2004 TOYOTA AVALON tow

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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
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 any passengers to sit on
top of a foldeddown seatback, or
in the luggage compartment or car-
go area. Persons not properly
seated and/or not properly re-
strained by seat belts can be se-
verely injured in the event of emer-
gency braking or a collision.
During driving, do not allow any
passengers 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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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
To release the belt, press the buckle
release button.The front center seat belt can be
stowed when not in use.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 to
order the proper required length for the
extender. Bring the heaviest coat you ex-
pect to wear for proper measurement and
selection of length. Additional ordering in-
formation is available at your Toyota deal-
er.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
an accident, increasing the chance of
personal injury.
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.
—Stowing the front center
seat belt
—Seat belt extender

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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
To change the steering wheel angle,
hold the steering wheel, pull the lock
release lever toward you, tilt the steer-
ing wheel to the desired angle and re-
lease the lever.
When the steering wheel is in a low posi-
tion, it will spring up as you release the
lock release lever.
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.
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.
Tilt steering wheelOutside rear view mirrors—

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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
To turn on the windshield wipers, move
the lever to the desired setting.
The key must be in the “ON” position.Lever position
Operation
Position 1Intermittentoperation
Position 2Low speedoperation
Position 3High speed operation
Position 4Washer on
The “INT TIME” band lets you adjust the
wiping time interval when the wiper lever
is in the intermittent 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 (position 4).
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” 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
or may damage wiper blades.
Automatic control adjuster
To turn on the windshield wipers, move
the lever to the desired setting.
The key must be in the “ON” position.
Lever position
Operation
Position 1Automaticoperation
Position 2Low speed operation
Position 3High speed operation
Position 4Washer on
Windshield wipers and washer
(intermittent operation type) Windshield wipers and washer
(raindrop detection type)

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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
Automatic operation (position 1)
The wiper speed is determined by the
amount of raindrops and sunlight detected
by the automatic wiper control sensor.
The automatic wiper control sensor is on
the inside of the windshield as shown
above.
If you feel that the operation of the auto-
matic wiper control is too fast or too slow,
twist the automatic control adjuster in the
“” direction to lower sensitivity, and “+”
direction to boost the sensitivity.Even if the wiper lever is in the position
1, the system will switch to intermittent
operations in the following conditions:
When the windshield gets extremely
cold (at less than 10
C [14 F])
When the system malfunctions
However, when the windshield gets ex-
tremely hot (at more than 90 C [194 F]),
the wipers do not operate even if the
wiper lever is in the position 1.
When the ignition switch is turned off with
the wiper lever in the position 1, and then
the ignition switch is turned on again, the
automatic operation may not work even if
raindrops are on the windshield.
In this case, move the lever to another
position and return it to the position 1
again.
CAUTION
Be careful not to get your fingers
caught between the wipers and wind-
shield.
When the wiper lever is in the posi-
tion 1 with the ignition switch on, the
wipers could operate automatically in
the following cases:
If you touch the upper center of the
windshield adjacent to the sensor.
If you wipe the upper center of the
windshield (adjacent to which the
sensor is located) with a towel or
other object.
If the windshield vibrates.
If you touch the sensor.
NOTICE
Do not apply detergent to or wet the
automatic wiper control sensor when
cleaning the inside of the windshield.

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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
To squirt washer fluid, pull the lever
toward you (position 4).
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” 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
or may damage wiper blades.
The wiper blades retract under the hood
when the wipers are turned off.
In the following cases, the wipers should
be shifted from the retracted position
(position 2) to the rest position (position
1) above the hood level.
When cleaning the windshield
When inspecting or replacing the wip-
ers
When the retraction may be obstructed
by snow, etc., at the bottom of the
windshield
Other than the above cases, keep the
wipers in the retracted position.
SHIFTING TO THE REST POSITION
Hold the connection of the wiper arm
and wiper blade and pull it upward for
more than 10 cm (3.9 in.) along the
windshield glass with the force of
about 98 N (10 kgf, 22 lbf).
NOTICE
To prevent the wiper blades from be-
ing deformed, be sure to hold the
connection of the wiper arm and wip-
er blade securely.
Shifting the windshield wiper
position

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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
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” 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.
Ty p e A
Ty p e B
Tachometer Odometer and two trip meters

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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
(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 automatically be on.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 can-
celled.
For ways to decrease the vehicle speed,
see “Cruise control” in this Section.
(c) Normal driving
1. Start the engine as instructed in “How to start the engine” 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 the over-
drive 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 selector le-
ver is moved out of the “P” position after
the ignition switch is turned to the “ON”
position and all the doors are closed. For
details, see “—Automatic door locking and
unlocking functions” 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.
Shift into the “2” position. The trans-
mission will downshift to second gear
when the vehicle speed drops down to
or lower than 132 km/h (82 mph), and
stronger engine braking will be en-
abled.
Shift into the “L” position. The trans-
mission will downshift to first gear
when the vehicle speed drops down to
or lower than 59 km/h (36 mph), and
maximum engine braking will be en-
abled.