dashboard Acura RL 2001 3.5 Owner's Manual

2001 RL Online Reference Owner's Manual
Use these links (and links throughout this manual) to navigate through\
this reference.
For a printed owner's manual, click on authorized manuals or go to www.h\
elminc.com.
Contents
Introduction ........................................................................\
................................................................. i
A Few Words About Safet y........................................................................\
.........................................ii
Driver and Passenger Safety ........................................................................\
..................................... .5
Proper use and care of your vehicle's seat belts, and Supplemental Restr\
aint System.
Instruments and Control s........................................................................\
........................................ .51
Instrument panel indicator and gauge, and how to use dashboard and steering colu\
mn controls.
Comfort and Convenience Features ........................................................................\
..................... 121
How to operate the climate control system, the audio system, and other c\
onvenience features.
Before Driving........................................................................\
..........................................................167
What gasoline to use, how to break-in your new vehicle, and how to load luggage and other cargo.
Driving ........................................................................\
..................................................................... .179
The proper way to start the engine, shift the transmission, and park, pl\
us towing a trailer.
Maintenance........................................................................\
.............................................................203
The Maintenance Schedule shows you when you need to take your vehicle to the dealer.
Appearance Car e........................................................................\
..................................................... .263
Tips on cleaning and protecting your vehicle. Things to look for if your\
vehicle ever needs body repairs.
Taking Care of the Unexpecte d........................................................................\
..............................271
This section covers several problems motorists sometimes experience, a nd how to handle them.
Technical Informatio n........................................................................\
.............................................299
ID numbers, dimensions, capacities, and technical information.
Warranty and Customer Relations (U.S. and Canada)................................................................313
A summary of the warranties covering your new Acura, and how to contact \
us.
Authorized Manu als (U.S. only)........................................................................\
..............................319
How to order manuals and other technical literature.
Index........................................................................\
........................................................................\
...... I
Service Information Summary
A summary of information you need when you pull up to the fuel pump.

Accord Value Package Audio System Owner's Identification Form

Your Vehicle at a Glance........................................................................\
............................................ 2

Your Car's Safety Features

Airbags offer no protection in rear
impacts, rollovers, or minor
frontal or side collisions. Airbags can pose serious hazards.

To do their job, airbags must inflate with tremendous force andspeed. So while airbags help save
lives, they can cause minor injuries, or more serious or even fatal
injuries if occupants are not
properly restrained or sitting
properly.

What you should do: Always wear

your seat belt properly, and sit
upright and as far back as possible
from the steering wheel or
dashboard.
Seats & Seat-Backs
Your car's seats are designed to keep
you in a comfortable, upright position so you can take full
advantage of the protection offered
by seat belts and the energy absorbing materials in the seats.
How you adjust your seats and seat-
backs can also affect your safety. For example, sitting too close to thesteering wheel or dashboard
increases the risk of you or your
passenger being injured by striking
the inside of the car, or by an inflating airbag.
Reclining a seat-back too far reduces
the seat belt's effectiveness and increases the chance that the seat'soccupant will slide under the seat
belt in a crash and be seriously
injured.
What you should do: Move the front

seats as far back as possible, and
keep adjustable seat-backs in an
upright position whenever the car is

moving.

Head Restraints Head restraints can help protect you
from whiplash and other injuries. For
maximum protection, the back of
your head should rest against the center of the head restraint.
Door Locks
Keeping your doors locked reduces
the chance of being thrown out of
the car during a crash. It also helps prevent occupants from accidentallyopening a door and falling out, and
outsiders from unexpectedly opening
your doors.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Your Car's Safety Features

Pre-Drive Safety Checklist

To make sure you and your passengers get the maximum
protection from your car's safety
features, check the following each
time before you drive away: All adults, and children who have
outgrown child safety seats, are
wearing their seat belts and
wearing them properly (see page
15).
Any infant or small child is
properly restrained in a child seatin the back seat (see page 20). Front seat occupants are sitting
upright and as far back as possible
from the steering wheel and dashboard (see page 12).
Seat-backs are upright (see page
13).
Head restraints are properly

adjusted (see page 14). All doors are closed and locked
(see page 12). All cargo is properly stored or
secured (see page 176). The rest of this section gives more
detailed information about how you
can maximize your safety.
Remember, however, that no safetysystem can prevent all injuries or
deaths that can occur in severe
crashes, even when seat belts are
properly worn and the airbags deploy.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Protecting Adults

A front passenger should also adjust the seat-back to an upright position,
but as far from the dashboard aspossible. A passenger who sits too
close to the dashboard could be
injured if the front airbag inflates.
Reclining a seat-back so that the
shoulder part of the belt no longer
rests against the occupant's chest
reduces the protective capability of
the belt. It also increases the chance
of sliding under the belt in a crash
and being seriously injured. The
farther a seat-back is reclined, the
greater the risk of injury.
See page 95 for how to adjust seat-

backs.
4.Adjust the Head Restraints
Before driving, make sure everyone
with an adjustable head restraint has properly positioned the head
restraint. The restraint should be
positioned so the back of the occupant's head rests against the
center of the restraint. A taller
person should adjust the restraint as
high as possible.

Driver and Passenger Safety
Reclining the seat-back too far

can result in serious injury or
death in a crash.
Adjust the seat-back to an
upright position and sit well

back in the seat.

Protecting Adults
Remember, to get the best
protection from your car's airbags and other safety features, you must
sit properly and wear your seat belt
properly.Advice for Pregnant Women
Because protecting the mother is the
best way to protect her unborn child,
a pregnant woman should always
wear a seat belt whenever she drives or rides in a car.
Remember to keep the lap portion of
the belt as low as possible across
your hips. Pregnant women should also sit
upright and as far back as possible
from the steering wheel or dashboard. This will reduce the risk
of injuries to both the mother and
her unborn child that can be caused
by a crash or an inflating airbag.
Each time you have a check-up, ask
your doctor if it's okay for you to drive.
Driver and Passenger Safety

Protecting Adults
Additional Safety Precautions
Two people should never use the
same seat belt. If they do, they
could be very seriously injured in a

crash.

Do not put any accessories on seat
belts. Devices intended to improve
occupant comfort or reposition the
shoulder part of a seat belt can
severely compromise the
protective capability of the seat
belt and increase the chance of serious injury in a crash.

Do not place hard or sharp objects between yourself and a front

airbag. Carrying hard or sharp
objects on your lap, or driving with
a pipe or other sharp object in
your mouth, can result in injuries if your front airbag inflates.

Do not attach or place objects on the front airbag covers. Any object

attached to or placed on the covers
marked "SRS AIRBAG" in the
center of the steering wheel and
on top of the dashboard could
interfere with the proper operation of the airbags. Or, if the airbags
inflate, the objects could be
propelled inside the car and hurt
someone.

Do not attach hard objects on or
near a front door. If a side airbag

inflates, a cup holder or other hard object attached on or near the
door could be propelled inside the
car and hurt someone.

Keep your hands and arms away
from the airbag covers. If your

hands or arms are close to the airbag cover in the center of thesteering wheel or on top of the
dashboard, they could be injured if
the front airbags inflate.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Protecting Children

U.S. Models
To remind you of the passenger's front airbag hazards, and thatchildren must be properly restrainedin the back seat, your car has
warning labels on the dashboard and on the driver's and front passenger's
visors. Please read and follow the instructions on these labels. Canadian Models
To remind you of the front airbag hazards, your car has warning labelson the driver's and front passenger's
visors. Please read and follow the instructions on these labels.
Driver and Passenger Safety CAUTION
TO AVOID SERIOUS INJURY:

FOR MAXIMUM SAFETY PROTECTION IN
ALL TYPES OF CRASHES, YOU MUST
ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SAFETY BELT. DO NOT INSTALL REARWARD-FACING
CHILD SEATS IN ANY FRONT PASSENGER SEAT POSITION.
DO NOT SIT OR LEAN UNNECESSARILY
CLOSE TO THE AIR BAG. DO NOT PLACE ANY OBJECTS OVER THE

AIR BAG OR BETWEEN THE AIR BAG

AND YOURSELF. SEE THE OWNER'S MANUAL FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION AND EXPLANATIONS.
PRECAUTION:

POUR EVITER DES BLESSURES GRAVES:

POUR PROFITER D'UNE PROTECTION
MAXIMALE LORS D'UNE COLLISION BOUCLEZ
TOUJOURS VOTRE CEINTURE DE SECURITE.
N'lNSTALLEZ JAMAIS UN SIEGE POURENFANTS FAISANT FACE A L'ARRIERE SUR
LE SIEGE DU PASSAGER AVANT.
NE VOUS APPUYEZ PAS ET NE VOUS ASSEYEZ PAS PRES DU COUSSIN GONFLABLE.
NE DEPOSEZ AUCUN OBJET SUR LE COUSSIN
GONFLABLE OU ENTRE LE COUSSIN
GONFLABLE ET VOUS. LISEZ LE GUIDE UTILISATEUR POUR DE
PLUS AMPLES RENSEIGNEMENTS.

Protecting Children

Rear-Facing Child Seat Installation
Tips

For proper protection, an infant must
ride in a reclined, or semi-reclined
position. To determine the proper
reclining angle, check with the baby's doctor or follow the seat maker's
recommendations.
To achieve the desired reclining angle, it may help to put a rolled up
towel under the toe of the child seat, as shown. When properly installed, a rear-
facing child seat may prevent the driver or a front-seat passenger from
moving the seat as far back as
recommended (see page 12). Or it
may prevent them from locking the
seat-back in the desired upright
position (see page 13).
In either case, we recommend that
you place the child seat directly behind the front passenger seat,
move the front seat as far forward as
needed, and leave it unoccupied. Or
you may wish to get a smaller child seat that allows you to safely carry a
front passenger.
Additional Precautions for Infants
Never hold an infant on your lap.

If you are not wearing a seat belt in a crash, you could be thrown
forward into the dashboard and
crush the infant.
If you are wearing a seat belt, the infant can be torn from your arms
during a crash. For example, if
your car crashes into a parked
vehicle at 30 mph (48 km/h), a 20-lb (9 kg) infant will become a
600-lb (275 kg) force, and you will
not be able to hold on.
Never put a seat belt over yourself

and an infant. During a crash, the
belt could press deep into the infant and cause very serious
injuries.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Protecting Children

Additional Precautions for Small
Children
Never hold a small child on your

lap. If you are not wearing a seat
belt in a crash, you could be
thrown forward into the dashboard and crush the child.
If you are wearing a seat belt, the
child can be torn from your arms
during a crash. For example, if
your car crashes into a parked
vehicle at 30 mph (48 km/h), a 30-lb (14 kg) child will become a
900-lb (410 kg) force, and you will
not be able to hold on.
Never put a seat belt over yourself

and a child. During a crash, the
belt could press deep into the child and cause very serious injuries. Protecting Larger Children
When a child reaches the recommended weight or height limit
for a forward-facing child seat, the child should sit in the back seat and
wear a lap/shoulder belt.
If a child is too short for the shoulder
part of the belt to properly fit, we
recommend that the child use a
booster seat until the child is tall enough to use the seat belt without a

booster.

The following pages give instructions on how to check properseat belt fit, what kind of booster
seat to use if one is needed, and
important precautions for a child
who must sit in the front seat.

CONTINUED

Driver and Passenger Safety
Allowing a larger child to sit
improperly in the front seat can
result in injury or death if the
passenger's front airbag inflates.
If a larger child must sit in front,
make sure the child moves the
seat as far back as possible
and wears the seat belt properly.

Additional Information About Your Airbags
SRS Components

Your Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) includes: Two front airbags. The driver's
airbag is stored in the center of
the steering wheel; the front
passenger's airbag is stored in the dashboard. Both are marked "SRS
AIRBAG." Automatic seat belt tensioners
(see page 41). Sensors that can detect a
moderate to severe frontal

collision.

A sophisticated electronic system
that continually monitors andrecords information about the
sensors, the control unit, the
airbag activators, and driver and
passenger seat belt use when the
ignition is ON (II).
An indicator light on the
instrument panel that alerts you to
a possible problem with the

system (see page 45).
Emergency backup power in case

your car's electrical system is
disconnected in a crash.
How Your Front Airbags Work
If you ever have a moderate to

severe frontal collision, the sensors

will detect the vehicle's rapid deceleration. If the rate of

deceleration is high enough, the

control unit will instantly inflate the
front airbags.

CONTINUED
Driver and Passenger Safety