CHEVROLET TRACKER 1993 Owners Manual

What can you do about highway
hypnosis? First, be aware that it can
happen.
Then here are some tips:
Make sure your vehicle is well
ventilated, with a comfortably cool
interior.
Keep your eyes moving. Scan the
road ahead and to the sides. Check
your rearview mirrors frequently and
your instruments from time
to time.
This can help you avoid a fixed stare.
Wear good sunglasses in bright light.
Glare can cause drowsiness. But don’t
wear sunglasses at night. They will drastically reduce your overall
vision
at the very time you need all the
seeing power you have.
If you get sleepy, pull off the road
into a rest, service or parking area
and take a nap, get some exercise, or
both. For safety, treat drowsiness on
the highway as an emergency.
As in any driving situation, keep pace
with traffic and allow adequate
following distances.
--
A
Driving on steep hills or mountains is
different from driving in flat or rolling
terrain. If you drive regularly
in steep
country, or if you’re planning
to visit
there, here are some tips that can make
your trips safer and more enjoyable.
(See “Off-Road Driving’’
in the Index
for information about driving off-road.)
Keep your vehicle in good shape.
Check all fluid levels and also the
brakes, tires, cooling system and
transmission. These ‘parts can work
hard on mountain roads.
ProCarManuals.com

Your Driving and the Road
Know how to go down hills. The
most important thing to know is this:
let your engine do some
of the
slowing down. Don’t make your
brakes do it all. Shift to a lower gear
when you
go down a steep or long
hill. That way,
you will slow down
without excessive use
of your brakes.
CA UT/ON
A
If you don’t shift down, your
brakes could get
so hot that
they wouldn’t work well.
You
would then have poor braking or
even none going down a hill. You
could crash. Shift down
to let your
engine assist your brakes on a steep downhill slope.
A Coasting downhill in N
r - a (Neutral) or with the ignition
off is dangerous. Your brakes will
have to do all the work
of slowing
down. They could get
so hot that
they wouldn’t work well. You
could crash. Always have your
engine running and your vehicle in
gear when you
go downhill.
... 170
ProCarManuals.com

Know how to go uphill. You may
want to shift down to a lower gear.
The lower gears help cool your
engine and transmission, and you can
climb
the hill better.
Stay in your own lane when driving
on two-lane roads in hills or
mountains. Don’t swing
wide or cut
across
the center of the road. Drive at
speeds that let you stay in your own
lane. That way, you won’t be
surprised by a vehicle coming toward
you in the same lane.
It takes longer to pass another vehicle
when you’re going uphill. You’ll want
to leave extra room to pass.
If a
vehicle
is passing you and doesn’t have enough
room, slow down to
make it easier for the other vehicle to
get by.
As you go over the top of a hill, be
alert. There could be something in
your lane, like a stalled car or an
accident.
You may see highway signs on
mountains that warn of special
problems. Examples are long grades,
passing or no-passing zones, a falling
rocks area, or winding roads. Be alert
to these and take appropriate action.
problems. See
‘ ‘Winter Driving” in
the Index.
Winter driving can present special
H Parking on Hills
Hills and mountains mean spectacular
scenery. But please be careful where
you stop if you decide to look at the
view or take pictures.
Look. for pull-offs
or parking areas provided for scenic
viewing.
Another part of this manual tells how to
use your parking brake (see “Parking
Brake” in
the Index). But on a mountain
or steep hill, you can do one more
thing. You can turn your front wheels to
keep your vehicle from rolling downhill
or out into traffic.
Here’s how:
171 9
ProCarManuals.com

Your Driving and the Road
c
Parking Uphill
If there is a curb, turn your wheels to
the left
if the curb is at the right side of
your vehicle.
Parking Downhill
Turn your wheels to the right.
You don't have to jam your tires against
the curb, if there is
a curb. A gentle
contact is all
you need.
... 172
If you're going uphill on a one-way
street and you're parking on
the left
side, your wheels should point to the
right.
ProCarManuals.com

[f there is no curb when you’re parking
uphill, turn the wheels to the right.
[f there is
no curb when you’re parking
uphill on the left side
of a one-way
street, your wheels should be turned
to
the left.
Torque Lock (Automatic
Transmission)
If you are parking on a hill and you
don’t shift your transmission into
P
(Park) properly, the weight of the
vehicle may put too much force on the
parking pawl in the transmission.
You
may find it difficult to pull the shift
lever out of
P (Park). This is called “torque
lock.”
To prevent torque lock,
always be sure to shift into
P (Park)
properly before you leave the driver’s
seat.
To find out how, see ‘‘Shifting into
P (Park)” in the Index.
When you are ready to drive, move the
shift lever out
of P (Park) BEFORE you
release the parking brake.
If torque lock does occur, you may need
to have another vehicle push yours a
little uphill
to take some of the pressure
from the transmission,
so you can pull
the shift lever out
of P (Park).
Winter Driving
Here are some tips for winter driving:
Have your Geo in good shape for
winter. Be sure your engine coolant
mix is correct.
Snow tires can help in loose snow,
but they may give you less traction on
ice than regular tires.
If you do not
expect
to be driving in deep snow, but
may have to travel over ice, you may
not want
to switch to snow tires at all.
I
ProCarManuals.com

Your Driving and the Road
rn
You may want to put winter
emergency supplies in your vehicle.
Include an ice scraper, a small brush
or broom, a supply of windshield
washer fluid, a rag, some winter outer
clothing, a small shovel, a flashlight,
a red cloth, and a couple of reflective
warning triangles. And, if
you will be
driving under severe conditions,
include
a small bag of sand, a piece
of old carpet or
a couple of burlap
bags to help provide traction.
Be sure
you properly secure these items
in
your vehicle.
... 174
Driving on Snow or Ice
Most of the time, those places where
your tires meet the road probably have
good traction.
However,
if there is snow or ice
between your tires and the road, you can
have a very slippery situation. You’ll
have a lot less traction or “grip” and
will need to be very careful.
t
What’s the worst time for this? “Wet
ice.
” Very cold snow or ice can be slick
and hard to drive on. But wet ice can be
even more trouble because it may offer
the least traction
of all. You can get
“wet ice” when it’s about freezing
(32°F; OOC) and freezing rain begins to
fall.
Try to avoid driving on wet ice
until salt and sand crews can get there.
Whatever the condition
- smooth ice,
packed, blowing or loose snow
- drive
with caution. Accelerate gently.
Try not
to break the fragile traction. If you
accelerate too fast, the drive wheels will
spin and polish the surface under the
tires even more.
ProCarManuals.com

Your anti-lock brakes improve your
ability to make a hard stop on a slippery
road. Even though you have the
anti-lock braking system, you’ll want to
begin stopping sooner than you would
on dry pavement. See “Anti-lock” in
the Index.
Allow greater following distance on any
slippery road.
Watch for slippery spots. The road
might be fine until
you hit a spot
that’s covered with ice. On an
otherwise clear road, ice patches may
appear
in shaded areas where the sun
can’t reach: around clumps of trees,
behind buildings, or under bridges. Sometimes the
surface
of a curve or
an overpass may remain icy
when the
surrounding roads are clear. If you
see a patch
of ice ahead of you, brake
before you are on it. Try not to brake
while you’re actually on the ice, and
avoid sudden steering maneuvers.
If You’re Caught in a Blizzard
If you are stopped by heavy snow, you
could be
in a serious situation. You
should probably stay with your vehicle
unless you know for sure that you are
near help and you can hike through the
snow. Here are some things to do to
summon help and keep yourself and
your passengers safe: Turn on your
hazard flashers. Tie a red cloth to your
vehicle to alert police that you’ve been
stopped by the snow. Put on extra
clothing or wrap a blanket around you.
ProCarManuals.com

Your Driving and the Road
.._
176
If you have no blankets or extra
clothing, make body insulators from
newspapers, burlap bags, rags, floor
mats
- anything you can wrap around
yourself or tuck under your clothing to
keep warm.
You can run the engine to keep warm,
but be careful.
A
Snow can trap exhaust gases
under your vehicle. This can
cause deadly
CO (carbon
monoxide) gas to get inside.
CO
could overcome you and kill you.
You can't see it or smell it,
so you
might not know it was in your
vehicle. Clear away snow from around the base
of your vehicle,
especially any that is blocking your
exhaust pipe. And check around
again from time to time to be sure
snow doesn't collect there.
Open a window just a little on
the
side of the vehicle that's away
from the wind. This will help keep
co out. Run your engine only as long as you
must. This saves fuel. When
you run the
engine, make it go a little faster than
just idle. That is, push the accelerator
slightly. This uses less fuel for the heat
that you get and it keeps the battery
charged. You will
need a well-charged
battery to restart the vehicle, and
possibly for signaling later on with your
headlights.
Let the heater run for
awhile.
Then, shut the engine off and close the
window almost all the way to preserve
the heat.
Start the engine again and
repeat this only when you feel really
uncomfortable from the cold. But do it
as little as possible. Preserve the fuel as
ProCarManuals.com

long as you can. To help keep warm,
you can get out of the vehicle and do
some fairly vigorous exercises every
half hour
or so until help comes.
If You’re Stuck in Deep Snow
This manual explains how to get the
vehicle out of deep snow without
damaging it. See “Rocking
Your
Vehicle” in the Index.
rn Towing a Trailer
Pulling a trailer improperly can
damage your vehicle and result in
costly repairs not covered by you
warranty.
To pull a trailer
correctly, follow the advice in this
section.
I
ProCarManuals.com

Your Driving and the Road
Your Geo can tow a trailer. To identify
what the vehicle trailering capacity is for
your vehicle, you should read the
information
in “Weight of the Trailer”
that appears later in
this section. But
trailering is different than just driving
your vehicle by itself. Trailering means
changes in handling, durability, and fuel
economy. Successful, safe trailering
takes correct equipment, and it has to be
used properly.
That’s the reason for this section.
In it
are many time-tested, important
trailering tips and safety rules. Many of
these are important for your safety and
that of your passengers.
So please read
this section carefully before you pull a
trailer.
9 178
Load-pulling components such as the
engine, transmission, wheel assemblies,
and tires are forced to work harder
against the drag
of the added weight.
The engine is required to operate at
relatively higher speeds and under
greater loads, generating extra heat.
What’s more, the trailer adds
considerably to wind resistance,
increasing the pulling requirements.
All
of that means changes in:
Handling
Durability
Fuel economy
If You Do Decide to Pull a Trailer
If you do, here are some important
points.
There are many different laws having
to do with trailering. Make sure your
rig will be legal, not only where you
live but also where you’ll be driving.
A good source for this information
can be state or provincial police.
Consider using a sway control.
You can ask a hitch dealer about sway
controls.
Don’t tow a trailer at all during the
first
500 miles (800 km) your new
vehicle is driven. Your engine, axle
or other parts could be damaged.
ProCarManuals.com