airbag TOYOTA RAV4 2002 XA20 / 2.G Owners Manual

’02 Rav4_U (L/O 0108)
iv2002 MY RAV4_U (OM42503U)
Spark ignition system of yourTo y o t a
The spark ignition system in your Toyota meets all require-
ments of the Canadian InterferenceCausing Equipment
Standard.
Installation of a mobiletwoway radio system
As the installation of a mobile twoway radio system in
your vehicle could affect electronic systems such as multi-
port fuel injection system/sequential multiport fuel injection
system, cruise control system, antilock brake system,
SRS airbag system and seat belt pretensioner system, be
sure to check with your Toyota dealer for precautionary
measures or special instructions regarding installation.
Scrapping of your Toyota
The SRS airbag and seat belt pretensioner devices in your
Toyota contain explosive chemicals. If the vehicle is
scrapped with the airbags and pretensioners left as they
are, this may cause an accident such as fire. Be sure to
have the systems of the SRS airbag and seat belt preten-
sioner removed and disposed of by the qualified service
shop or by your Toyota dealer before you dispose of your
vehicle.

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OPERATION OF INSTRUMENTS AND
CONTROLS
Seats, Seat belts, Steering wheel and Mirrors
Seats28
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Front seats 28
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Rear seats 30
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Flattening seatbacks 38
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Head restraints 39
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Seat belts 40
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SRS driver airbag and front passenger airbag 50
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Child restraint 57
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Tilt steering wheel 74
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Outside rear view mirrors 74
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Antiglare inside rear view mirror 76
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Sun visors 76
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SECTION 1 3

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CAUTION
Adjust the center of the head re-
straint so that it is closest to the
top of your ears.
After adjusting the head restraint,
make sure it is locked in position.
Do not drive with the head re-
straints removed.
Toyota strongly urges that the driver and
passengers in the vehicle be properly re-
strained at all times with the seat belts
provided. Failure to do so could increase
the chance of injury and/or the severity of
injury in accidents.
Child. Use a child restraint system ap-
propriate for the child until the child be-
comes large enough to properly wear the
vehicle’s seat belts. See “Child restraint”
on page 57 for details.
If a child is too large for a child restraint
system, the child s hould sit in the rear
seat and must be restrained using the
vehicle’s seat belt. According to accident
statistics, the child is safer when properly
restrained in the rear seat than in the
front seat.
If a child must sit in the front seat, the
seat belts should be worn properly. If an
accident occurs and seat belts are not
worn properly, the force of the rapid infla-
tion of the airbag may cause death or
serious injury to the child. Do not allow the child to stand up or
kneel on either rear or front seats. An
unrestrained child could suffer serious in-
jury or death during emergency braking or
a collision. Also, do not let the child sit
on your lap. It does not provide sufficient
restraint.
Pregnant woman.
Toyota recommends the
use of a seat belt. Ask your doctor for
specific recommendations. The lap belt
should be worn securely and as low as
possible over the hips and not on the
waist.
Injured person. Toyota recommends the
use of a seat belt. Depending on the inju-
ry, first check with your doctor for specific
recommendations.
Seat belts—
—Seat belt precautions

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The driver and front passenger ’s seat
belt pretensioners are designed to be
activated in response to a severe fron-
tal impact.
When the airbag sensor detects the shock
of a severe frontal impact, the front seat
belts are quickly drawn back in by the
retractors so that the belts snugly restrain
the front seat occupants.
The front seat belt pretensioners are acti-
vated even with no passenger in the front
seat.
Collisions occurring at certain speeds and
angles may cause the seat belt preten-
sioners and SRS airbags not to operate
all together.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 seat belt pretensioners
are operating properly.
This warning light system monitors the
airbag sensor assembly, front airbag sen-
sors, front seat belt pretensioner assem-
blies, inflators, warning light, interconnect-
ing wiring and power sources. (For details,
see “Service reminder indicators and
warning buzzers” on page 90 in Section
15.)The front seat belt pretensioner system
mainly consists of the following compo-
nents and their locations are shown in the
illustration.
1. Front airbag sensors
2. SRS warning light
3. Front seat belt pretensioner assemblies
4. Airbag sensor assembly
The front seat belt pretensioners are con-
trolled by the airbag sensor assembly. The
airbag sensor assembly consists of a saf-
ing sensor and airbag sensor.
—Front seat belt
pretensioners

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When the front seat belt pretensioners are
activated, an operating noise may be
heard and a small amount of smokelike
gas may be released. This gas is harm-
less and does not indicate that a fire is
occurring.
Once the front seat belt pretensioners
have been activated, the seat belt retrac-
tors 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. Doing any of
these may cause sudden operation of
the front seat belt pretensioners or
disable the system, which could re-
sult in death or serious injury.
Failure to follow these instructions
can result in death or serious inju-
ries.
NOTICE
Do not perform any of the following
changes without consulting your
Toyota dealer. Such changes can
interfere with proper operation of the
front 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
This front seat belt pretensioner system
has a service reminder indicator to inform
the driver of operating problems. If any of
the following conditions occurs, this
indicates a malfunction of the airbags or
pretensioners. Contact your Toyota dealer
as soon as possible to service the
vehicle.
The light does not come on when the
ignition key is turned to the “ON” posi-
tion, or the light remains on.
The light comes on or flashes while
driving.
If either front seat belt does not retract
or cannot be pulled out due to a mal-
function or activation of the relevant
front seat belt pretensioner.

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In the following cases, contact your Toyota
dealer as soon as possible:
The front part of the vehicle (shaded
in the illustration) was involved in an
accident that was not severe enough to
cause the front seat belt pretensioners
to operate.
Either front seat belt pretensioner as-
sembly or surrounding area is
scratched, cracked, or otherwise dam-
aged.
The SRS (Supplemental Restraint Sys-
tem) airbags are designed to provide
further protection for the driver and
front passenger in addition to the pri-
mary safety protection provided by the
seat belts.
In response to a severe frontal impact,
the SRS airbags work together with the
seat belts to help reduce injury by inflat-
ing. The SRS airbags help to reduce inju-
ries mainly to the driver’s or front passen-
ger ’s head or chest caused by directly
hitting the steering wheel or dashboard.
The front passenger airbag is activated
even with no passenger in the front seat.
Be sure to wear your seat belt properly.Your vehicle is equipped with a crash
sensing and diagnostic module, which will
record the use of the seat belt restraint
system by the driver and front pass
enger
when the SRS airbags are inflated.
CAUTION
The driver or front passenger who is
too close to the steering wheel or
dashboard during airbag deployment
can be killed or seriously injured.
Toyota strongly recommends that:
The driver sit as far back as pos-
sible from the steering wheel while
still maintaining control of the ve-
hicle.
The front passenger sit as far back
as possible from the dashboard.
All vehicle occupants be properly
restrained using the available seat
belts.
SRS driver airbag and front
passenger airbag

’02 Rav4_U (L/O 0108)
512002 MY RAV4_U (OM42503U)
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 SRS airbags are operating
properly.
This warning light system monitors the
airbag sensor assembly, front airbag sen-
sors, front seat belt pretensioner assem-
blies, inflators, warning light, interconnect-
ing wiring and power sources. (For details,
see “Service reminder indicators and
warning buzzers” on page 90 in Section
15.)The SRS airbag system is designed to
activate in response to a severe frontal
impact within the shaded area between
the arrows in the illustration.
The SRS airbags will deploy if the severi-
ty of the impact is above the designed
threshold level, comparable to an approxi-
mate 25 km/h (15 mph) collision when
impacting 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.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 it is involved in an underride
collision (e.g. a collision in which the nose
of the vehicle “underrides”, or goes under,
the bed of a truck, etc.).
It is possible that in some collisions at the
lower zone of airbag sensor detection and
activation the SRS airbags and front seat
belt pretensioners will not operate all toge-
ther.
For the safety of all occupants, always
wear your seat belts properly.

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Collision from the rear
Collision from the side Vehicle rollover
The SRS airbags are not designed to
inflate if the vehicle is involved in a
side or rear collision, if it rolls over, or
if it is involved in a lowspeed frontal
collision.
Hitting a curb, edge
of pavement or
hard materialFalling into or
jumping over
a deep hole
Landing hard or vehicle falling
The SRS airbags may deploy if a seri-
ous impact occurs to the underside of
your vehicle. Some examples are shown
in the illustration.The SRS airbag system consists mainly of
the following components, and their loca-
tions are shown in the illustration. 1. Front airbag sensors
2. SRS warning light
3. Airbag module for front passenger (airbag and inflator)
4. Airbag sensor assembly
5. Airbag module for driver (airbag and inflator)
The airbag sensor assembly consists of a
safing sensor and airbag sensor.

’02 Rav4_U (L/O 0108)
532002 MY RAV4_U (OM42503U)
In a severe frontal impact, the sensors
detect deceleration and the system trig-
gers the airbag inflators. Then a chemical
reaction in the inflators quickly fills the
airbags with nontoxic gas to help restrain
the forward motion of the occupants.
When the airbags inflate, they produce a
fairly loud noise and release some smoke
and residue along with nontoxic gas. This
does not indicate a fire. This gas is nor-
mally harmless; however, for those who
have delicate skin, it may cause a minor
skin irritation. Be sure to wash off any
residue as soon as possible to prevent
any potential 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 swelling.
Parts of the airbag module (steering wheel
hub, dashboard) may be hot for several
minutes, but the airbags themselves will
not be hot. The airbags are designed to
inflate only once. A crash severe enough to inflate the air-
bags may break the windshield as the
vehicle buckles. In vehicles with a pas-
senger airbag the windshield may also be
damaged by absorbing some of the force
of the inflating airbag.CAUTION
The SRS airbag system is designed
only as a supplement to the prima-
ry protection of the driver side and
front passenger side seat belt sys-
tems. The front seat occupants 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” on page 40 in this sec-
tion.

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Improperly seated and/or restrained
infants and children can be killed
or seriously injured by the deploy-
ing 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” on page 57 in this
section.
Never install a rearfacing child re-
straint system on the front passen-
ger seat because the force of the
rapid inflation of the front passen-
ger airbag can cause death or seri-
ous injury to the child.
Move seat
fully back
A forwardfacing child restraint sys-
tem should be allowed to be
installed on the front passenger
seat only when it is unavoidable.
Always move the seat as far back
as possible, because the force of
the deploying front passenger air-
bag could cause death or serious
injury to the child.
For instructions concerning the
installation of a child restraint sys-
tem, see “Child restraint” on page
57 in this section.