traction control OLDSMOBILE AURORA 2003 User Guide

e e
e Try not to pass more than one vehicle at a time 011
two-lane roads. Reconsider before passing the
next vehicle.
Don’t overtake a slowly moving vehicle too rapidly.
Even though the brake lamps are not flashing, it
may be slowing down or starting to turn.
If you’re being passed, make it easy for the
following driver to get ahead of you. Perhaps you
can ease a little to the right.
LOSS of Control
Let’s review what driving experts say about what
happens when the three control systems (brakes,
steering and acceleration) don’t have enough friction
where the tires meet the road to do what the driver has
asked.
In any emergency, don’t give up. Keep trying to steer
and constantly seek an escape route or area of
less danger.
Skidding
In a skid, a driver can lose control of the vehicle.
Defensive drivers avoid most skids by taking reasonable
care suited
to existing conditions, and by not
“overdriving” those conditions. But skids are always
possible.
The three types of skids correspond
to your vehicle’s
three control systems. In the braking skid, your wheels
aren’t rolling. In the steering or cornering skid, too
much speed or steering in a curve causes tires to slip
and lose cornering force. And in the acceleration
skid, too much throttle causes the driving wheels
to spin.
A cornering skid is best handled by easing your foot off
the accelerator pedal.
Remember: Any traction control system helps avoid only
the acceleration skid. If your traction control system is
off, then an acceleration skid is also best handled
by easing your foot
off the accelerator pedal.
If your vehicle starts to slide, ease your foot
off the
accelerator pedal and quickly steer the way you want
the vehicle to go.
If you start steering quickly enough,
your vehicle may straighten out. Always be ready
for a second skid
if it occurs.
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If you have Stabilitrak@, you may see the STABILITY
ACTIVE message on the Driver Information Center. See
“Stability Active Message” under
DIC Warnings and
Messages on
page 3-50.
Of course, traction is reduced when water, snow, ice,
gravel or other material is on the road. For safety, you’ll
want to slow down and adjust your driving to these
conditions. It is important to slow down on slippery
surfaces because stopping distance will be longer and
vehicle control more limited.
While driving on a surface with reduced traction, try
your best to avoid sudden steering, acceleration
or braking (including engine braking by shifting to a
lower gear). Any sudden changes could cause the tires
to slide. You may not realize the surface is slippery
until your vehicle is skidding. Learn to recognize warning
clues
- such as enough water, ice or packed snow
on the road to make a “mirrored surface”
- and slow
down when you have any doubt.
Remember: Any anti-lock brake system (ABS) helps
avoid only the braking skid.
Driving at Night
Night driving is more dangerous than day driving. One
reason is that some drivers are likely
to be impaired
- by alcohol or drugs, with night vision problems, or by
fatigue.
Here are some tips on night driving.
Drive defensively.
Don’t drink and drive.
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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.
h
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.
Keep your traction control system on. It improves your
ability to accelerate when driving on a slippery road.
Even though your vehicle has a traction control system,
you’ll want to slow down and adjust your driving to
the road conditions. See
Traction Control System (TCS)
on page 4-8.
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If You Are Stuck: In Sand, Mud, Ice
or
Snow
In order to free your vehicle when it is stuck, you will
need to spin the wheels, but you don’t want
to spin your
wheels too fast. The method known as “rocking” can
help you get out when you’re stuck, but you must
use caution.
If you
let your tires spin at high speed, they
can explode, and you or others could be injured. And, the transaxle
or other parts of the
vehicle can overheat. That could cause an
engine compartment fire or other damage.
When you’re stuck, spin the wheels as little as possible. Don’t
spin the wheels above 35 mph
(55 kdh) as shown on the speedometer.
Notice: Spinning your wheels can destroy parts of
your vehicle as well as the tires. If you spin the
wheels too fast while shifting your transaxle back
and forth, you can destroy your transaxle. See
“Rocking Your Vehicle
To Get It Out.”
For information about using tire chains on your vehicle,
see
Tire Chains on page 5-70.
Rocking Your Vehicle To Get It Out
First, turn your steering wheel left and right. That will
clear the area around your front wheels. If your vehicle
has traction control, you should turn the system
off.
See Traction Control System (TCS) on page 4-8. Then
shift back and forth between REVERSE (R) and a
forward gear, spinning the wheels as little as possible.
Release the accelerator pedal while you shift, and press
lightly on the accelerator pedal when the transaxle is
in gear. By slowly spinning your wheels in the forward
and reverse directions, you will cause a rocking
motion that may free your vehicle.
If that doesn’t get
you out after a few tries, you may need to be towed out.
If you do need to be towed out, see “Towing Your
Vehicle” following.
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Buying New Tires
To find out what kind and size of tires you need, look at
the Tire-Loading Information label.
The tires installed on your vehicle when it was new had
a Tire Performance Criteria Specification (TPC Spec)
number on each tire's sidewall. When you get new tires,
get ones with that same TPC Spec number. That way
your vehicle will continue to have tires that are designed
to give proper endurance, handling, speed rating,
traction, ride and other things during normal service on
your vehicle.
If your tires have an all-season tread
design, the TPC number will be followed by an
"MS" (for
mud and snow).
If you ever replace your tires with those not having a
TPC Spec number, make sure they are the same size,
load range, speed rating and construction type (bias,
bias-belted or radial) as your original tires.
IL....; tires could cause yo^ .o lose control
while driving.
If you mix tires of different sizes
or types (radial and bias-belted tires), the
vehicle may not handle properly, and you
could have a crash. Using tires of different
sizes may also cause damage to your vehicle. Be sure to use the same size and type tires on
all wheels.
It's all right to drive with your
compact spare, though.
It was developed for
use on your vehicle.
If you use bias-ply tires
a lr vehicle, the
wheel rim flanges could develop cracks after
many miles
of driving. A tire and/or wheel
could fail suddenly, causing a crash. Use only
radial-ply tires with the wheels on your vehicle.
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Uniform Tire Quality Grading
Quality grades can be found where applicable on the
tire sidewall between tread shoulder and maximum
section width. For example:
Treadwear 200 Traction AA Temperature A
The following information relates to the system
developed by the United States National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, which grades tires by
treadwear, traction and temperature performance. (This
applies only to vehicles sold in the United States.)
The grades are molded on the sidewalls of most
passenger car tires. The Uniform Tire Quality Grading
system does not apply to deep tread, winter-type
snow tires, space-saver or temporary use spare tires,
tires with nominal rim diameters of
10 to 12 inches
(25 to 30 cm), or to some limited-production tires.
While the tires available on General Motors passenger
cars and light trucks may vary with respect to these
grades, they must also conform to federal safety
requirements and additional General Motors Tire
Performance Criteria (TPC) standards.
Treadwear
The treadwear grade is a comparative rating based on
the wear rate
of the tire when tested under controlled
conditions on a specified government test course.
For example, a tire graded
150 would wear one and
a half
(1.5) times as well on the government course as
a tire graded
100. The relative performance of tires
depends upon the actual conditions of their use,
however, and may depart significantly from the norm
due to variations in driving habits, service practices and
differences in road characteristics and climate.
Traction - AA, A, B, C
The traction grades, from highest to lowest, are AA, A,
B, and C. Those grades represent the tire’s ability
to stop on wet pavement as measured under controlled
conditions on specified government test surfaces of
asphalt and concrete. A tire marked C may have poor
traction performance. Warning: The traction grade
assigned to this tire is based on straight-ahead braking
traction tests, and does not include acceleration, cornering, hydroplaninGr or peak traction characteristics.
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Tire Chains
If your vehicle has P235/55R17 size tires, don’t
use tire chains, there’s not enough clearance.
Tire chains used on a vehicle without the proper amount of clearance can cause damage
to the brakes, suspension or other vehicle
parts. The area damaged by the tire chains
could cause you to lose control of your vehicle
and you or others may be injured
in a crash.
Use another type of traction device only if its
manufacturer recommends
it for use on your
vehicle and tire size combination and road
conditions. Follow that manufacturer’s
instructions. To help avoid damage to your
vehicle, drive slowly, readjust or remove the device if it’s contacting your vehicle, and don’t
spin your wheels.
If you do find traction devices that will fit,
install them on the front tires.
Notice: If your vehicle has a tire size other than
P235/55R17 size tires, use tire chains only where
legal and only when you must. Use only
SAE Class
”S” type chains that are the proper size for your
tires. Install them
on the front tires and tighten them
as tightly as possible with the ends securely
fastened. Drive
slowly and follow the chain
manufacturer’s instructions.
If you can hear the
chains contacting your vehicle, stop and retighten
them. If the contact continues, slow down until
it stops. Driving too fast or spinning the wheels with
chains on will damage your vehicle.
If a Tire Goes Flat
It’s unusual for a tire to “blow out” while you’re driving,
especially
if you maintain your tires properly. If air
goes out of a tire, it’s much more likely to leak out
slowly. But
if you should ever have a “blowout”, here are
a few tips about what to expect and what to do:
If a front tire fails, the flat tire will create a drag that
pulls the vehicle toward that side. Take your foot
off the
accelerator pedal and grip the steering wheel firmly.
Steer to maintain lane position, and then gently brake to
a stop well out of the traffic lane.
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Instrument Panel Cluster
.............. .... .... ........... 3-31
Overview
..................................... ......... 3-2
Instrument Panel Brightness
........... ........... 3-17
Interior Lamps
............................................. 3-17
Interior Plastic Components
.............................. 5-83
Jump Starting
................................................. 5-44
Key Lock Cylinders Service
.............................. 6-10
Keyless Entry System
....................................... 2-5
Key Reminder Warning
.................................... 2-24
Keys
............................................................... 2-3
L
Lamps Exterior
................................... ....... 3-14
Interior
....................................................... 3-1 7
Lap-§boulder Belt ................................... 1-14, 1-22
Child Restraints
........................................... 1-40
Securing a Child Restraint Designed for the
LATCH System
........................................ 1-42
Leather
......................................................... 5-83
LATCH System Leaving
Your Vehicle
....................................... 2-14
Leaving Your Vehicle With the Engine Running
...... 2-31
Light
Air Bag Readiness
....................................... 3-34
Anti-Lock Brake System Warning
................... 3-36
Battery Warning
.......................................... 3-35
Brake System Warning
................................. 3-35
Cruise Control
............................................. 3-43
Malfunction Indicator
.................................... 3-39
Oil Pressure
............................................... 3-42
Safety Belt Reminder
................................... 3-33
TCS Warning Light
...................................... 3-37
Traction Control System Active
...................... 3-38
Traction Control System (TCS) Warning
.......... 3-37
Lighted Visor Vanity Mirror
............................... 2-18
Loading Your Vehicle
....................................... 4-34
Lockout Protection
.......................................... 2-14
Locks Central Door Unlocking System
..................... 2-11
Delayed Locking
.......................................... 2-11
Door
.......................................................... 2-10
Leaving Your Vehicle
.................................... 2-14
Lockout Protection
....................................... 2-14
Power Door
................................................ 2-11
Programmable Automatic Door Locks
............. 2-12
Rear Door Security Locks
............................. 2-13
Loss of Control
................... ................ 4-15
Lumbar Manual Controls
.......... ............ .. 1-3
Power Controls
............................................. 1-4
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T
Tachometer ............................. ........ 3-33
Taillamps Turn Signal, Stoplamps and Back-up Lamps
.... 5-58
TCS Active Light
............................................. 3-38
TCS Warning Light
.......................................... 3-37
Testing the Alarm
............................................ 2-20
Theater Dimming
............................................ 3-1 9
Theft-Deterrent Systems
.................... .... 2-19
PASS-Key@
Ill Operation ... .... .... 2-21
Throttle System Inspection
............................... 6-14
Theft-Deterrent,
Radio
.................. .... 3-73
PASS-Key@
Ill .......................... .... 2-21
Universal Theft-Deterrent
.............................. 2-1 9
Tilt Wheel ........................................................ 3-5
Tire Inflation Check
........................................... 6-9
Tires
..................................................... 5-60, 5-86
Buying New Tires
........................................ 5-66
Chains
....................................................... 5-70
Changing a Flat Tire
.................................... 5-71
Check Tire Pressure System
......................... 5-62
If a Tire Goes Flat ....................................... 5-70
Inflation
-- Tire Pressure ............................... 5-60
Inspection and Rotation ................................ 5-63
Uniform Tire Quality Grading
......................... 5-67
Compact Spare Tire
..................................... 5-81 Tires (cont.)
Wheel Alignment and Tire Balance
..... ..... 5-68
Wheel Replacement
......................... ..... 5-68
When It
Is Time for New Tires .................. 5-65
To Use the Engine Coolant Heater
................ 2-25
Top of the Instrument Panel
............................. 5-83
Top Strap
...................................................... 1-38
Top Strap Anchor Location
............................... 1-39
Torque Lock
................................................... 2-31
Total Weight on Your Vehicle’s Tires
.................. 4-39
Towing Recreational Vehicle
..... ..... 4-33
Towing a Trailer
...................... ..... 4-36
Your Vehicle
.............................. ......... 4-33
Control System Active Light
...................... 3-38
Control System (TCS)
.................................... 4-8
Control System Warning Light
....................... 3-37
Trailer Brakes
................................................. 4-40
Trailer Wiring Harness
..................................... 4-40
Transaxle Fluid, Automatic
...................... ............. 5-22
Transaxle Operation, Automatic
......................... 2-26
Transmission, Transaxle, Transfer Case Unit Repair Manual
............................................ 7-10
Transportation Options
........ ................... 7-7
Traction
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