stop start Oldsmobile Silhouette 2000 s User Guide

2-73
Convenience Net (Option)
The optional convenience net is designed to help keep
small loads, like grocery bags, from falling over during
sharp turns or quick stops and starts. Install the
convenience net at the rear of your vehicle, just inside
the liftgate.
Attach the upper loops to the posts on either side of the
liftgate opening (the label on the net should be in the
upper left corner). Attach the lower hooks to the metal
rings on the floor.
The side of the convenience net closest to the front of
the vehicle is higher than the side closest to the liftgate.
Once you've loaded items into the net, stretch the higher
side of the net up and over the top of the load to hold it
firmly in place.
The convenience net has a maximum capacity of
100 lbs. (45 kg). It is not designed to hold larger, heavier
loads. Store such loads on the floor of your vehicle, as
far forward as you can.
When not in use, it is recommend that you take down the
convenience net to extend its life and retain its elasticity, and
to keep the rear exit clear. Store the net in the pouch behind
either front seat or in one of the side convenience nets.

2-90 Anti-Lock Brake System Warning Light
The anti-lock brake
system warning light
should come on for a
few seconds when you
turn the ignition key
to RUN.
If the anti
-lock brake system warning light stays on
longer than normal after you've started your engine,
turn the ignition off. Or, if the light comes on and stays
on when you're driving, stop as soon as possible and
turn the ignition off. Then start the engine again to reset
the system. If the light still stays on, or comes on again
while you're driving, the anti
-lock brake system needs
service and you don't have anti
-lock brakes. The brake
pedal may be harder to push, or it may go to the
floor. It may take longer to stop. Adjust your
driving accordingly.
The anti
-lock brake system warning light should come
on briefly when you turn the ignition key to RUN. If the
light doesn't come on then, have it fixed so it will be
ready to warn you if there is a problem.
Traction Control System Warning
Light (Option)
The traction control system warning light may come on
for the following reasons:

If you turn the system off by pressing the TCS
button located in the center console switchbank the
warning light will come on and stay on. To turn the
system back on, press the button again. The warning
light should go off. (See ªTraction Control Systemº
in the Index for more information.)

If there's a brake system problem that is specifically
related to traction control, the traction control system
will turn off and the warning light will come on.
If your brakes begin to overheat, the traction control
system will turn off and the warning light will come
on until your brakes cool down.

2-93

Light On Steady -- An emission control system
malfunction has been detected on your vehicle.
Dealer or qualified service center diagnosis and
service may be required.
If the Light Is Flashing
The following may prevent more serious damage to
your vehicle:

Reducing vehicle speed.

Avoiding hard accelerations.

Avoiding steep uphill grades.

If you are towing a trailer, reduce the amount of
cargo being hauled as soon as it is possible.
If the light stops flashing and remains on steady,
see ªIf the Light Is On Steadyº following.
If the light continues to flash, when it is safe to do so,
stop the vehicle. Find a safe place to park your vehicle.
Turn the key off, wait at least 10 seconds and restart the
engine. If the light remains on steady, see ªIf the Light
Is On Steadyº following. If the light is still flashing,
follow the previous steps, and drive the vehicle to your
dealer or qualified service center for service.If the Light Is On Steady
You may be able to correct the emission system
malfunction by considering the following:
Did you recently put fuel into your vehicle?
If so, reinstall the fuel cap, making sure to fully install
the cap. See ªFilling Your Tankº in the Index. The
diagnostic system can determine if the fuel cap has been
left off or improperly installed. A loose or missing fuel
cap will allow fuel to evaporate into the atmosphere.
A few driving trips with the cap properly installed
should turn the light off.
Did you just drive through a deep puddle of water?
If so, your electrical system may be wet. The condition
will usually be corrected when the electrical system
dries out. A few driving trips should turn the light off.
Are you low on fuel?
As your engine starts to run out of fuel, your engine may
not run as efficiently as designed since small amounts of
air are sucked into the fuel line causing a misfire. The
system can detect this. Adding fuel should correct this
condition. Make sure to install the fuel cap properly.
See ªFilling Your Tankº in the Index. It will take a
few driving trips to turn the light off.

3-14
ALERT!: This type of announcement warns of national
or local emergencies. You will not be able to turn off alert
announcements. ALERT! appears on the display when an
alert announcement plays. When an alert announcement
comes on the tuned radio station, you will hear it, even if
the volume is muted or a cassette tape or compact disc is
playing. If the cassette tape or compact disc player is
playing, play will stop for the announcement and resume
when the announcement is finished.
Playing a Cassette Tape
Your tape player is built to work best with tapes that are
up to 30 to 45 minutes long on each side. Tapes longer
than that are so thin they may not work well in this
player. The longer side with the tape visible should face
to the right. If the ignition is on, but the radio is off,
the tape can be inserted and will begin playing. A tape
symbol is shown on the display whenever a tape is
inserted. If you hear nothing but a garbled sound, the
tape may not be in squarely. Press EJT to remove the
tape and start over.
While the tape is playing, use the VOL, FADE, BAL,
TREB, BASS, and SEEK controls just as you do for
the radio. The display will show TAPE and an arrow
showing which side of the tape is playing.
If you want to insert a tape when the ignition is off,
first press EJT or DISP.PREV (1): Press this button to go to the beginning of
the current selection. If the PREV button is pressed
and the current selection has been playing from 3 to
13 seconds, it will go to the beginning of the previous
selection. If you press the button more than once, the
player will continue moving back through the tape.
SEEK and a negative number will appear on the display.
Your tape must have at least three seconds of silence
between each selection for PREV to work. The sound
will mute while seeking.
NEXT (2): Press this button to go to the next selection
on the tape. If you press the button more than once,
the player will continue moving forward through the
tape. SEEK and a positive number will appear on the
display. Your tape must have at least three seconds of
silence between each selection for NEXT to work. The
sound will mute while seeking.
REV (3): Press this button to reverse the tape rapidly.
Press it again to return to playing speed. The radio will
play the last selected station while the tape reverses.
You may select stations during REV operation by using
TUNE, SEEK and P SCAN controls.

3-28
P-TYPE LIST/AUDIO: Turn this knob clockwise or
counterclockwise to select the Program Type (PTY) you
want to listen to. TYPE and a PTY will appear on the
display. See ªRadio Data System (RDS) Program Type
(PTY) Selectionsº in the Index.
SEEK TYPE: Press this button to go to a station with
the last selected PTY. TYPE and the last selected PTY
will appear on the display, if it is not already showing.
If a station with the selected PTY is not found, the radio
will return to the original station and display NONE.
If both SEEK TYPE and TRAF are on, the radio will
search for stations with traffic announcements and the
selected PTY.
ALERT!: This type of announcement warns of national
or local emergencies. You will not be able to turn off
alert announcements. ALERT! appears on the display
when an alert announcement plays. When an alert
announcement comes on the tuned radio station, you
will hear it, even if the volume is muted or a cassette
tape or compact disc is playing. If the cassette tape or
compact disc player is playing, play will stop for the
announcement and resume when the announcement
is finished.ALTERNATE FREQUENCY: This feature allows
the radio to switch to a stronger station with the same
programming. Press and hold AM
-FM for two seconds
to turn alternate frequency on. AF ON will appear on the
display. The radio may switch to stronger stations.
Press and hold AM
-FM again for two seconds to turn
alternate frequency off. AF OFF will appear on the
display. The radio will not switch to other stations.
Playing a Cassette Tape
Your tape player is built to work best with tapes that are
up to 30 to 45 minutes long on each side. Tapes longer
than that are so thin they may not work well in this
player. The longer side with the tape visible should face
to the right. If the ignition is on, but the radio is off,
the tape can be inserted and will begin playing. A tape
symbol is shown on the display whenever a tape is
inserted. If you hear nothing but a garbled sound, the
tape may not be in squarely. Press EJT to remove the
tape and start over.
While the tape is playing, use the VOL, FADE, BAL,
TREB, BASS and SEEK controls just as you do for
the radio. The display will show TAPE and an arrow
showing which side of the tape is playing.

3-32
NEXT (2): Press this button or the right SEEK arrow to
go to the next track. TRACK and the track number will
appear on the display. If you hold the button or the right
SEEK arrow, or press it more than once, the player will
continue moving forward through the disc. The sound
will mute while seeking.
REV (3): Press and hold this button to reverse quickly
within a track. Press and hold this button for less than
2 seconds to reverse at 6 times the normal playing
speed. Press and hold it for more than 2 seconds to
reverse at 17 times the normal playing speed. Release it
to play the passage. The display will show ET and the
elapsed time.
FWD (4): Press and hold this button to advance quickly
within a track. Press and hold this button for less than
2 seconds to advance at 6 times the normal playing
speed. Press and hold it for more than 2 seconds to
advance at 17 times the normal playing speed. Release it
to play the passage. The display will show ET and the
elapsed time.
RDM (6): Press this button to hear the tracks in random,
rather than sequential, order. RDM ON will show on the
display. RDM T and the track number will appear on the
display when each track starts to play. Press RDM again
to turn off random play. RDM OFF will appear on
the display.SEEK: Press the  SEEK button to go to the start of
the current or previous track. Press the

SEEK button
to go to the start of the next track. If either of the SEEK
buttons is held or pressed more then once, the player
will continue moving backward or forward through
the CD.
DISP: Press this button to see how long the current
track has been playing. ET and the elapsed time will
appear on the display. To change what is normally
shown on the display (track or elapsed time), press the
button until you see the display you want, then hold
the button for two seconds. The radio will produce
one beep.
AM FM: Press this button to play the radio when a
disc is in the player. The disc will stop but remain in
the player.
TAPE CD: With a CD in the player and the radio
playing, press this button to play a CD. Press AM FM to
return to the radio when a CD is playing. Press TAPE
CD to switch between the tape and compact disc if both
are loaded. The inactive tape or CD will remain safely
inside the radio for future listening.

4-7
Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people drive in
spurts
-- heavy acceleration followed by heavy braking
-- rather than keeping pace with traffic. This is a
mistake. Your brakes may not have time to cool between
hard stops. Your brakes will wear out much faster if you
do a lot of heavy braking. If you keep pace with the
traffic and allow realistic following distances, you will
eliminate a lot of unnecessary braking. That means
better braking and longer brake life.
If your engine ever stops while you're driving, brake
normally but don't pump your brakes. If you do, the
pedal may get harder to push down. If your engine
stops, you will still have some power brake assist. But
you will use it when you brake. Once the power assist is
used up, it may take longer to stop and the brake pedal
will be harder to push.
Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS)
Your vehicle has anti-lock brakes (ABS). ABS is an
advanced electronic braking system that will help
prevent a braking skid.
When you start your engine, or when you begin to drive
away, your anti
-lock brake system will check itself.
You may hear a momentary motor or clicking noise
while this test is going on, and you may even notice that
your brake pedal moves or pulses a little. This is normal.
If there's a problem with
the anti
-lock brake system,
this warning light will stay
on. See ªAnti
-Lock Brake
System Warning Lightº
in the Index.

4-14

Do not get too close to the vehicle you want to pass
while you're awaiting an opportunity. For one thing,
following too closely reduces your area of vision,
especially if you're following a larger vehicle.
Also, you won't have adequate space if the vehicle
ahead suddenly slows or stops. Keep back a
reasonable distance.

When it looks like a chance to pass is coming up,
start to accelerate but stay in the right lane and
don't get too close. Time your move so you will be
increasing speed as the time comes to move into the
other lane. If the way is clear to pass, you will have a
ªrunning startº that more than makes up for the
distance you would lose by dropping back. And if
something happens to cause you to cancel your pass,
you need only slow down and drop back again and
wait for another opportunity.

If other cars are lined up to pass a slow vehicle, wait
your turn. But take care that someone isn't trying to
pass you as you pull out to pass the slow vehicle.
Remember to glance over your shoulder and check
the blind spot.
Check your mirrors, glance over your shoulder and
start your left lane change signal before moving out
of the right lane to pass. When you are far enough
ahead of the passed vehicle to see its front in your
inside mirror, activate your right lane change signal
and move back into the right lane. (Remember that
your right outside mirror is convex. The vehicle you
just passed may seem to be farther away from you
than it really is.)

Try not to pass more than one vehicle at a time on
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.

4-15
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 ªoverdrivingº 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. If you have the ªTraction Control
System,º remember: It helps avoid only the acceleration
skid. If you do not have this system, or if the 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.
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 ªmirrored surfaceº
-- and slow
down when you have any doubt.
Remember: Any anti
-lock brake system (ABS) helps
avoid only the braking skid.

4-17
You can be temporarily blinded by approaching
headlamps. It can take a second or two, or even
several seconds, for your eyes to readjust to the dark.
When you are faced with severe glare (as from a driver
who doesn't lower the high beams, or a vehicle with
misaimed headlamps), slow down a little. Avoid staring
directly into the approaching headlamps.
Keep your windshield and all the glass on your vehicle
clean
-- inside and out. Glare at night is made much
worse by dirt on the glass. Even the inside of the glass
can build up a film caused by dust. Dirty glass makes
lights dazzle and flash more than clean glass would,
making the pupils of your eyes contract repeatedly.
Remember that your headlamps light up far less of a
roadway when you are in a turn or curve. Keep your
eyes moving; that way, it's easier to pick out dimly
lighted objects. Just as your headlamps should be
checked regularly for proper aim, so should your eyes
be examined regularly. Some drivers suffer from night
blindness
-- the inability to see in dim light -- and
aren't even aware of it.
Driving in Rain and on Wet Roads
Rain and wet roads can mean driving trouble. On a wet
road, you can't stop, accelerate or turn as well because
your tire
-to-road traction isn't as good as on dry roads.
And, if your tires don't have much tread left, you'll get
even less traction. It's always wise to go slower and be
cautious if rain starts to fall while you are driving. The
surface may get wet suddenly when your reflexes are
tuned for driving on dry pavement.