BUICK LESABRE 1993 Owners Manual

On two-lane highways or undivided multilane highways
that do not have controlled access, you’ll want to watch for some situations not usually found on freeways.
Examples are: stop signs and signals, shopping centers with direct access to the highway, no passing zones and school zones, vehicles turning left and right off the road,
pedestrians, cyclists, parked vehicles, and even animals.
Highway Hypnosis
Is there actually such a condition as “highway
hypnosis”? Or is it just plain falling asleep at the wheel?
Call it highway hypnosis, lack of awareness, or
whatever.
There is something about an easy stretch
of road with
the same scenery, along with the hum of the tires on the
road, the drone of the engine, and the rush of the wind
against the vehicle that can make you sleepy. Don’t let it
happen to you! If it does, your vehicle can leave the
road in less than a second, and you could crash and be
injured. What can you
do about highway hypnosis? First, be
aware that it can happen.
Then here are some tips:
e
e
m
0
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.

Hill and Mountain Roads
-.
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.
0 Keep your vehicle in good shape. Check all fluid
levels and also the brakes, tires, cooling system and
transaxle. These parts can work hard
on mountain
roads.
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.
A CAUTION:
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.
180

1 A CAUTION:
Coasting downhill in “N” (Neutral) or with the
ignition
off is dangerous. Your brakes will have
t 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.
I
Know how to go uphill. Shift down to “D’ (Drive).
This will help cool your engine and transaxle, and
you can climb the hill better.
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
0 Stay in your own lane when driving on two-lane surprised by a vehicle coming toward
you in the
same lane.
0 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.
0 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.
0 Winter driving can present special problems. See “Winter Driving” in the Index.
181

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 trafflc.
Here’s how:
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.
182

Parking Uphill
1422

If there is no curb when you’re parking uphill, turn the
wheels to the right.
If 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 Transaxle)
If you are parking on a hill and you don’t shift your
transaxle into
“F”’ (Park) properly, the weight of the
vehicle may put too much force
on the parking pawl in
the transaxle. 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 transaxle, so you can pull the shift
lever
out of “P” (Park).

Winter Driving 0 You may want to put winter emergency supplies in
your trunk.
Here are some tips for winter driving:
0 Have your Buick in good shape for winter. Be sure
your engine coolant mix
is correct.
0 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. 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.
185

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.
I
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 OF; 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.
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.
186

0 Watch for slippery spots. The road might be fine until ;
you hit a spot that’s covered with ice. On an otherwise b
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 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.
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.
CAUTION: (Continued)
-
4
I-
b, CAUTION:
Snow can trap exhaust gases under your vehicle.
Thls can cause deadly CO (carbon monoxlda)
gas to get inslde. Cb could overcome you and
kill you. You can’t see It or smell it, 50 you might
not know it is in your vehicle. Clear away pow
from around the base of your vehicle I especially
any that is blocking your exhaugt pipe. And
cbk around again from time to time to be sum
snow doesn’t collect them
Open
a window just a little on the slde of the
vehicle that’s away from the wind. This will help
keep CO out.
CAUTION: (Continued)
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
188