Page 307 of 500

3076-1. Maintenance and care
6
Maintenance and care
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■Caring for leather areas
Toyota recommends cleaning the interior of the vehicle at least twice a year to
maintain the quality of the vehicle’s interior.
■ Shampooing the carpets
There are several commercial foaming-type cleaners available. Use a sponge
or brush to apply the foam. Rub in overlapping circles. Do not use water.
Wipe dirty surfaces and let them dry. Excellent results are obtained by keep-
ing the carpet as dry as possible.
■ Seat belts
Clean with mild soap and lukewarm water using a cloth or sponge. Also
check the belts periodically for excessive wear, fraying or cuts.
■ When cleaning the carpeted portions of the glove box, console box, etc.
If a strong adhesive tape is used, there is a possibility that the surface of the
carpet could be damaged.
CAUTION
■Water in the vehicle
● Do not splash or spill liquid in the vehicle.
Doing so may cause electrical components etc. to malfunction or catch
fire.
● Do not get any of the SRS components or wiring in the vehicle interior wet.
(P. 35)
An electrical malfunction may cause the airbags to deploy or not function
properly, resulting in death or serious injury.
■ Cleaning the interior (especially instrument panel)
Do not use polish wax or polish cleaner. The instrument panel may reflect
off the windshield, obstructing the driver’s view and leading to an accident,
resulting in death or serious injury.
Page 313 of 500
3136-2. Maintenance
6
Maintenance and care
AVALON (U)_(OM41456U)
Head restraints• Do the head restraints movesmoothly and lock securely?
Indicators/buzzers• Do the indicators and buzzersfunction properly?
Lights • Do all the lights come on?
Parking brake
• Moves smoothly?
• When parked on a slope and the parking brake is on, is the vehicle
securely stopped?
Seat belts
• Do the seat belts operatesmoothly?
• The seat belts should not be dam- aged.
Seats• Do the seat controls operate prop-erly?
Steering wheel
• Does the steering wheel rotatesmoothly?
• Does the steering wheel have the correct amount of free play?
• There should not be any strange sounds coming from the steering
wheel.
ItemsCheck points
Page 318 of 500

3186-3. Do-it-yourself maintenance
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CAUTION
The engine compartment contains many mechanisms and fluids that may
move suddenly, become hot, or become electrically energized. To avoid death
or serious injury, observe the following precautions.
■When working on the engine compartment
● Keep hands, clothing and tools away from the moving fan and engine
drive belt.
● Be careful not to touch the engine, radiator, exhaust manifold, etc. right
after driving as they may be hot. Oil and other fluids may also be hot.
● Do not leave anything that may burn easily, such as paper and rags, in the
engine compartment.
● Do not smoke, cause sparks or expose an open flame to fuel or the bat-
tery. Fuel and battery fumes are flammable.
● Be extremely cautious when working on the battery. It contains poisonous
and corrosive sulfuric acid.
■ When working near the electric cooling fans or radiator grille
Be sure the engine switch is off.
With the engine switch in IGNITION ON mode, the electric cooling fans may
automatically start to run if the air conditioning is on and/or the coolant tem-
perature is high. ( P. 328)
■ Safety glasses
Wear safety glasses to prevent flying or falling material, fluid spray, etc.
from getting in your eyes.
NOTICE
■If you remove the air cleaner filter
Driving with the air cleaner filter removed may cause excessive engine wear
due to dirt in the air.
Page 340 of 500

3406-3. Do-it-yourself maintenance
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CAUTION
■When inspecting or replacing tires
Observe the following precautions to prevent accidents.
Failure to do so may cause damage to parts of the drive train as well as
dangerous handling characteristics, which may lead to an accident
resulting in death or serious injury.
●Do not mix tires of different makes, models or tread patterns.
Also, do not mix tires of remarkably different treadwear.
●Do not use tire sizes other than those recommended by Toyota.
●Do not mix differently constructed ti res (radial, bias-belted or bias-ply
tires).
●Do not mix summer, all season and snow tires.
●Do not use tires that have been used on another vehicle.
Do not use tires if you do not know how they were used previously.
■When initializing the tire pressure warning system
Do not operate the tire pressure warning reset switch without first
adjusting the tire inflation pressure to the specified level. Otherwise, the
tire pressure warning light may not come on even if the tire inflation
pressure is low, or it may come on when the tire inflation pressure is
actually normal.
Page 389 of 500

3897-2. Steps to take in an emergency
7
When trouble arises
AVALON (U)_(OM41456U)
The following warning indicates the possibility of damage to the vehi-
cle that may lead to an accident. Im mediately stop the vehicle in a
safe place and contact your Toyota dealer.
Failure to investigate the cause of the following warnings may lead to
the system operating abnormally and possibly cause an accident.
Have the vehicle ins pected by your Toyota dealer immediately.
Stop the vehicle immediately.
Warning lightWarning light/Details
Charging system warning light
Indicates a malfunction in the vehicle’s charging system
Low engine oil pressure warning light
Indicates that the engine oil pressure is too low.
Have the vehicle inspected by your Toyota dealer immediately.
Warning lightWarning light/Details
(U.S.A.)
(Canada)
Malfunction indicator lamp Indicates a malfunction in:
• The electronic engine control system;
• The electronic throttle control system; or
• The electronic automatic transmission control system
SRS warning lightIndicates a malfunction in:
• The SRS airbag system;
• The front passenger occupant classification system; or
• The seat belt pretensioner system
(U.S.A.)
(Canada)
ABS warning light Indicates a malfunction in:
• The ABS; or
• The brake assist system
Page 391 of 500

3917-2. Steps to take in an emergency
7
When trouble arises
AVALON (U)_(OM41456U)
After taking the specified steps to correct the suspected problem,
check that the warning light goes off.
Follow the correction procedures.
Warning lightWarning light/DetailsCorrection procedure
Open door warning light
(warning buzzer)
*1
Indicates that a door or the
trunk is not fully closed
Check that all the doors and
the trunk are closed.
Low fuel level warning
lightIndicates remaining fuel is
approximately 2.6 gal. (9.7
L, 2.1 Imp. gal.) or less
Refuel the vehicle.
Seat belt reminder light
(warning buzzer)
*2
Warns the driver and/or
front passenger to fasten
their seat belts
Fasten the seat belt.If the front passenger’s
seat is occupied, the front
passenger’s seat belt also
needs to be fastened to
make the warning light
(warning buzzer) off.
Master warning lightA buzzer sounds and the
warning light comes on
and flashes to indicate that
the master warning system
has detected a malfunc-
tion.
P. 399
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3937-2. Steps to take in an emergency
7
When trouble arises
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*1: Open door warning buzzer:A buzzer will sound if the vehicle reaches a speed of 3 mph (5 km/h) or
more with any door open.
*2: Driver’s seat belt buzzer:The driver’s seat belt buzzer sounds to alert the driver that his or her seat
belt is not fastened. Once the engine switch is turned to IGNITION ON
mode, the buzzer sounds for 6 seconds. If the vehicle reaches a speed of
12 mph (20 km/h), the buzzer sounds once. If the seat belt is still unfas-
tened after 30 seconds, the buzzer will sound intermittently for 10 seconds.
Then, if the seat belt is still unfastened, the buzzer will sound in a different
tone for 20 more seconds.
Front passenger’s seat belt buzzer:
The front passenger’s seat belt buzzer sounds to alert the front passenger
that his or her seat belt is not fastened. The buzzer sounds once if the\
vehicle reaches a speed of 12 mph (20 km/h). If the seat belt is still unfas-
tened after 30 seconds, the buzzer will sound intermittently for 10 seconds.
Then, if the seat belt is still unfastened, the buzzer will sound in a different
tone for 20 more seconds.
Page 394 of 500

3947-2. Steps to take in an emergency
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■SRS warning light
This warning light system monitors the airbag sensor assembly, front impact
sensors, side impact sensors (front), side impact sensors (rear), driver’s seat
belt buckle switch, front passenger occupant classification system, “AIR BAG
ON” indicator light, “AIR BAG OFF” indicator light, front passenger’s seat belt
buckle switch, seat belt pretensioners, airbags, interconnecting wiring and
power sources. ( P. 3 5 )
■ Front passenger detection sensor, seat belt reminder and warning
buzzer
If luggage is placed on the front passenger seat, the front passenger detec-
tion sensor may cause the warning light to flash and the warning buzzer to
sound even if a passenger is not sitting in the seat.
■ If the malfunction indicator la mp comes on while driving
First check the following:
● Is the fuel tank empty?
If it is, fill the fuel tank immediately.
● Is the fuel tank cap loose?
If it is, tighten it securely.
The light will go off after several driving trips.
If the light does not go off even after several trips, contact your Toyota dealer
as soon as possible.
■ Electric power steering system warning light (warning buzzer)
When the battery charge becomes insufficient or the voltage temporarily
drops, the electric power steering system warning light may come on and the
warning buzzer may sound.
■
When the tire pressure warning light comes on
Check the tire inflation pressure and adjust to the appropriate level. Push-
ing the tire pressure warning reset switch will not turn off the tire pressure
warning light.
■The tire pressure warning light may come on due to natural causes
The tire pressure warning light may come on due to natural causes such
as natural air leaks and tire inflation pressure changes caused by temper-
ature. In this case, adjusting the ti re inflation pressure will turn off the
warning light (after a few minutes).