brake BUICK REGAL 1994 User Guide

Your DRL work with a light sensor on top of the
instrument panel. Don’t cover it up.
The low beam headlights will come on at reduced
brightness in daylight
when:
0 The ignition is on,
0 The headlight switch is off, and
0 The parking brake is released.
At dusk, the exterior lights will come on automatically
and the low beams will change
to full brightness. At
dawn, the exterior lights will
go out and the low beams
will change to
the reduced brightness of DRL (if the
headlight switch is off).
Of course, you may still turp on the headlights any time
you need to.
To idle your vehicle with
the DRL off, set the parking
brake while the ignition
is in the “Off” or “Lock”
position. Then start the vehicle. The DRL will stay off
until
you release the parking brake.
Front Seat Reading Lights (Option)
The front seat reading lights are turned on by pressing
the switches.
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* LOW
FUEL
L
When your fuel gage reads in the red band, this light will
go on. You should get
more fuel
as soon as you
can.
Brake System Warning Light
BRAKE
Your Buick’s hydraulic
brake system is divided into
two parts. If one part isn’t
working, the other
part can
still work and stop you..For
good braking, though, you
need both parts working
well.
If the warning light comes on, there could be
a brake
problem. Have your brake system inspected right away.
This light should come on as you start the vehicle.
If it
doesn’t come on then, have it fixed
so it will be ready to
warn you if there’s a problem.
If the light comes
on while you are driving, pull off the
road and stop carefully. You may notice that the pedal is
harder to push. Or, the pedal may
go closer to the floor.
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It may take longer to stop. If the light is still on, or if the
anti-lock brake system warning light is flashing, have
the vehicle towed for service. (See “Anti-Lock Brake
System Warning Light” and “Towing Your Car” in the
Index.)
The brake system warning light will also come on when
you
set your parking brake, and it will stay on if your
parking brake doesn’t release
fully. If it stays on after
your parking brake is
fully released, it means you have a
brake problem.
Anti-Lock Brake System Warning Light
ANTI-LOCK
With anti-lock, this light will come on when you start
your engine and
it will stay on for three seconds. That’s
normal. If the light doesn’t come on, have
it fixed so it
will be ready to warn you if there is a problem.
If the light flashes when you’re driving, you don’t have
anti-lock brakes and there’s a problem with your regular
brakes. Pull
off the road and stop carefully. You may
notice that the pedal is harder to push. Or, the pedal may
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go closer to the floor. It may take longer to stop. Have
the vehicle towed for service. (See “Towing Your Car”
in the Index.) Engine Coolant Temperature Gage
This gage shows the engine
coolant temperature. If the
gage pointer moves into the
red area, your engine
is too
hot!
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, your Buick needs service. If the
light is on but not flashing and the regular brake system
warning light isn’t on,
you still have brakes, but you
don’t have anti-lock brakes. 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 chapter “Problems on the Road,” this manual
explains what to do. See “Engine Overheating”
in the
Index.
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F
Defensive Driving
The best advice anyone can give about driving is: Drive
defensively.
Please start with a very important safety device in your
Buick: Buckle
up. (See “Safety Belts” in the Index.)
Defensive driving really means “be ready for anything.”
On city streets, rural roads, or freeways, it means
“always expect the unexpected.” Assume that
pedestrians or other drivers are going to
be,
careless and make mistakes. Anticipate what they might
do. Be ready for their mistakes.
Rear-end collisions
are about the most preventable of
accidents. Yet they are common. Allow enough
following distance. It’s the best defensive driving
maneuver, in both city and rural driving. You never
know when the vehicle in front of you is going to brake
or turn suddenly.
Drunken Driving
Death and injury associated with drinking and driving is
a national tragedy. It’s the number one contributor to the
highway death toll, claiming thousands
of victims every
year. Alcohol takes away three things that anyone needs
to drive a vehicle:
0 Judgment
0 Muscular Coordination
0 Vision
Police records show that almost half of all motor
vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol
- a driver, a
passenger or someone else, such as
a pedestrian, had
been drinking. In most cases, these deaths are the result
of someone who was drinking and driving. About
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There’s something else about drinking and driving that
many people don’t know. Medical research shows that
alcohol
in a person’s system can make crash injuries
worse. That’s especially true for brain, spinal cord and
heart injuries. That means that if anyone who has been
drinking
-- driver or passenger -- is in a crash, the
chance of being killed or permanently disabled
is higher
than if that person had not been drinking. And we’ve
already seen that the chance of
a crash itself is higher for
drinking drivers.
Control of a Vehicle
You have three systems that make your vehicle go where
you want it to go. They are the brakes, the steering and
the accelerator. All three systems have to do their work
at the places where the tires meet the road.
.... . . ...
Sometimes, as when you’re driving on snow or ice, it’s
easy
to ask more of those control’systems than the tires
and road can provide. That means
you can lose control
of your vehicle.
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Braking
Braking action involves perception time and reaction
time.
First, you have to decide
to push on the brake pedal.
That’s perception time. Then you have
to bring up your
foot and do it. That’s reaction time.
Average reaction time is about
3/4 of a second. But
that’s only an average. It might be less with one driver
and as long as two or three seconds or more with
another. Age, physical condition, alertness,
coordination, and eyesight all play a part.
So do alcohol,
drugs and frustration. But
even in 3/4 of a second, a
vehicle moving at
60 mph (100 km/h) travels 66 feet (20
m). That could be a lot of distance in an emergency, so
keeping enough space between your vehicle and others
is important.
And, of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly
with the surface
of the road (whether it’s pavement or
gravel); the condition of
the road (wet, dry, icy); tire
tread; and
the condition of your brakes. 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.
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Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS)
Your Buick has an advanced electronic braking system
that will help prevent skidding.
ANTI-LOCK
This light on the
instrument panel will
go on when you start
your vehicle.
When you start your vehicle, or when you begin to drive
away, you may hear a momentary motor or clicking
noise. And
you may even notice that your brake pedal
moves a little while this is going on. This is the
ABS
system testing itself. If there’s a problem with the
anti-lock brake system, the anti-lock brake system
warning light
will stay on or flash.
See “Anti-lock Brake System Warning Light”
in the
Index. Here’s how
anti-lock works. Let’s say the road is wet.
You’re driving safely. Suddenly an animal jumps out
in
front of you.
You slam on the brakes. Here’s what happens
with ABS.
A computer senses that wheels are slowing down. If one
of the wheels
is about to stop rolling, the computer will
separately work the brakes at each front wheel and at the
rear wheels.
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The anti-lock system can change the brake pressure
faster than any driver could. The computer is
programmed
to make the most of available tire and road
conditions.
You can steer around the obstacle while braking hard.
As
you brake, your computer keeps receiving updates on
wheel speed and controls braking pressure accordingly. Remember: Anti-lock doesn’t change the time
you need
to get your foot up to
the brake pedal. If you get too
close to the vehicle
in front of you, you won’t have time
to apply your brakes
if that vehicle suddenly slows or
stops. Always leave enough room up ahead to stop, even
though
you have anti-lock brakes.
To Use Anti-Lock
Don’t pump the brakes. Just hold the brake pedal down
and
let anti-lock work for you. You may feel the system
working, or you may notice some noise, but this is
normal.
Braking in Emergencies
Use your anti-lock braking system when you need to.
With anti-lock, you can steer and brake at the same
time. In many emergencies, steering can help
you more
than even the very best braking.
Steering
Power Steering
If you lose power steering assist because the engine
stops or the system is not functioning, you can steer but
it will take much more effort.
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Your Buick can perform very well in emergencies like
these. First apply your brakes. It is better to remove as
much speed as you can from a possible collision. Then
steer around the problem,
to the left or right depending
on the space available.
An emergency like this requires close attention and a
quick decision.
If you are holding the steering wheel at
the recommended
9 and 3 o’clock positions, you can
turn
it a full 180 degrees very quickly without removing
either hand.
But you have to act fast, steer quickly, and
just as quickly straighten the wheel once you have
avoided the object.
The fact that such emergency situations are always
possible is a good reason to practice defensive driving at
all times and wear safety belts properly.
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