Ignition switch
WARNING
.Never turn the ignition switch to“LOCK”while the vehicle isbeing driven or towed becausethat will lock the steering wheel,preventing steering control. Andwhen the engine is turned off, ittakes a much greater effort thanusual to steer.
.Before leaving the vehicle, al-ways removethe key from theignition switch for safety andnever allow an unattended childto remain in the vehicle. Failureto follow this procedure couldresult in injury to a child orothers. Children could operatethe power windows, the moon-roof or other controls or evenmake the vehicle move.
CAUTION
Do not attach a large key holder orkey case to either key. If it bangedagainst your knees or hands whileyou were driving, it could turn theignition switch from the“ON”posi-
tion to the“Acc”or“LOCK”posi-tion, thereby stopping the engine.Also, if the key is attached to akeyholder or to a large bunch ofother keys, centrifugal force may acton it as the vehicle moves, resultingin unwanted turning of the ignitionswitch.
The ignition switch has four positions:LOCK, Acc, ON and START.
NOTE
.Keep the ignition switch in the“LOCK”position when the engine isnot running..Using electrical accessories for along time with the ignition switch in the“ON”or“Acc”position can cause thebattery to go dead.
.If the ignition switch will not movefrom the“LOCK”position to the“Acc”position, turn the steering wheelslightly to the left and right as you turnthe ignition switch.
&LOCK
The key can only be inserted or removedin this position. The ignition switch will lockthe steering wheel when you remove thekey.
If turning the key is difficult, turn thesteering wheel slightly to the right and leftas you turn the key.
The key can be turned from“Acc”to“LOCK”only when the select lever is in the“P”position.
Instruments and controls3-3
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“R”position or vice versa untilthe vehicle has completelystopped. Such shifting maycause damage to the transmis-sion.
.When parking the vehicle, firstsecurely apply the parking brakeand then place the select lever inthe“P”position. Avoid parkingfor a long time with the selectlever in any other position asdoing so could result in a deadbattery.
NOTE
.When the engine coolant tempera-ture is still low, the automatic transmis-sion will upshift to higher enginespeeds than when the coolant tempera-ture is sufficiently high in order toshorten the warm-up time and improvedriveability. The gearshift timing willautomatically shift to the normal timingafter the engine has warmed up..Immediately after ATF (automatictransmission fluid) is replaced, youmay feel that the automatic transmis-sion operation is somewhat unusual.This results from invalidation of datawhich the on-board computer hascollected and stored in memory to
allow the transmission to shift at themost appropriate times for the currentcondition of your vehicle. Optimizedshifting will be restored as the vehiclecontinues to be driven for a while.
&Select lever
: With the brake pedal depressed, shiftwhile pressingthe button in.: Shift while pressing the button in.: Shift without pressing the button.
The select lever has four positions,“P”,“R”,“N”,“D”and also has manual gate forusing“SPORT”mode or manual mode.
1) Select lever button
!P (Park)
This position is for parking the vehicle andstarting the engine.
In this position, the transmission is me-chanically locked to prevent the vehiclefrom rolling freely.
When you park the vehicle, first set theparking brake fully, then shift into the“P”position. Do not hold the vehicle with onlythe transmission.
To shift the select lever from the“P”to anyother position, you have to depress thebrake pedal fully then push the selectlever button on the lever knob when theignition switch is in the“ON”position. Thisprevents the vehicle from lurching when it
Starting and operating7-13
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