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1-46Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
system may or may not activate the
front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag
depending on the occupant ’s seating
posture. If the front passenger ’s SRS
frontal airbag is activated (the ON
indicator remains i lluminated while
the OFF indicator turns off), take the
following actions. . Ensure that no article is placed on
the seat other than the occupant. . Ensure that there is no article left in
the seatback pocket.
If the ON indicator still remains illumi-
nated while the OFF indicator turns off
despite the fact that the actions noted
above have been taken, seat the child/
small adult in the rear seat and im-
mediately contact your SUBARU dealer
for an inspection. Even if the system
has passed the dealer inspection, it is
recommended that on subsequent trips
the child/small adult always take the
rear seat.
Children who have outgrown a child
restraint system should always wear the
seatbelt irrespective of whether the airbag
is deactivated or activated. !
Conditions in which front passen-ger’s SRS frontal airbag is activated
The front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag
will be activated for deployment upon
impact when any of the following condi-
tions are met regarding the front passen- ger ’s seat.
. When the seat is occupied by an adult.
. When a heavy article is placed on the
seat.
CAUTION
When the front passenger ’s seat is
occupied by an adult, observe the
following precautions. Failure to do
so may lessen the load on the frontpassenger ’s seat, deactivating the
front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag
despite the fact that the seat is
occupied by an adult. This could
result in personal injury. . Do not allow the rear seat occu-
pant to lift the front passenger ’s
seat cushion using his/her feet.
. Do not place any article under the
front passenger ’s seat, or
squeeze any article from behind
and under the seat. This may lift
the seat cushion.
. Do not squeeze any article be- tween the front passenger
’s seat
and side trim/pillar, door or cen-
ter console box. This may lift the
seat cushion.
! If the passenger ’s frontal airbag OFF
indicator illuminates and the ON
indicator turns off even when the
front passenger ’s seat is occupied
by an adult
This can be caused by the adult incor-
rectly sitting in the front passenger ’s seat.
1. Turn the ignition switch to the “LOCK ”
position.
2. Ask the front passenger to set the
seatback to the upright position, sit up
straight in the center of the seat cushion,
correctly fasten the seatbelt, position his/
her legs out forward, and adjust the seat to
the rearmost position.
3. Turn the ignition switch to the “ON ”
position.
If the OFF indicator remains illuminated
while the ON indicator remains off, take
the following actions.
1. Turn the ignition switch to the “LOCK ”
position.
2. Ensure that there are no articles,
books, shoes, or other objects trapped
under the seat, at the rear of the seat, or
on the side of the seat.
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3. Ensure that the backward-forward
position and seatback of front passenger’s
seat are locked into place securely by
moving the seat back and forth.
4. Turn the ignition switch to the “ON ”
position and wait 6 seconds to allow the
system to complete self-checking. Follow-
ing the system check, both indicators turn
off for 2 seconds. Now, the ON indicator
should illuminate while the OFF indicator
remains off.
If the OFF indicator still remains illumi-
nated while the ON indicator remains off,
ask the occupant to move to the rear seat
and immediately contact your SUBARU
dealer for an inspection. ! How to contact the vehicle manu-
facturer concerning modifications
for persons with disabilities that
may affect the advanced airbag
system (U.S. only)
Changing or moving any parts of the front
seats, rear seat, seatbelts, front bumper,
front side frame, radiator panel, instrument
panel, combination meter, steering wheel,
steering column, tire, suspension or floor
panel can affect the operation of the
SUBARU advanced airbag system. If
you have any questions, you may contact
the following SUBARU distributors.
of Columbia>
Subaru of America, Inc.
Customer Dealer Services Department
P.O. Box 6000
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034-6000
1-800-SUBARU3 (1-800-782-2783)
Servco Subaru Inc., dba Subaru Hawaii
2850 Pukoloa Street, Suite 202, Honolulu,
HI 96819 808-839-2273 Shen
’s Corporation dba Prestige Automo-
bile
491, East Marine Drive, Route 1 Dededo, Guam 671-633-2698
Trebol Motors
P.O. Box 11204, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00910 787-793-2828
There are currently no SUBARU distribu-
tors in any other U.S. territories. If you are
in such an area, please contact the
SUBARU distributor or dealer from which
you bought your vehicle. &
System operation
CAUTION
Do not touch the SRS airbag system
components with bare hands right
after deployment. Doing so can
cause burns because the compo-
nents can be very hot as a result ofdeployment.
The SRS airbags can function only when
the ignition switch is in the “ON ”position.
When the SRS airbag(s) deploy(s), a
sudden, fairly loud inflation noise will be
heard and some smoke will be released.
These occurrences are a normal result of
the deployment. This smoke does not
indicate a fire in the vehicle. Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-47
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Page 75 of 414

1-48Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
! SRS frontal airbag operation
A) Driver ’s side
B) Passenger ’s side
1) SRS AIRBAGs deploy as soon as a collision occurs.
2) After deployment, SRS AIRBAGs start to deflate immediately so that the driver ’s vision is not
obstructed. The SUBARU advanced frontal airbag
system is designed to determine the
activation or deactivation condition of the
front passenger
’s SRS frontal airbag
depending on the total load on the frontpassenger ’s seat monitored by the front
passenger ’s occupant detection system
weight sensor. For this reason, only thedriver ’s SRS frontal airbag may deploy in
the event of a collision, but this does not
mean failure of the system.
If the front sub sensors and the impact
sensors in the airbag control module
detect a predetermined amount of force
during a frontal collision, the control
module sends signals to the airbag
module(s) (only driver ’s module or both
driver ’s and front passenger ’s modules)
instructing the module(s) to inflate the
SRS frontal airbag(s). The driver ’s and
front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags use
dual stage inflators.
The two inflators of each airbag are
triggered either sequentially or simulta-
neously, depending on the severity of
impact, in the case of the driver ’s SRS
frontal airbag and depending on the
severity of impact and the total load on
the seat in the case of the front passen-ger ’s SRS frontal airbag.
Page 76 of 414

After deployment, the SRS airbag imme-
diately starts to deflate so that the driver’s
vision is not obstructed and the driver ’s
ability to maintain control of the vehicle is
not impaired. The time required from
detecting impact to the deflation of the
SRS airbag after deployment is shorter
than the blink of an eye.
Both when only the driver ’s SRS frontal
airbag deploys and the driver ’s and front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags deploy,
the driver ’s and front passenger ’s seatbelt
pretensioners operate at the same time.
The driver ’s SRS frontal airbag and front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag are de-
signed to deploy in the event of an
accident involving a moderate to severe
frontal collision. They are not designed to
deploy in most lesser frontal impacts
because the necessary protection can be
achieved by the seatbelt alone. Also, they
are not designed to deploy in most side or
rear impacts or in most roll-over accidents
because deployment of only the driver ’s
SRS frontal airbag or both driver ’s and
front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags
would not help the occupant in those
situations. The driver ’s and front passen-
ger ’s SRS frontal airbags are designed to
function on a one-time-only basis.
SRS airbag deployment depends on the level of force experienced in the passen-
ger compartment during a collision. That
level differs from one type of collision to
another, and it may have no bearing on
the visible damage done to the vehicleitself.
!
Example of accident in which thedriver ’s/driver ’s and front passen-
ger ’s SRS frontal airbag(s) will most
likely deploy
A head-on collision against a thick con-
crete wall at a vehicle speed of 12 to 19
mph (20 to 30 km/h) or higher activates
only the driver ’s SRS frontal airbag or both
driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbags. The airbag(s) will also be acti-
vated when the vehicle is exposed to a
frontal impact similar in fashion and
magnitude to the collision describedabove. Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-49
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Page 77 of 414
1-50Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
! Examples of the types of accidents
in which it is possible that thedriver ’s/driver ’s and front passen-
ger ’s SRS frontal airbag(s) will de-
ploy
Only the driver ’s SRS frontal airbag or
both driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS
frontal airbags may be activated when the
vehicle sustains a hard impact in the
undercarriage area from the road surface
(such as when the vehicle plunges into a
deep ditch, is severely impacted or
knocked hard against an obstacle on the
road such as a curb).
Page 78 of 414
!Examples of the types of accidents in which deployment of the driver ’s/driver ’s
and front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag(s) is unlikely to occur1) The vehicle strikes an object, such as a
telephone pole or sign pole.
2) The vehicle slides under the load bed of a truck.
3) The vehicle sustains an oblique offset frontal impact.
4) The vehicle sustains an offset frontal collision.
5) The vehicle strikes an object that can move or deform, such as a parked vehicle.
There are many types of collisions which
might not necessarily require deployment
of driver ’s/driver ’s and front passenger ’s
SRS frontal airbag(s). In the event of
accidents like those illustrated, the dri-ver ’s/driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS
frontal airbag(s) may not deploy depend-
ing on the level of accident forces in-volved. Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-51
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Page 79 of 414

1-52Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
! Examples of the types of accidents
in which the driver ’s/driver ’s and
front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbag(s) is/are not designed to
deploy in most cases
The driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags are designed not to deploy
in most cases if the vehicle is struck from
the side or from behind, or if it rolls onto its
side or roof, or if it is involved in a low-
speed frontal collision.
1) First impact
2) Second impact
In an accident where the vehicle is
impacted more than once, the driver ’s
and/or front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbag(s) will deploy only once on the firstimpact.
Example: In the case of a double collision,
first with another vehicle, then against a
concrete wall in immediate succession,
once either or both of the driver ’s and front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags is/are
activated on the first impact, it/they will not be activated on the second impact. !
SRS side airbag and SRS curtain
airbag operation
The driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS
side airbags and SRS curtain airbags
deploy independently of each other since
each has its own impact sensor. There-
fore, they may not both deploy in the same
accident. Also, the SRS side airbag and
SRS curtain airbag deploys independently
of the driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS
frontal airbags in the steering wheel and
instrument panel.
An impact sensor which senses impact
force is located in the following locations. . In each of the left and right center
pillars. In each of the rear wheel houses
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.Under the rear center seat
The airbag control module causes both the SRS side airbag andSRS curtain
airbag on the impacted side to inflate if
both of the following sensors together
sense an impact force above a predeter-
mined level in a side collision. . One of the center pillar impact sensors
. Impact sensor that is located under the
rear center seat
The airbag control module causes only the
SRS curtain airbag on the impacted side
to inflate if both of the following sensors
together sense an impact force above a
predetermined level in a side collision. . One of the rear wheel house impact
sensors. Impact sensor that is located under the
rear center seat
After the deployment, the SRS side airbag
immediately starts to deflate. The time
required from detection of an impact to
deflation of an SRS side airbag after
deployment is shorter than the blink of
an eye.
The SRS curtain airbag remains inflated
for a while following deployment then
slowly deflates.
The SRS side airbag and SRS curtain airbag deploy even when no one occupies
the seat on the side on which an impact isapplied.
The SRS side airbag and SRS curtain
airbag are designed to deploy in the event
of an accident involving a moderate to
severe side impact collision. They are not
designed to deploy in most lesser side
impacts. Also, they are not designed to
deploy in most frontal or most rear impacts
because SRS side airbag and SRS
curtain airbag deployment would not help
the occupant in those situations.
Each SRS side airbag and SRS curtain
airbag are designed to function on a one-
time-only basis.
SRS side airbag and SRS curtain airbag
deployment depend on the level of force
experienced in the passenger compart-
ment during a side impact collision. That
level differs from one type of collision to
another, and it may have no bearing on
the visible damage done to the vehicleitself.
!
Example of the type of accident in
which the SRS side airbag and SRS
curtain airbag will most likely de-ploy
A severe side impact near the front seat
activates the SRS side airbag and SRS
curtain airbag. Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-53
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