engine BUICK PARK AVENUE 1996 Owner's Manual

Time Out Feature (Option)
On vehicles equipped with the optional Remote Keyless
Entry system, the interior lamps will automatically turn
off after a
10 minute period if a door is left open. This
feature
is designed to help eliminate battery wear down.
Courtesy Lamps
When any door is opened, several lamps go on. They
make it easy for you
to enter and leave the car. You can
also turn these lamps on by sliding the panel lights lever
to INT (interior).
Delayed Entry Lighting
When you open the door, the interior lamps will come
on. When you close the door with the ignition off, the
interior lamps will stay on for
25 seconds or until the
ignition
is turned to an on position. Please note that
locking the doors will override the delayed entry
lighting feature and the lamps will turn off right away.
Theater Dimming
This feature allows for a three to five-second fade out of
the courtesy lamps instead of immediate turn off.
Delayed Exit Lighting
With this feature, the interior lamps will come on for
25 seconds after you remove the key from the ignition.
This will give you time
to find the door pull handle or
lock switches.
Illuminated Entry System (Option)
When you lift the outside handle of either front door or
press the
UNLOCK button on the optional remote
keyless entry transmitter, the lamps inside your vehicle
will turn on. These lamps will turn
off after about one
minute. These lamps will also turn
off if you start the
engine, press the
LOCK button on the transmitter or
activate the power door locks.
If a door is left ajar, your interior lamps will turn off
after
10 minutes to save your battery.
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Speedometer and Odometer
Your speedometer lets you see your speed in both miles
per hour (mph) and kilometers per hour
(km/h). Your
odometer shows
how far your vehicle has been driven,
in either miles (used in the United States) or kilometers
(used in Canada).
Your Buick has a tamper-resistant odometer. If you see
bright silver lines between the numbers, probably
someone has tried to turn it back. The numbers may not
be true.
You may wonder what happens
if your vehicle needs a
new odometer installed. If possible, the new one has to
be set to the same reading the old one had. If
it can’t be,
then it’s set at zero and a label must be put on the
driver’s door to show the old mileage reading and when
the new one was installed.
Trip Odometer
A trip odometer can tell how far you’ve driven since
you last set it back to zero.
To reset it, push the button.
Tachometer (Option)
The tachometer on the
optional gage cluster tells
4
3 \I/
2‘ /

F==O
.
RPM X 1000
5
7
ybu how fast the engine is
running.
It displays engine
speed
in thousands of
revolutions per minute
(rpm).
NOTICE:
Do not operate the engine with the tachometer in
the red area, or engine damage may occur.
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Warning Lights, Gages and Indicators
This part describes the warning lights and gages that may
be on your vehicle. The pictures will help you locate them.
Warning lights and gages can signal that something is
wrong before it becomes serious enough to cause an
expensive repair or replacement. Paying attention to your warning lights and gages could also save you or
others from injury.
Warning lights come
on when there may be or is a
problem with one of your vehicle’s functions.
As you will
see
in the details on the next few pages, some warning
lights come on briefly when you start the engine just to let
you know they’re working. If you are familiar with this
section, you should not be alarmed when this happens.
Gages can indicate when there may be or is a problem
with one
of your vehicle’s functions. Often gages and
warning lights work together to let
you know when
there’s a problem with your vehicle.
When one
of the warning lights comes on and stays on
when you are driving, or when one of the gages shows
there may be a problem, check the section that tells you
what to do about
it. Please follow this manual’s advice.
Waiting to do repairs can be costly
-- and even
dangerous.
So please get to know your warning lights
and gages. They’re a big help.
Safety Belt Reminder Light
When the key is turned to RUN or START, a chime will
come on for about eight seconds to remind people to
fasten their safety belts.
The safety belt light will
also come on and stay on
for about
70 seconds. If the
driver’s belt is already
buckled, neither the chime
nor the light will come on.
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Anti-Lock Brake System Warning Light
Your brake system may not be working properly
if the brake system warning light
is on. Driving
with the brake system warning light on can lead to an accident.
If the light is still on after you’ve
pulled
off the road and stopped carefully, have
the vehicle towed for service.
When the ignition is on, the brake system warning
light will also come on when you set your parking
brake.
The light will stay on if your parking brake
Soesn’t release fully.
If you try to drive off with the
?arking brake set, a chime will also come on until you
release the parking brake. If the light and chime stay on
after your parking brake is fully released, it means you
nave a brake problem. With the anti-lock brake
system, this light will come
on when you start your
engine and may stay on
for several seconds.
That’s normal.
If the light stays on, turn the ignition
off. Or, if the light
comes 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, your Buick needs service. If
the regular brake system warning light isn’t
on, you still
have brakes, but you don’t have anti-lock brakes. If the
regular brake system warning light
is also on, you don’t
have anti-lock brakes and there’s a problem with your
regular brakes. See “Brake System Warning Light”
earlier in this
part.
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.
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Traction Control System Warning Light
(Option)
TRACTION
OFF
This warning light should
come on briefly as you start
the engine. If the warning
light doesn’t come on then,
have
it fixed so it will be
ready to warn you if there’s
a problem.
If it stays on, or comes on when you’re driving, there
may be a problem with your traction control system and
your vehicle may need service. When this warning light
is on, the system will not limit wheel
spin. Adjust your
driving accordingly. The
traction control system warning light may come on
for the following reasons:
If you turn the system off by pressing the button
located on the instrument panel, left of the steering
column, 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 “Traction
Control System” in the Index for more information.)
0 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.
If the traction control system is affected by an
engine-related problem, the system will turn
off and
the warning light will come on.
If the traction control system warning light comes on
and stays on for an extended period of time when the
system is turned on, your vehicle needs service.
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Engine Coolant Temperature
Warning Light
h -
TEMP
One of these lights will come on to tell you that your
engine coolant has overheated or your radiator cooling
fans are not working.
If you have been operating your
,vehicle under normal driving conditions, you should
pull
off the road, stop your vehicle and turn the engine
off as soon as possible. I
The section “Problems on the Road,” in this
manual explains what to
do. See “Engine Overheating”
in the Index.
Engine Coolant Temperature Gage (Option)
If’ you have the gage cluster,
you have a gage that shows
the engine coolant
temperature
in degrees
Fahrenheit. Canadian
instrument panels measure
the coolant temperature in
degrees Celsius.
-If the gage
pointer moves into the red
area, your engine is too hot!
That reading means ,the same thing as the warning light.
It means that your engine coolant has overheated. If you
have been operating.your vehicle under normal driving
conditions, you should pull
off the road, stop your
vehicle and turn
off the engine as soon as possible.
The section “Problems’ on the Road,” in
this
manual explains what to do. See “Engine Overheating”
in the Index.
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Low Coolant Warning Light
COOLANT
LOW
When this light comes on,
the cooling system is
low on
coolant. As a bulb check, it
will come on when the
ignition in the
RUN
position and then go off.
Malfunction Indicator Lamp
(Check Engine Light)
CHECK
Your Buick is equipped
with a computer which
monitors operation
of the
fuel, ignition and emission
control systems.
If the coolant level is low, the light will come back on. If
this happens, see “Engine Coolant” in the Index for
proper cooling system fill.
After the coolant level
is returned to its proper level, the
LOW COOLANT light will go off after
20 seconds or
remain
off on the next ignition cycle. This system
is called OBD I1 (On-Board
Diagnostics-Second Generation) and is intended
to assure that emissions are at acceptable levels for
the life of the vehicle, helping to produce a cleaner
environment. (In Canada, OBD I1 is replaced by
Enhanced Diagnostics.) The CHECK ENGINE light
comes on to indicate that there is a problem and service
is required. Malfunctions often will be indicated by the
system before any problem is apparent, which may
prevent more serious damage to your vehicle. This
system is also designed to assist your service technician
in correctly diagnosing any malfunction.
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NOTICE:
If you keep driving your vehicle with this light
on, after a while, your emission controls may not
work as well, your fuel economy may not be as
good and your engine may not run as smoothly.
This could lead to costly repairs that may not be
covered
by your warranty.
This light should come on, as a check to show you it is
working, when the ignition is
on and the engine is not
running. If the light doesn’t come on, have it repaired.
This light will also come on during a malfunction in one
of two ways:
Light Flashing -- A misfire condition has been
detected. A misfire increases vehicle emissions and
may damage
the emission control system on your
vehicle. Dealer or qualified service center diagnosis
and service is required.
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:
0 Reduce vehicle speed.
0 Avoid hard accelerations.
Avoid steep uphill grades.
If towing a trailer, reduce the amount of cargo being
If the light stops flashing and remains on steady, see
“If
the Light Is On Steady” following.
If the light continues to flash, when it is safe to do
so,
stop the vehicle. Put your vehicle in PARK (P). Turn the
key off, wait at least
10 seconds and restart the engine.
If the light remains on steady, see “If the Light Is On
Steady” following. If the light
is still flashing follow the
previous steps, and drive the vehicle to your dealer or
qualified service center for service.
hauled
as soon
as it is possible.
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If the Light Is On Steady
You may be able to correct the emission system
malfunction by considering the following:
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.
It
will take a few driving trips to turn the light off. Have
you recently changed brands of fuel?
If
so, be sure to fuel your vehicle with quality fuel (see
“Fuel” in the Index). Poor fuel quality will cause your
engine not
to run as efficiently as designed. You may
notice this as stalling after start-up, stalling when. you
put the vehicle into gear, misfiring, hesitation on
acceleration or stumbling on acceleration. (These
conditions may go away once the engine is warmed up.)
This will be detected by the system and cause the light
to turn on.
If you experience this condition, change the fuel brand
you use. It will require at least one full tank of the
proper fuel to turn the light off.
If none of the above steps have made the light turn off,
have your dealer or qualified service center check the
vehicle. Your dealer has the proper test equipment and
diagnostic tools to fix any mechanical or electrical
problems that may have developed.
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Oil Pressure Light/Gage
FZ
OIL
If your car has the optional gage cluster, the oil pressure
gage shows the engine oil pressure in pounds per square
inch (psi). Canadian vehicles indicate pressure in
kilopascals (Pa). There
are three ways the oil pressure light can come on
briefly, which are normal and don’t
show a problem.
They are:
0 The light comes on when you turn your key to RUN.
It goes off once you turn the key to START. That’s
just a check to be sure the light works. If it doesn’t,
be sure to have it fixed
so it will be there to warn you
if something goes wrong.
If you’re “idling” at a stop sign, the light may blink
on and then off.
If you make a hard stop, the light may come on
for a moment.
When this light
comes on and stays on, it means oil isn’t
going through your engine properly.
You could be low
on oil, or you might have some other oil problem. See
your dealer for service.
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