TOYOTA AVALON 2004 XX30 / 3.G Repair Manual

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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
When a passenger ’s shoulder belt is com-
pletely extended and is then retracted
even slightly, the belt is locked in that
position and cannot be extended. This fea-
ture is used to hold the child restraint
system securely. (For details, see “Child
restraint” in this Section.) To free the belt
again, fully retract the belt and then pull
the belt out once more.
If the seat belt cannot be pulled out of the
retractor, firmly pull the belt and release
it. You will then be able to smoothly pull
the belt out of the retractor.
CAUTION
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and
that the belt is not twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in
the buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab and
buckle.
If the seat belt does not function
normally, immediately contact your
Toyota dealer. Do not use the seat
until the seat belt is fixed, because
it cannot protect an adult occupant
or your child from injury.
Ta k e u p
slack
To o h i g h
Keep as low on
hips as possible
Adjust the position of the lap and
shoulder belts.
Position the lap belt as low as possible
on your hips—not on your waist, then ad-
just it to a snug fit by pulling the shoulder
portion upward through the latch plate.
CAUTION
Both highpositioned lap belts and
loosefitting belts could cause seri-
ous injuries due to sliding under
the lap belt during a collision or
other unintended event. Keep the
lap belt positioned as low on hips
as possible.
Do not place the shoulder belt un-
der your arm.

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Seat belts with an adjustable shoulder
anchor—
Adjust the shoulder anchor position to
your size.
To raise: Slide the anchor up.
To lower: Push in the lock release button
and slide the anchor down.
After adjustment, make sure the anchor is
locked in position.
CAUTION
Always make sure the shoulder belt
is positioned across the center of
your shoulder. The belt should be
kept away from your neck, but not
falling off your shoulder. Failure to
do so could reduce the amount of
protection in an accident and cause
serious injuries in a collision.
To release the belt, press the buckle
release button and allow the belt to
retract.
If the belt does not retract smoothly, pull
it out and check for kinks or twists. Then
make sure it remains untwisted as it re-
tracts.

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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
Lengthen
Sit up straight and well back in the
seat. To fasten your belt, insert the tab
into the buckle.
You will hear a click when the tab locks
into the buckle.
If the belt is not long enough for you, hold
the tab at a right angle to the belt and
pull on the tab.
CAUTION
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and
that the belt is not twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in
the buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab and
buckle.
If the seat belt does not function
normally, immediately contact your
Toyota dealer. Do not use the seat
until the seat belt is fixed. It cannot
protect an adult occupant or your
child from injury.
To o h i g h
Adjust to
a snug fit
Keep as low on hips as possible
Remove excess length of the belt and
adjust the belt position.
To shorten the belt, pull the free end of
the belt.
Position the lap belt as low as possible
on your hips—not on your waist, then ad-
just it to a snug fit.
CAUTION
Both highpositioned and loosefit-
ting lap belts could cause serious in-
juries due to sliding under the lap
belt during a collision or other unin-
tended result. Keep the lap belt posi-
tioned as low on hips as possible.
—Fastening front center seat
belt (2point type)

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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
To release the belt, press the buckle
release button.The front center seat belt can be
stowed when not in use.If your seat belts cannot be fastened se-
curely because they are not long enough,
a personalized seat belt extender is avail-
able from your Toyota dealer free of
charge.
Please contact your local Toyota dealer to
order the proper required length for the
extender. Bring the heaviest coat you ex-
pect to wear for proper measurement and
selection of length. Additional ordering in-
formation is available at your Toyota deal-
er.CAUTION
When using the seat belt extender,
observe the following precautions.
Failure to follow these instructions
could reduce the effectiveness of the
seat belt restraint system in case of
an accident, increasing the chance of
personal injury.
Remember that the extender pro-
vided for you may not be safe when
used on a different vehicle, for
another person or at a different
seating position, than the one origi-
nally intended.
—Stowing the front center
seat belt
—Seat belt extender

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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
If the seat belt extender has been
connected to the driver ’s seat belt
buckle without wearing the seat belt
when using the extender in the
driver ’s seat, the SRS driver ’s air-
bag system will judge that the driv-
er wears the seat belt even if not
wearing it. In this case, the driver ’s
airbag may not activate correctly,
causing death or serious injury in
the event of collision. Be sure to
wear the seat belt with the seat belt
extender.
Be sure to wear the seat belt with-
out the seat belt extender if you
can fasten the seat belt without the
extender.
Do not use the seat belt extender
when installing a child restraint
system on the front or rear passen-
ger seat. If installing a child re-
straint system with the seat belt
extender connected to the seat belt,
the seat belt will not securely hold
the child restraint system, which
could cause death or serious injury
to the child or other passengers in
the event of collision.
To connect the extender to the seat
belt, insert the tab into the seat belt
buckle so that the “PRESS” signs on
the buckle release buttons of the ex-
tender and the seat belt are both facing
outward as shown.
You will hear a click when the tab locks
into the buckle.
When releasing the seat belt, press on
the buckle release button on the extender,
not on the seat belt. This helps prevent
damage to the vehicle interior and extend-
er itself.
When not in use, remove the extender
and store in the vehicle for future use.

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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
CAUTION
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and
that the lap and shoulder portion of
the belt and the seat belt extender
are not twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in
the buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab and
buckle.
If the seat belt does not function
normally, immediately contact your
Toyota dealer. Do not use the seat
until the seat belt is fixed, because
it cannot protect an adult occupant
or your child from injury.
The driver and front outside passenger
seat belt pretensioners are designed to
be activated in response to a severe
frontal impact.
When the sensor detects a severe frontal
impact, the front outside seat belts are
quickly drawn back by the retractors so
that the belts snugly restrain the occu-
pants.
The front outside seat belt pretensioners
are activated even with no passenger in
the front outside seat.
The front outside seat belt pretensioners
and SRS airbags may not operate together
in all collisions.Collisions occurring at certain s
peeds and
angles may cause the seat belt preten-
sioners and SRS airbags not to operate
all together.
—Seat belt pretensioners

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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
The front outside seat belt pretensioner
system consists mainly of the following
components and their locations are shown
in the illustration.1. Front airbag sensors
2. SRS warning light
3. Seat belt pretensioner assemblies
4. Airbag sensor assembly
The front outside seat belt pretensioners
are controlled by the airbag sensor as-
sembly. The airbag sensor assembly con-
sists of a safing sensor and airbag sen-
sor. When the front outside seat belt preten-
sioners are activated, an operating noise
may be heard and a small amount of non
toxic gas may be released. This does not
indicate that a fire is occurring. This gas
is normally harmless.
Once the front outside seat belt preten-
sioners have been activated, the seat belt
retractors remain locked.
CAUTION
Do not modify, remove, strike or open
the front seat belt pretensioner as-
semblies, airbag sensor or surround-
ing area or wiring. Failure to follow
these instructions may prevent the
front outside seat belt pretensioners
from activating correctly, cause sud-
den operation of the system or dis-
able the system, which could result in
death or serious injury. Consult your
Toyota dealer about any repair and
modification.
NOTICE
Do not perform any of the following
changes without consulting your
Toyota dealer. Such changes can
interfere with proper operation of the
front outside seat belt pretensioners
in some cases.

Installation of electronic devices
such as a mobile twoway radio,
cassette tape player or compact
disc player
 Repairs on or near the front seat
belt retractor assemblies
 Modification of the suspension sys-
tem
 Modification of the front end struc-
ture
 Attachment of a grille guard (bull
bar, kangaroo bar, etc.), snowplow,
winches or any other equipment to
the front end
 Repairs made on or near the front
fenders, front end structure or con-
sole

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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
This indicator comes on when the igni-
tion key is turned to the “ON” position.
It goes off after about 6 seconds. This
means the front outside seat belt pre-
tensioners are operating properly.
This warning light system monitors the
airbag sensor assembly, front airbag sen-
sors, side airbag sensors, driver ’s seat
position sensor, driver ’s seat belt buckle
switch, front seat belt pretensioner assem-
blies, inflators, warning light, interconnect-
ing wiring and power sources. (For details,
see “Service reminder indicators and
warning buzzers” in Section 16.)If any of the following conditions occurs,
this indicates a malfunction of the airbags
or seat belt pretensioners. Contact your
Toyota dealer as soon as possible.
The light does not come on when the
ignition key is turned to the “ON” posi-
tion or remains on for more than 6
seconds or flashes.
The light comes on or starts flashing
while driving.
If any front outside seat belt does not
retract or cannot be pulled out due to
a malfunction or activation of the rele-
vant front outside seat belt pretension-
er.
The seat belt pretensioner assembly or
surrounding area has been damaged.
In the following cases, contact your Toyota
dealer as soon as possible:
The front of the vehicle (shaded in the
illustration) was involved in an acci
dent
that was not severe enough to cause
the front outside seat belt pretension-
ers to operate.
Either front outside seat belt preten-
sioner assembly or surrounding area is
scratched, cracked, or otherwise dam-
aged.

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2004 AVALON from Aug. ’04 Prod. (OM41412U)
The SRS (Supplemental Restraint Sys-
tem) front airbags are designed to pro-
vide further protection for occupants in
the following seats in addition to the
primary safety protection provided by
the seat belts.
Vehicles with bucket front seats—The
SRS front airbags are designed to pro-
tect the driver and front passenger.
Vehicles with bench type front seats—
The SRS front airbags are designed to
protect the driver and front outside
passenger, and they are not designed
to protect an occupant in the front cen-
ter seating position.In response to a severe frontal impact,
the SRS front airbags work together with
the seat belts to help reduce injury by
inflating. The SRS front airbags help re-
duce injuries mainly to the driver’s or front
passenger ’s head or chest caused by hit-
ting the vehicle interior.
The front passenger airbag is activated
even with no passenger in the front seat.
Always wear your seat belt properly.
CAUTION
The SRS front airbag system is de-
signed only as a supplement to the
primary protection of the driver and
front passenger seat belt systems.
The driver and front passenger can
be killed or seriously injured by the
inflating airbags if they do not wear
the available seat belts properly.
During sudden braking just before
a collision, an unrestrained driver
or front passenger can move for-
ward into direct contact with or
close proximity to the airbag which
may then deploy during the colli-
sion. To ensure maximum protection
in an accident, the driver and all
passengers in the vehicle must
wear their seat belts properly. Wear-
ing a seat belt properly during an
accident reduces the chances of
death or serious injury or being
thrown out of the vehicle. For
instructions and precautions con-
cerning the seat belt system, see
“Seat belts” in this Section.
SRS driver airbag and front
passenger airbag

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Improperly seated and/or restrained
infants and children can be killed
or seriously injured by the deploy-
ing front airbags. An infant or child
who is too small to use a seat belt
should be properly secured using a
child restraint system. Toyota
strongly recommends that all in-
fants and children be placed in the
rear seat of the vehicle and proper-
ly restrained. The rear seat is the
safest for infants and children. For
instructions concerning the installa-
tion of a child restraint system, see
“Child restraint” in this Section.The SRS front airbags are designed to
deploy in severe (usually frontal) colli-
sions where the magnitude and duration
of the forward deceleration of the ve-
hicle exceeds the designed threshold
level.
The SRS front airbags will deploy if the
severity of the impact is above the de-
signed threshold level, comparable to an
approximate 25 km/h (15 mph) collision
when the vehicles has the impact straight
into a fixed barrier that does not move or
deform.
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
impact, or if the vehicle is involved in an
underride collision (e.g. a collision in
which the front of the vehicle “underrides”,
or goes under, the bed of a truck, etc.).
It is possible that in some collisions
where the forward deceleration of the ve-
hicle is very close to the designed thresh-
old level, the SRS front airbags and the
seat belt pretensioners may not activate
together.
Always wear your seat belts properly.
Collision from the sideCollision from the rear
Vehicle rollover
The SRS front airbags are generally not
designed to inflate if the vehicle is in-
volved in a side or rear collision, if it
rolls over, or if it is involved in a low
speed frontal collision. But, when ever a
collision of any type causes sufficient
forward deceleration of the vehicle, de-
ployment of the SRS front airbags may
occur.