Winter Driving Tips - Toyota Tacoma 1996 Instruction Manual

CAUTION
!
Always observe the following pre-
cautions to minimize the risk of seri-
ous personal injury or damage to
your vehicle:
S Drive carefully when off the road.
Do not take unnecessary risks by
driving in dangerous places.
S Do not grip the steering wheel
spokes when driving off-road. A
bad bump could jerk the wheel and
injure your hands. Keep both
hands and especially your thumbs
on the outside of the rim.
S Always check your brakes for ef-
fectiveness immediately after driv-
ing in sand, mud, water or snow.
S After driving through tall grass,
mud, rock, sand, rivers, etc., check
that there is no grass, bush, paper,
rags, stone, sand, etc. adhering or
trapped on the underbody. Clear
off any such matter from the un-
derbody. If the vehicle is used with
these materials trapped or adher-
ing to the underbody, a breakdown
or fire could occur.
S The driver and all passengers
should fasten their seat belts
whenever the vehicle is moving.
112
NOTICE
z If driving through water, such as
when crossing shallow streams,
first check the depth of the water
and the bottom of the river bed for
firmness. Drive slowly and avoid
deep water.
z Take all necessary safety mea-
sures to ensure that damage to the
engine or other components does
not occur.
Water entering the engine air in-
take will cause severe engine dam-
age.
Water can wash the grease from
wheel bearings, causing rusting
and premature failure, and may
also enter the differential, trans-
mission and transfer case, reduc-
ing the gear oil's lubricating quali-
ties.
z Sand and mud that has accumu-
lated in brake drums and around
brake discs may affect braking ef-
ficiency and may damage brake
system components.
z Always perform a maintenance in-
spection after each day of off-road
driving that has taken you through
rough terrain, sand, mud, or water.
For scheduled maintenance infor-
mation, refer to the separate
"Owner's Manual Supplement/
Maintenance Schedule".

Winter driving tips

Make sure you have ethylene-glycol
antifreeze in the radiator.
NOTICE
Do not use alcohol type antifreeze.
Check the condition of the battery and
cables.
Cold temperatures reduce the capacity of
any battery, so it must be in top shape to
provide enough power for winter starting.
Chapter 7-3 tells you how to visually in-
spect the battery. Your Toyota dealer and
most service stations will be pleased to
check the level of charge.
Make sure the engine oil viscosity is
suitable for the cold weather.
See Chapter 7-2 for recommended vis-
cosity. Leaving a heavy summer oil in your
vehicle during winter months may cause
harder starting. If you are not sure about
which oil to use, call your Toyota dealer—
he will be pleased to help.
Keep the door locks from freezing.
Squirt lock de-icer or glycerine into the
locks to keep them from freezing. To open
a frozen lock, try heating the key before in-
serting it.