2. Turn on your emergency flashers.
3. Turn the ignition key to “ACC” or “LOCK”, and try starting the engine
again.
If the engine will not start, see “If your
vehicle will not start” on page 198 in this
section.
CAUTION
If the engine is not running, the pow-
er assist for the brakes and steering
will not work so steering and braking
will be much harder than usual.
If your engine coolant temperature
gauge indicates overheating, if you ex-
perience a loss of power, or if you hear
a loud knocking or pinging noise, the
engine has probably overheated. You
should follow this procedure... 1. Pull safely off the road, stop the ve- hicle and turn on your emergency
flashers. Put the transmission in “P”
(automatic) or neutral (manual) and ap-
ply the parking brake. Turn off the air
conditioning if it is being used.
2. If coolant or steam is boiling out of the radiator or reservoir, stop the engine.
Wait until the steam subsides before
opening the hood. If there is no coolant
boiling over or steam, leave the engine
running and make sure the electric
cooling fan is operating. If it is not,
turn the ignition off.
CAUTION
To help avoid personal injury, keep
the hood closed until there is no
steam. Escaping steam or coolant is
a sign of very high pressure.
If your engine stalls while
driving If your vehicle overheats

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3. Look for obvious coolant leaks from theradiator, hoses, and under the vehicle.
However, note that water draining from
the air conditioning is normal if it has
been used.
CAUTION
When the engine is running, keep
hands and clothing away from the
moving fan and engine drive belts.
4. If the coolant is leaking, stop the en-gine immediately. Call a Toyota dealer
for assistance.
5. If there are no obvious leaks, check the coolant reservoir. If it is dry, add
coolant to the reservoir while the en-
gine is running. Fill it about half full.
CAUTION
Do not attempt to remove the radiator
cap when the engine and radiator are
hot. Serious injury could result from
scalding hot fluid and steam blown
out under pressure.
6. After the engine coolant temperaturehas cooled to normal, again check the
coolant level in the reservoir. If neces-
sary, bring it up to half full again. Seri-
ous coolant loss indicates a leak in the
system. You s hould have it checked as
soon as possible at your Toyota dealer. 1. Reduce your speed gradually while
driving in a straight line. Move cau-
tiously off the road to a safe place well
away from the traffic. Avoid stopping
on the center divider of a highway.
Park on a level spot with firm ground.
2. Stop the engine and turn on your emergency flashers.
3. Firmly set the parking brake and put the transmission in “P” (automatic) or
reverse (manual).
4. Have everyone get out of the vehicle on the side away from traffic.
5. Read the following instructions thor- oughly.
CAUTION
When jacking, be sure to observe the
following to reduce the possibility of
personal injury:
Follow jacking instructions.
Do not put any part of your body
under the vehicle supported by the
jack. Otherwise, personal injury may
occur.
Do not start or run the engine while
your vehicle is supported by the
jack.
If you have a flat tire—

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Stop the vehicle on a level firm
ground, firmly set the parking brake
and put the transmission in “P”
(automatic) or reverse (manual).
Block the wheel diagonally opposite
to the one being changed if neces-
sary.
Make sure to set the jack properly
in the jack point. Raising the ve-
hicle with jack improperly posi-
tioned will damage the vehicle or
may allow the vehicle to fall off the
jack and cause personal injury.
Never get under the vehicle when
the vehicle is supported by the jack
alone.
Use the jack only for lifting your
vehicle during wheel changing.
Do not raise the vehicle with some-
one in the vehicle.
When raising the vehicle, do not
put an object on or under the jack.
Raise the vehicle only high enough
to remove and change the tire.
NOTICE
Do not continue driving with a de-
flated tire. Driving even a short dis-
tance can damage a tire and wheel
beyond repair.
Compact spare tire
The compact spare tire is designed for
temporary emergency use only.
The compact spare tire is identified by the
distinctive wording “TEMPORARY USE
ONLY” molded into the side wall of the
tire.
The standard tire should be repaired and
replaced as soon as possible.
The compact spare tire saves space in
your luggage compartment, and its lighter
weight helps to improve fuel economy and
permits easier installation in case of a flat
tire.

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NOTICE
Fourwheel drive models—When tow-
ing, be sure to tow the vehicle with
all four wheels lifted. Otherwise, the
drive system could be damaged and
the vehicle could fly off the tow
truck.
TOWING PRECAUTIONS:
Use a safety chain system for all towing,
and abide by the state/provincial and local
laws. The wheels and axle on the ground
must be in good condition. If they are
damaged, use a towing dolly.
Twowheel drive models—
(a) Towing with wheel lift type truck
From front— Release the parking brake.
NOTICE
When lifting wheels, take care to en-
sure adequate ground clearance for
towing at the opposite end of the
raised vehicle. Otherwise, the bumper
and/or underbody of the towed vehicle
will be damaged during towing.
From rear—
Manual transmission:
We recommend using a towing dolly
under the front wheels. If you do not
use a towing dolly, place the ignition
key in the “ACC” position and put the
transmission in neutral.
NOTICE
Do not tow with the key removed or
in the “LOCK” position when towing
from the rear without a towing dolly.
The steering lock mechanism is not
strong enough to hold the front
wheels straight.
Automatic transmission:
Use a towing dolly under the front
wheels.
NOTICE
Never tow a vehicle with an automatic
transmission from the rear with the
front wheels on the ground, as this
may cause serious damage to the
transmission.
(b) Using flat bed truck
Fourwheel drive models—
(a) Towing with wheel lift type truck
Use a towing dolly under the wheels not
lifted by the truck.
(b) Using flat bed truck