2005 TOYOTA 4RUNNER ESP

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Toyota, through the d iligent research, de-
sign and use of the most advanced
technology available, helps prevent corro-
sion and provides you with the finest qual-
ity vehicle construction. Now, it is up to
you. Proper care of your Toyota can help
ensure long −term corrosion prevention.
The most common causes of corrosion
to your vehicle are:
The accumulation of road salt, dirt and
moisture in hard −to −reach areas under
the vehicle.
Chipping of paint, or undercoating
caused by minor accidents or by
stones and gravel.
Care is especially important if you live
in particular areas or operate your ve-
hicle under certain environmental condi-
tions:
Road salt or dust control chemicals will
accelerate corrosion, as will the pres-
ence of salt in the air near the sea −
coast or in areas of industrial pollution.
High humidity accelerates corrosion es-
pecially when temperatures range just
above the freezing point.
Wetness or dampness to certain parts
of your vehicle for an extended period
of time, may cause corrosion even
though other parts of the vehicle may
be dry.
High ambient temperatures can cause
corrosion to those components of the
vehicle which do not dry quickly due to
lack of proper ventilation.
The above signifies the necessity to keep
your vehicle, particularly the underside, as
clean as possible and to repair any dam-
age to paint or protective coatings as
soon as possible.
To help prevent corrosion on your
Toyota, follow these guidelines:
Wash your vehicle frequently. It is, of
course, necessary to keep your vehicle
clean by regular washing, but to prevent
corrosion, the following points should be
observed:
If you drive on salted roads in the
winter or if you live near the ocean,
you should hose off the undercarriage
at least once a month to minimize cor-
rosion.
High pressure water or steam is effec-
tive for cleaning the vehicle’s underside
and wheel housings. Pay particular
attention to these areas as it is difficult
to see all the mud and dirt. It will do
more harm than good to simply wet the
mud and debris without removing. The
lower edge of doors, rocker panels and
frame members have drain holes which
should not be allowed to clog with dirt
as trapped water in these areas can
cause corrosion.
Wash the underside of the vehicle thor-
oughly when winter is over.
See “Washing and waxing your Toyota” on
page 355 in this Section for more tips.
Check the condition of your vehicle’s
paint and trim. If you find any chips or
scratches in the paint, touch them up im-
mediately to prevent corrosion from start-
ing. If the chips or scratches have gone
through the bare metal, have a qualified
body shop make the repair.
Protecting your Toyota from
corrosion

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Check the interior of your vehicle. Wa-
ter and dirt can accumulate under the
floor mats and could cause corrosion. Oc-
casionally check under the mats to make
sure the area is dry. Be particularly care-
ful when transporting chemicals, cleans-
ers, fertilizers, salt, etc; these should be
transported in proper containers. If a spill
or leak should occur, immediately clean
and dry the area.
Use mud shields on your wheels. If you
drive on salted or gravel roads, mud
shields help protect your vehicle. Full −size
shields, which come as near to the ground
as possible, are the best. We recommend
that the fittings and the area where the
shields are installed be treated to resist
corrosion. Your Toyota dealer will be
happy to assist in supplying and installing
the shields if they are recommended for
your area.
Keep your vehicle in a well ventilated
garage or a roofed place. Do not park
your vehicle in a damp, poorly venti-
lated garage. If you wash your vehicle in
the garage, or if you drive it covered with
water or snow, your garage may be so
damp as to cause corrosion. Even if your
garage is heated, a wet vehicle can cor-
rode if the ventilation is poor. Washing your Toyota
Keep your vehicle clean by regular
washing.
The following cases may cause weakness
to the paint or corrosion to the body and
parts. Wash your vehicle as soon as pos-
sible.
When driving in a coastal area
When driving on a road sprinkled with
antifreeze
When exposed to coal tar, tree sap,
bird droppings and carcass of an insect
When driving in areas where there is
a lot of smoke, soot, dust, iron dust or
chemical substances
When the vehicle becomes remarkably
dirty with dust and mud
Handwashing your Toyota
Work in the shade and wait until the
vehicle body is not warm to the touch.
CAUTION
When cleaning under floor or chassis,
be careful not to injure your hands.
1. Rinse off loose dirt with a hose. Re- move any mud or road salt from the
underside of the vehicle or the wheel
wells.
2. Wash with a mild car −wash soap,
mixed according to the manufacturer ’s
instructions. Use a soft cotton mitt and
keep it wet by dipping it frequently into
the wash water. Do not rub hard—let
the soap and water remove the dirt.
Fuel filler door: Do not apply water (high −
pressure car wash, for example) at or
near the fuel tank inlet with the fuel filler
door opened. If the water enters the air
vent, you may experience trouble with re-
fueling or rough engine idling.
Rear height control air suspension: Do not
spray a jet of high −pressure water at the
air suspension unit, especially the air
spring, at an extremely close range. This
may damage the air suspension.
Plastic wheel ornaments: The plastic
wheel ornaments are damaged easily by
organic substances. If any organic sub-
stances splash an ornament, be sure to
wash them off with water and check if the
ornament is damaged.
Washing and waxing your
To y o t a

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Aluminum wheels: Use only a mild soap
or neutral detergent.
Plastic bumpers: Wash carefully. Do not
scrub with abrasive cleaners. The bumper
faces are soft.
Exterior lights: Wash carefully. Do not use
organic substances or scrub them with a
hard brush. This may damage the sur-
faces of the lights.
Road tar: Remove with turpentine or
cleaners that are marked safe for painted
surfaces.
3. Rinse thoroughly—dried soap can cause streaking. In hot weather you
may need to rinse each section right
after you wash it.
4. To prevent water spots, dry the vehicle using a clean soft cotton towel. Do not
rub or press hard—you might scratch
the paint.NOTICE
Do not use organic substances
(gasoline, kerosene, benzine or
strong solvents), which may be tox-
ic or cause damage.
 Do not scrub any part of the ve-
hicle with a hard brush, which may
cause damage.
Automatic car wash
Your vehicle may be washed in an auto-
matic car wash, but remember that the
paint can be scratched by some types of
brushes, unfiltered washing water, or the
washing process itself. Scratching reduces
paint durability and gloss, especially on
darker colors. The manager of the car
wash should be able to advise you wheth-
er the process is safe for the paint on
your vehicle. Waxing your Toyota
Polishing and waxing is recommended
to maintain the original beauty of your
Toyota’s finish.
Apply wax once a month or if the vehicle
surface does not repel water well.
1. Always wash and dry the vehicle be- fore you begin waxing, even if you are
using a combined cleaner and wax.
2. Use a good quality polish and wax. If the finish has become extremely weath-
ered, use a car −cleaning polish, fol-
lowed by a separate wax. Carefully fol-
low the manufacturer ’s instructions and
precautions. Be sure to polish and wax
the chrome trim as well as the paint.
3. Wax the vehicle again when water does not bead but remains on the sur-
face in large patches.
Exterior lights: Do not apply wax on the
surfaces of the lights. Wax may cause
damage to the lenses. If you accidentally
put wax on the light surfaces, wipe or
wash it off.

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After cleaning or whenever any part of the
leather gets wet, dry with a soft clean
cloth. Allow the leather to dry in a venti-
lated shaded area.
NOTICE
If a stain should fail to come out
with a neutral detergent, apply a
cleaner that does not contain an
organic solvent.
 Never use organic substances such
as benzine, alcohol or gasoline, or
alkaline or acid solutions for clean-
ing the leather as these could
cause discoloring.
 Use of a nylon brush or synthetic
fiber cloth, etc. may scratch the
fine grained surface of the leather.
 Mildew may develop on soiled leath-
er upholstery. Be especially careful
to avoid oil spots. Try to keep your
upholstery always clean.
 Long exposure to direct sunlight
may cause the leather surface to
harden and shrink. Keep your ve-
hicle in a shaded area, especially in
the summer.
The interior of your vehicle is apt
to heat up on hot summer days, so
avoid placing on the upholstery
items made of vinyl or plastic or
containing wax as these tend to
stick to leather when warm .
 Improper cleaning of the leather up-
holstery could result in discolor-
ation or staining.
If you have any questions about the
cleaning of your Toyota, your local
Toyota dealer will be pleased to answer
them. On some models, the outside rear view
mirrors have been coated to produce a
“rain clearing” effect. This coating
causes the raindrops to spread, clear-
ing the driver’s rear view when it rains.
It is sufficient to wash the mirrors with
water for day to day care.
The rain clearing effect is reduced in
drizzle and light rain.
In the following cases, the rain clearing
effect will be reduced temporarily, but will
gradually recover.
After wiping dirt off the mirrors
When the mirrors fog up
After waxing your vehicle in an auto-
matic car wash
After your vehicle has been parked for
a long period in underground parking
lots, etc. where there is no direct sun-
light.
If you would like to restore the rain clear-
ing effect to its normal level immediately
in the above cases, wash the mirrors with
neutral detergent, then rinse thoroughly.
Rain clearing mirrors

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Your Toyota vehicle has been designed for
fewer maintenance requirements with long-
er service intervals to save both your time
and money. However, each regular mainte-
nance, as well as day −to −day care, is
more important than ever before to ensure
smooth, and trouble− free, safe, and eco-
nomical drivings.
It is the owner ’s responsibility to make
sure the specified maintenance, including
general maintenance service, is performed.
Note that both the new vehicle and emis-
sion control system warranties specify that
proper maintenance and care must be per-
formed. See “Owner ’s Warranty Informa-
tion Booklet” or “Owner ’s Manual Supple-
ment” for complete warranty information.
General maintenance
General maintenance items are those day −
to −day care practices that are important to
your vehicle for proper operation. It is the
owner ’s responsib ility to ensure that the
general maintenance items are performed
regularly.
These checks or inspections can be done
either by yourself or a qualified technician,
or if you prefer, your Toyota dealer will be
pleased to do them at a nominal cost. Scheduled maintenance
The scheduled maintenance items listed in
the “Scheduled Maintenance Guide” or
“Owner ’s Manual Supplement” are those
required to be serviced at regular inter-
vals.
For details of your maintenance schedule,
read the “Scheduled Maintenance Guide”
or “Owner ’s Manual Supplement”.
It is recommended that any replacement
parts used for maintenance or for the
repair of the emission control system
be Toyota supplied.
The owner may elect to use nonToyota
supplied parts for replacement pur-
poses without invalidating the emission
control system warranty. However, use
of replacement parts which are not of
equivalent quality may impair the effec-
tiveness of the emission control sys-
tems.
You may also elect to have mainte-
nance, replacement, or repair of the
emission control devices and system
performed by any automotive repair es-
tablishment or individual without invali-
dating this warranty. See “Owner’s War-
ranty Information Booklet” or “Owner’s
Manual Supplement” for complete war-
ranty information.Where to go for service?
Toyota technicians are well
−trained spe-
cialists and are kept up to date with the
latest service information through technical
bulletins, service tips, and in −dealership
training programs. They learn to work on
Toyotas before they work on your vehicle,
rather than while they are working on it.
You can be confident that your Toyota
dealer ’s service department performs the
best job to meet the maintenance require-
ments on your vehicle—reliably and eco-
nomically.
Your copy of the repair order is proof that
all required maintenance has been per-
formed for warranty coverage. If any prob-
lems should arise with your vehicle while
under warranty, your Toyota dealer will
promptly take care of it. Again, be sure
to keep a copy of the repair order for any
service performed on your Toyota.
What about doityourself maintenance?
Many of the maintenance items are easy
to do yourself if you have a little mechani-
cal ability and a few basic automotive
tools. Simple instructions for how to per-
form them are presented on page 367 in
Section 7.
Maintenance requirements

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Spare
fuses
If you perform maintenance by yourself,
be sure to follow the correct procedure
given in this Section.
You should be aware that improper or in-
complete servicing may result in operating
problems.
Performing do−it−yourself maintenance
during the warranty period may affect your
warranty coverage. Read the separate
Toyota Warranty statement for details and
suggestions.
This Section gives instructions only for
those items that are relatively easy for an
owner to perform. As explained in Section
6, there are still a number of items that
must be done by a qualified technician
with special tools.
For information on tools and parts for do −
it −yourself maintenance, see “Parts and
tools” on page 372 in this Section.
Utmost care should be taken when work-
ing on your vehicle to prevent accidental
injury. Here are a few precautions that
you should be especially careful to ob-
serve:
Fuse locations Doityourself service
precautions