steering TOYOTA 4RUNNER 1997 Owners Manual

21. Side vent
2. Tilt steering lock release lever
3. Intsrument cluster
4. Center vents
5. Personal lights
6. Electric mon roof switches
7. Power door lock switch
8. Power window switches
9. Automatic transmission selector
lever or manual transmission gear shift lever
10. Parking brake lever 11. Driving pattern selector button
12. Power back window switch
13. Front drive control lever
14. Lower vent
15. Hood lock release lever
16. Fuel filler door opener
17. Power rear view mirror control switch (with power windows)
Instrument panel overview

31
The SRS (Supplemental Restraint Sys-
tem) airbags are designed to provide
further protection to the driver and
front passenger when added to the pri-
mary protection provided by the seatbelts.
In response to a severe frontal impact, the
SRS airbags work together with the seat
belt to help preventing or reduce injury by inflating, in order to decrease the likeli-
hood of the driver's or front passenger's
head or chest directly hitting the steering
wheel or dashboard. The passenger air-
bag is activated even with no passenger
in the front seat.This indicator comes on when the
ignition key is turned to the ACCº or
ONº position. It goes off after about 6
seconds. This means the SRS airbag
is operating properly.
The SRS airbag warning light system
monitors the airbag sensor assembly, in-
flators, warning light, interconnecting wir-
ing and power sources.The SRS airbag system is designed to
activate in response to a severe frontal
impact within the shaded area be-
tween the arrows in the illustration.
The SRS airbags will deploy if the severity
of the impact is above the designed
threshold level, comparable to an approxi-
mate 20 km/h (14 mph) collision when im-
pacting straight into a fixed barrier that
does not move or deform.
If the severity of the impact is below the
above threshold level, the SRS airbags
may not deploy.
SRS airbag

32
However, this threshold velocity will be
considerably higher if the vehicle strikes
an object, such as a parked vehicle or sign
pole, which can move or deform on im-
pact, or if it is
involved in an underride col-
lision (e.g. a collision in which the noise of
the vehicle underridesº, or goes under, the bed of a truck). It is possible with collision severity at the marginal level of airbag sensor detection
and activation that only one of your ve-
hicle's two airbags will deploy. For your safety of all occupants, be sure to always wear seat belts.
The SRS airbags are not designed to inflate if the vehicle is subjected to a
side or rear impact, if it rolls over, or if
it is involved in a low-speed frontalcollision.The SRS airbag system mainly consists
of the following components and their
locations are shown in the illustration.
1 SRS airbag warning light.
2 Steering wheel pad (airbag and inflat- or)
3 Passenger airbag module (airbag and inflator)
4 Airbag sensor assembly.
The airbag sensor assembly consists of a
safing sensor and airbag sensor.

33
In a severe frontal impact, sensor detects
deceleration and the system triggers the
airbag inflator. Then a chemical reaction
in the inflator momentarily fills the airbags
with non-toxic nitrogen gas to help re-
strain the forward motion of the occu- pants. When the airbag inflates, they produce a fairly
loud noise and release some smoke
along with the nitrogen gas. This is notharmful and does not indicate a fire. Be
sure to wash off any residue as soon as
possible to prevent minor skin irritation.
Deployment of the airbags happens in a
fraction of a second, so the airbags must
inflate with considerable force. While the
system is designed to reduce serious inju-
ries, it may also cause minor burns or
abrasions and swellings.
Parts of the airbag module (steering
wheel hub, dashboard) may be hot for several minutes, but the airbags them- selves w ill not be hot. The airbags are de-
signed to inflate only once.
A crash severe enough to inflate the air-
bags may break the windshield as the ve-
hicle buckles. In vehicles with a passen-ger airbag the windshield may also be
damaged by absorbing some of the force
of the inflating airbag.
CAUTION!
The SRS airbag system is de-
signed only as a supplement to
the primary protection of the driv-
er side aseat belt systems. The
driver is particularly susceptible
to death or serious injury if they
does not wear their seat belt;
when sudden braking or a colli-
sion occurs, they may be thrown
forward into the deploying SRS
aribag. To obtain a maximum
protection in an accident, the driv-
er and all passengers in the ve-
hicle should always wear their
seat belts when driving because
serious injuries can result to unre-
strained occupants. For instruc-
tions and precautions concerning
the seat belt system, see Seat
beltsº in this chapter.
A baby or small child who is too
small to use a seat belt should be
properly secured in a rear seat us-
ing a child restraint system.
Never use rear-facing child re-
straint system in the front seat be- cause the force of the rapid infla-
tion of the passenger airbag can cause severe injury to the child.

35
Do not put objects on or in front of
the dashboard or steering wheel
pad that houses the airbag sys-
tem. They might restrict inflation
or cause personal injury as they
are projected rearward.
Do not modify, remove or open
any component or wiring, such as
the steering wheel, column cover,
front passenger airbag, airbag
sensor assembly. Doing any of
these may cause sudden SRS air-
bag inflation or disable the sys-
tem, which could result in person-
al injury.
Failure to follow these instructions can result in severe injuries.
NOTICE
Do not perform any of the following changes without consulting your
Toyota dealer. Such changes caninterfere with proper operation ofthe SRS airbag system in some
cases.
Installation of electronic itemssuch as a mobile two-way radio,
cassette tape player or compact
disc player
Modification of the suspension system
Modification of the front endstructure
Attachment of a grille guard (bull
bar, kangaroo bar, etc.), snow-plow winches or any other equip-
ment to the front end
Repairs made on or near the frontend structure, console, steering
column, steering wheel or dash-board near the front passengerairbag.
This SRS airbag system has a service re-
minder indicator to inf orm the driver of op-
erating problems. If either of the following
conditions occurs, this indicates a mal-
function of the airbags. Contact your To-
yota dealer as soon as possible to service
the vehicle. The light does not come on when the
ignition key is turned to the ACCº or
ONº position, or remains on.
The light comes on while driving.

36
In the following cases, contact your Toyo-
ta dealer as soon as possible: The SRS airbag has been inflated.
The front part of the vehicle (shaded in the illustration) was involved in an ac-
cident not of the extent to cause the
SRS airbags to inflate
The pad section of the steering wheel
(shaded in the illustration) is scrat-
ched, cracked, or otherwise damaged. Toyota strongly urges the use of child
restraint systems for children small
enough to use them.
The laws of all fifty states in the U.S.A.
and Canada now require the use of a child
restraint system.
Your vehicle conforms to SAEJ1819.
If a child is too large for a child restraint
system,
the child should sit in the rear seat
and must be restrained using the vehicle's
seat belt. See Seat beltsº for details.CAUTION!
For effective protection in automo-
bile accidents and sudden stops,
children must be properly re-
strained using a seat belt or child
restraint system depending on the
age and size of the child. Holding a
child in your arms is not a substi-
tute for a child restraint system. In
an accident, the child can be
crushed against the windshield, or
between you and the vehicle's inte-
rior.
Toyota strongly urges use of a
proper child restraint system that
conforms to the size of the child
on the rear seat. According to acci-
dent statistics, the child is safer
when properly restrained in the
rear seat than in the front seat.
Never install a rear-facing child re-
straint system on the front seat. In
the event of an accident, the force
of the rapid inflation of the airbag can cause severe injury in a rear-
facing child restraint system is
installed on the front seat.
Unless it is unavoidable, do not
install a forward-facing child re-
straint system on the front seat.
If you must install a forward-fac-
ing child restraint system on the
front seat, move the seat as far back as possible.
Make sure that you have complied
with all installation instructions
provided by the child restraint
manufacturer and that the system is properly secured.
Child restraintÐ ÐChild restraint precautions

36
In the following cases, contact your Toyo-
ta dealer as soon as possible: The SRS airbag has been inflated.
The front part of the vehicle (shaded in the illustration) was involved in an ac-
cident not of the extent to cause the
SRS airbags to inflate
The pad section of the steering wheel
(shaded in the illustration) is scrat-
ched, cracked, or otherwise damaged. Toyota strongly urges the use of child
restraint systems for children small
enough to use them.
The laws of all fifty states in the U.S.A.
and Canada now require the use of a child
restraint system.
Your vehicle conforms to SAEJ1819.
If a child is too large for a child restraint
system,
the child should sit in the rear seat
and must be restrained using the vehicle's
seat belt. See Seat beltsº for details.
CAUTION!
For effective protection in auto-
mobile accidents and sudden
stops, children must be properly
restrained using a seat belt or
child restraint system depending
on the age and size of the child.
Holding a child in your arms is not
a substitute for a child restraintsystem. In an accident, the child
can be crushed against the wind-
shield, or between you and the ve-
hicle's interior.
Toyota strongly urges use of a
proper child restraint system that
conforms to the size of the child
on the rear seat. According to acci-
dent statistics, the child is safer
when properly restrained in the
rear seat than in the front seat.
Never install a rear-facing child re-
straint system on the front seat. In
the event of an accident, the force
of the rapid inflation of the airbag can cause severe injury in a rear-
facing child restraint system is
installed on the front seat.
Unless it is unavoidable, do not
install a forward-facing child re-
straint system on the front seat.
If you must install a forward-fac-
ing child restraint system on the
front seat, move the seat as far back as possible.
Make sure that you have complied
with all installation instructions
provided by the child restraint
manufacturer and that the system is properly secured.
Child restraintÐ ÐChild restraint precautions

53
To change the steering wheel angle,
hold the steering wheel, pull up the
lock release lever, tilt the steering
wheel to the desired angle and release
the lever.
When the steering wheel is in a low posi-
tion, it will spring up as you release the
lock release lever.
Do not adjust the steering wheel
while the vehicle is moving.
After adjusting the steering wheel,try moving it up and down to make sure it is locked in position.
CAUTION!
Adjust the mirror so you can just see
the side of your vehicle in the mirror. Be careful when judging the size of dis- tance of any object seen in the outside
rear view mirror on the passenger's side.
It is a convex mirror with a curved surface.
Any object seen in a convex mirror will
look smaller and farther away than when
seen in a flat mirror.With power window (door armrest)
Without power window (instrument panel)
Tilt steering wheel Outside rear view mirrorsÐ
ÐPower Rear view mirror control

Part 1Ignition switch with steering lock
71
OPERATION OF INSTRUMENTSAND CONTROLSÐ
Chapter 1-6 Ignition switch,
Transmission and Parking brake
Ignition swi
tch with steering lock
Automatic transmission
Manual transmission
Four-wheel drive system
Rear differential lock system
Parking brake
Cruise control
Clutch start cancel switch
STARTº ÐStarter motor on. The key will return to the ONº position when released.
For starting tips, see Part 3.
ONº ÐEngine on and all accessories on.
This is the normal driving position. ACCº - Accessories such as the ra-
dio operate, but the engine is off.
If you leave the key in the ACCº or
LOCKº position and open the driver's
door, a buzzer will remind you to remove
the key.
LOCKº ÐEngine is off and the steer-
ing wheel is locked. The key can be re-
moved only at this position. Vehicles with manual transmissionÐ
You must push in the key to turn the key from ACCº to the LOCKº position.
Vehicles with automatic transmissionÐ
You must shift the selector lever into the
Pº position before turning the key from
ACCº to the LOCKº position. When starting the engine, the key may
seem stuck at the LOCKº position. To
free it, first be sure the key is pushed all
the way in, and then rock the steering
wheel slightly
while turning the key gently.
For manual transmission:
Never remove the key when the
vehicle is moving, as this will lock
the steering wheel and result in loss
of steering control. CAUTION
!
NOTICE
Do not leave the key in the ONº position if the engine is not running.
The battery will discharge and the ignition could be damaged.

86
The rear differential lock system is
provided for use only when wheel
spinning occurs in a ditch or on a slip-
pery or ragged surface.
This differential lock system is effective in case one of the rear wheels is spinning.
Before using the rear differential lock sys-
tem, first shift the front drive control into L4º with the free-wheeling hubs engaged
to see if it works. If this has no ef fect, addi-
tionally use the rear differential lock sys-tem.
Do not use the rear differential lock
in the conditions other than above.
Large steering effort and careful
cornering control will be required. CAUTION
!
To lock the rear differential, push the switch.
Be sure to stop the wheels before locking
the differential.
Vehicles with manual transmissionÐFor
easy locking, depress the clutch pedal,
push the lock switch and slowly release the clutch pedal.
The indicator light will blink when the
switch is
turned on. Wait a few seconds for
the system to complete operation. After
the differential is locked, the light will stop
blinking and remain on.
Rear differential lock system