warning SUBARU OUTBACK 2001 3.G Owners Manual

7-22
Brake system Two separate circuits
Your vehic le has two sep arate c irc uit b rake systems . Eac h c irc uit
works d iag onally ac ross the vehic le. If one c irc uit of the b rake system
should fail, the other half of the system still wor ks. If one c irc uit fails,
the b rake p ed al will g o d own muc h c loser to the flo or than usual and
you will need to p ress it d own muc h hard er. And a m uc h long er d is-
tanc e will b e need ed to stop the vehic le. Brake booster
The b rake b ooster uses eng ine manifold vac uum to as sist b raking
forc e. Do not turn off the eng ine while d riving b ec ause that will turn off
the b rake b ooster, resulting in p oor b raking p ower.
The b rakes will c ontinue to work even when the b rak e b ooster c om-
p letely stop s func tioning . If this hap p ens, however , you will have to
p ush the p ed al muc h hard er than normal and the b rak ing d istanc e
will inc rease.
Disc brake pad wear warning indicators
OM-H0163
The d isc b rake p ad wear warning ind ic ators on the d isc b rakes g ive a
warning noise when the b rake p ad s are worn.
If a sq ueaking or sc rap ing noise is heard from the d isc b rakes while
b raking , immed iately have your vehic le c hec ked b y y our SUBARU d eal-
er.

Starting and operating7-23
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ABS (Anti-lock Brake System)
WARNING
Always use the utmost care in driving – overconfidence because
you are driving with an ABS equipped vehicle could easily lead to a serious accident.
CAUTION
The ABS system does not always decrease stopping distance.
You should always maintain a safe following distance from othervehicles. When driving on badly surfaced roads, gravel roads, icy road,
or over deep newly fallen snow, stopping distances may be long-er for a vehicle with the ABS system than one without. When driv-ing under these conditions, therefore, reduce your speed and
leave ample distance from other vehicles. When you feel the ABS system operating, you should maintain
constant brake pedal pressure. Do not pump the brake pedal
since doing so may defeat the operation of the ABS system.
The ABS system p revents the loc k-up of wheels whic h may oc c ur d uring
sud d en b raking or b raking on slip p ery road surfac es . This help s p revent
the loss of steering c ontrol and d irec tional stab il ity c aused b y wheel
loc k-up .
When the ABS system is op erating , you may hear a c h attering noise or
feel a slig ht vib ration in the b rake p ed al. This is normal when the ABS
op erates.
The ABS system will not op erate when the vehic le sp eed is b elow
ap p roximately 6 mp h (10 km/h).
ABS system self-check
You may feel a slig ht shoc k in the b rake p ed al and hear the op erating
sound of ABS from the eng ine c omp artment just after the vehic le is

7-24started . This is c aused b y an automatic func tional
test of the ABS sys-
tem b eing c arried out and d oes not ind ic ate any ab n ormal c ond ition.
ABS warning light
HB4010GA
The ABS warning lig ht c omes on when the ig nition sw itc h is turned to
the “ON ” p osition and g oes out after ab out two sec ond s.
This is an ind ic ation that the ABS system is workin g p rop erly.
CAUTION
If the warning light behaves as follows, the ABS system may not
be working properly.When the warning light is on, the ABS function shuts down; how-
ever, the conventional brake system continues to operate normal-
ly. The warning light does not come on when the ignition switch
is turned to the “ON” position.
The warning light comes on when the ignition switch is turned
to the “ON” position, but it does not go out even when the vehicle
speed exceeds approximately 8 mph (12 km/h). The warning light comes on during driving.
If these occur, have the ABS system repaired at the first available
opportunity by your SUBARU dealer.

Starting and operating7-25
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NOTE
If the warning light behavior is as described below, the ABS sys- tem may be considered normal.
The warning light comes on right after the engine is started
but goes out immediately, remaining off. The warning light remains on after the engine has been
started, but it goes out when the vehicle speed reaches about 8mph (12 km/h). The warning light comes on during driving, but it goes out
immediately and remains off.
When d riving with an insuffic ient b attery voltag e s uc h as when the en-
g ine is jump started , the ABS warning lig ht may c om e on. This is d ue
to the low b attery voltag e and d oes not ind ic ate a malfunc tion. When
the b attery b ec omes fully c harg ed , the lig ht will g o out.
VDC (Vehicle Dynamics Control) system (if equipped)
WARNING
Always use the utmost care in driving — overconfidence because
you are driving with a VDC system equipped vehicle could easily lead to a serious accident.
CAUTION
Even if your vehicle is equipped with VDC, winter tires or snow
chains should be used when driving on snow-covered or icyroads; in addition, vehicle speed should be reduced consider-
ably. Simply having a VDC system does not guarantee that the
vehicle will be able to avoid accidents in any situation. Activation of the VDC system is an indication that the road
being travelled on has a slippery surface; since having VDC is no
guarantee that full vehicle control will be maintained at all timesand under all conditions, its activation should be seen as a sign
that the speed of the vehicle should be reduced considerably.

7-28
VDC system monitor
HB4010FB
nVDC OFF indicator light
The VDC OFF ind ic ator lig ht turns on initially when the ig nition key
is turned to the ON p osition; it sub seq uently turns off 6 sec ond s after
the eng ine is started . This lig ht turns on to ind ic ate that the VDC and TC S systems are in
non-op eration (read y) mod e. This d oes not c onstitut e failure of the
VDC system. NOTE When the engine is started on cold mornings and in other sim-
ilar circumstances, a certain amount of time may pass before the
VDC OFF indicator light turns off. This occurs because the
engine has not yet warmed up and is completely normal. The
light will turn off when the engine has reached a suitable operat-ing temperature. When an engine problem occurs and the CHECK ENGINE
warning light turns on, the VDC OFF indicator light will also turnon. Depending on the type of gasoline used, it may take sometime
before the light goes out after the engine has been started.
The following two situations c ould ind ic ate malfunc tion of the VDC
system; if either should oc c ur, have an authorized SUBARU d ealer
c arry out an insp ec tion of that system at the first availab le op p ortunity.

Starting and operating7-29
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The VDC OFF ind ic ator lig ht d oes not turn on when t he ig nition key
is turned to the ON p osition. The VDC OFF ind ic ator lig ht fails to turn off after the eng ine is
started , even when several minutes have p assed to a llow the eng ine
to heat up suffic iently. n VDC operation indicator light
The VDC op eration ind ic ator lig ht turns on when the ig nition key is
turned to the ON p osition; it turns off ap p roximate ly two sec ond s later.
It flashes on and off when the VDC is op erating b ut stays c ontinuously
lit when only the TCS is op erating .
The following two situations c ould ind ic ate a malfu nc tion of the VDC
system; if either should oc c ur, have an authorized SUBARU d ealer
c arry out an insp ec tion of that system at the first availab le op p ortunity.
The VDC op eration ind ic ator lig ht d oes not turn on when the ig ni-
tion key is turned to the ON p osition. The VDC op eration ind ic ator lig ht d oes not turn off ap p roximately
two sec ond s after the ig nition key has b een turned to the ON p osition.
n VDC warning light
The VDC warning lig ht turns on when the ig nition ke y is turned to the
ON p osition and off when the eng ine is started . Thi s lig hting p attern
ind ic ates that the VDC system is op erating normally .
The following situations c ould ind ic ate a malfunc ti on of the VDC sys-
tem; if any should oc c ur, have an authorized SUBARU d ealer c arry
out an insp ec tion of the system at the first availa b le op p ortunity.
The VDC warning lig ht d oes not turn on when the ig n ition key is
turned to the ON p osition. The VDC warning lig ht d oes not turn off either when the eng ine is
started or when the vehic le reac hes a sp eed of ap p r oximately 8 mp h
(12 km/h). The VDC warning lig ht turns on while the vehic le is b eing d riven.
When a malfunc tion has oc c urred in the VDC elec tric al system,
only the VDC warning lig ht will turn on. In suc h an event, the ABS will
still b e op erating normally.

7-30
The VDC warning lig ht will also turn on when a p rob lem oc c urs
with the ABS or VDC elec tronic c ontrol systems.
Bec ause the VDC system c ontrols eac h b rake throug h the ABS,
whenever the ABS stop s op erating d ue to a malfunc ti on in that elec tri-
c al system, the VDC will also b ec ome unab le to c ont rol all four
b rakes. Thus VDC system op eration halts and the VDC warning lig ht
turns on. Althoug h b oth the VDC system and the ABS will b e inop er-
ab le in this situation, it will still b e p ossib le t o stop the vehic le using
normal b raking . The VDC system and the ABS d o not a d versely affec t
op eration of the vehic le in any way when they are i nop erab le; how-
ever should suc h a situation oc c ur, d rive with c are and have an autho-
rized SUBARU d ealer c arry out an insp ec tion of thos e systems at the
first availab le op p ortunity. NOTE
When the VDC warning light turns on and off in the following way,
it indicates that the VDC system is operating normally. Although turning on after the engine has been started, the
warning light quickly turns off and stays off. The warning light turns on after the engine is started and does
not turn off until the vehicle reaches a speed of 8 mph (12 km/h). The warning light turns on when the vehicle is being driven; it
then turns off and stays off.

Starting and operating7-31
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Parking your vehicle
WARNING
Never leave unattended children or pets in the vehicle. They
could accidentally injure themselves or others through inadver- tent operation of the vehicle. Also, on hot or sunny days, the tem-perature in a closed vehicle could quickly become high enoughto cause severe or possibly fatal injuries to them. Do not park the vehicle over flammable materials such as dry
grass, waste paper or rags, as they may burn easily if they comenear hot engine or exhaust system parts. Be sure to stop the engine if you take a nap in the vehicle. If
engine exhaust gas enters the passenger compartment, occu-pants in the vehicle could die from carbon monoxide (CO) con-tained in the exhaust gas.
CAUTION
Never drive while the parking brake is set because this will cause
unnecessary wear on the brake linings. Before starting to drive,always make sure that the parking brake has been fully released.
To set the p arking b rake, p ress the b rake p ed al fir mly and hold it d own
while fully p ulling up the p arking b rake lever.

7-32
HB4001BA
To release the p arking b rake, p ull the lever up slig htly, p ress the release
b utton, then lower the lever while keep ing the b utt on p ressed .
When the p arking b rake is set while the eng ine is r unning , the p arking
b rake warning lig ht c omes on. After starting the ve hic le, b e sure that the
warning lig ht has g one out b efore the vehic le is d r iven. Refer to the
“ Warning and ind ic ator lig hts ” sec tion (c hap ter 3).
When p arking your vehic le, always set the p arking b rake firmly and p ut
the shift lever in the “1 ” (1st) for an up g rad e or “R ” (Reverse) for a d own-
g rad e for manual transmission vehic les, or in the “P ” (Park) p osition for
automatic transmission vehic les. Always set the p ar king b rake firmly
when p arking your vehic le. Never rely on the transm ission alone to hold
the vehic le.
HB4015AA
HB4014AA

Starting and operating7-33
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When p arking on a hill, always turn the steering wh
eel. When the vehic le
is head ed up the hill, the front wheels should b e t urned away from the
c urb . When fac ing d ownhill, the front wheels should b e turned into the
c urb .
Cruise control (if equipped)
WARNING
Do not use the cruise control under any of the following condi- tions. This may cause loss of vehicle control: driving up or down a steep grade
driving on slippery or winding roads
driving in heavy traffic
Cruise c ontrol enab les you to maintain a c onstant v ehic le sp eed without
hold ing your foot on the ac c elerator p ed al and it i s op erative when the
vehic le sp eed is 25 mp h (40 km/h) or more. Make sur e the main switc h is
turned “OFF ” when the c ruise c ontrol is not in use to avoid uni ntentionally
b y setting the c ruise c ontrol.
To set cruise control
HG0312
HB3002BB
Cruise control lever
1. Push the “CRUISE ” main switc h.
2. Dep ress the ac c elerator p ed al until the vehic le r eac hes to the d e-
sired sp eed .