tow CHEVROLET AVALANCHE 2003 1.G Service Manual

·Light On SteadyÐ An emission control system
malfunction has been detected on your vehicle.
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 ¯ashing and remains on steady, see ªIf
the Light Is On Steadyº following.
If the light continues to ¯ash, 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
¯ashing, follow the previous steps, and see your dealer
for service as soon as possible.
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
Filling Your Tank on page 5-7. 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.
Have you recently changed brands of fuel?
If so, be sure to fuel your vehicle with quality fuel. See
Gasoline Octane on page 5-5. 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, mis®ring, 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.
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A reading in the low pressure zone may be caused by a
dangerously low oil level or some other problem
causing low oil pressure. Check your oil as soon as
possible. See
Engine Oil on page 5-15.
{CAUTION:
Don't keep driving if the oil pressure is low. If
you do, your engine can become so hot that it
catches ®re. You or others could be burned.
Check your oil as soon as possible and have
your vehicle serviced.
Notice:Damage to your engine from neglected oil
problems can be costly and is not covered by
your warranty.
Security Light
This light will come on
brie¯y when you turn the
key toward START.
The light will stay on until
the engine starts.If the light ¯ashes, the Passlock
žsystem has entered a
tamper mode. If the vehicle fails to start, seePasslockž
on page 2-26.
If the light comes on continuously while driving and
stays on, there may be a problem with the Passlock
ž
system. Your vehicle will not be protected by Passlockž,
and you should see your dealer.
Also, see
Content Theft-Deterrent on page 2-25for
additional information regarding the security light.
Cruise Control Light
The cruise light comes on
whenever you set your
cruise control. See
Cruise
ControlunderTurn
Signal/Multifunction Lever
on page 3-7
.
3-44

Tow/Haul Mode Light
This light is displayed
when the tow/haul mode
has been activated.
For more information, see ªTow/Haul Modeº under
Towing a Trailer on page 4-58.
Fuel Gage
When the ignition is on, the fuel gage tells you about
how much fuel you have left in your tank.
The gage will ®rst indicate empty before you are out of
fuel, and you should get more fuel as soon as
possible.
Here are some situations you may experience with your
fuel gage. None of these indicate a problem with the
fuel gage.
·At the gas station, the fuel pump shuts off before
the gage reads full.
·It takes a little more or less fuel to ®ll up than the
fuel gage indicated. For example, the gage may
have indicated the tank was half full, but it actually
took a little more or less than half the tank's
capacity to ®ll the tank.
·The gage goes back to empty when you turn off the
ignition.
Low Fuel Warning Light
The light next to the fuel gage will come on brie¯y when
you are starting the engine.
This light comes on when the fuel tank is low on fuel.
To turn it off, add fuel to the fuel tank. See
Fuel on
page 5-5.United StatesCanada
3-45

SERVICE BRAKE SYSTEM
If a problem occurs with the brake system, this message
will appear on the DIC. If this message appears, stop
as soon as possible and turn off the vehicle. Restart the
vehicle and check for the message on the DIC display.
If the message is still displayed, or appears again when
you begin driving, the brake system needs service.
Pressing the select button will acknowledge this
message and clear it from the DIC display.
SERVICE BRAKE BOOSTER
If your vehicle has vaccum assist power brakes, this
message will be displayed on the DIC when there is a
problem with the Supplemental Brake Assist system.
If the message is displayed immediately after starting
the vehicle or the message appears while driving,
your Supplemental Brake Assist system needs service.
See
Brake System Warning Light on page 3-37
{CAUTION:
Your brake system may not be working
properly if the SERVICE BRAKE BOOSTER
message is displayed.
If the brake system warning light is also on,
you should have the vehicle towed for service.
See ªBrake System Warning Lightº in the
Index.
If the brake system warning light isn't on, you
still have brakes, but the supplemental brake
assist system may not operate properly. In the
event of a vacuum loss, you may not have
vacuum power assist for braking. The brake
pedal will be harder to push and it will take
longer to stop. If you continue to drive with
this message displayed it can lead to a crash.
Have the brake system serviced as soon as
possible.
3-59

TRANSMISSION HOT
If the transmission ¯uid temperature becomes high, the
message center will display this message.
When the transmission enters the protection mode, you
may notice a change in the transmission shifting
patterns. When the transmission ¯uid temperature
returns to normal, the display will turn off and the
transmission shifting patterns will return to normal.
Notice:If you keep driving your vehicle with the
transmission TRANS FLUID HOT message
displayed, you can damage the transmission. This
could lead to costly repairs that may not be covered
under your warranty.
The following situations can cause the transmission to
operate at higher temperatures:
·Towing a trailer
·Hot outside air temperatures
·Hauling a large or heavy load
·Low transmission ¯uid level
·High transmission ¯uid level
·Restricted air ¯ow to the radiator.A temporary solution to hotter transmission operating
temperatures may be to let the transmission cool down.
If the transmission is operated at higher temperatures
on a frequent basis, see
Scheduled Maintenance
on page 6-5for the proper transmission maintenance
intervals.
TRANS HOT IDLE ENGINE
If the transmission ¯uid in the vehicle gets hot, this
message will appear on the DIC along with a continuous
chime. Driving with the transmission ¯uid temperature
high can cause damage to the vehicle. Stop the vehicle
and let it idle to allow the transmission to cool. This
message will clear and the chime will stop when the ¯uid
temperature reaches a safe level.
DRIVER DOOR AJAR
If the driver's door is not fully closed and the vehicle is
in a drive gear, this message will appear on the
display and you will hear a chime. Stop and turn off the
vehicle, check the door for obstacles, and close the
door again. Check to see if the message still appears on
the DIC. Pressing the select button will acknowledge
this message and clear it from the DIC display.
3-61

Adjusting the Speakers (Balance/Fade)
AUDIO:To adjust the balance to the right and the
left speakers, push and release the AUDIO knob until
BAL appears on the display. Turn the knob to move the
sound toward the right or the left speakers.
To adjust the fade to the front and the rear speakers,
push and release the AUDIO knob until FADE appears
on the display. Turn the knob to move the sound
toward the front or the rear speakers.
To adjust the balance and fade to the middle position,
push the AUDIO knob then push it again and hold it until
the radio produces one beep. The balance and fade
will be adjusted to the middle position and the display
will show the speaker balance.
To adjust all tone and speaker controls to the middle
position, push and hold the AUDIO knob when no tone
or speaker control is displayed. The radio will produce
one beep and display ALL with the level display in
the middle position.
Finding a PTY Station (RDS and XMŸ)
To select and ®nd a desired PTY perform the following:
1. Turn the P-TYPE LIST knob. TYPE and a PTY
will appear on the display.
2. Select a category by turning the P-TYPE LIST
knob.3. Once the desired category is displayed, press the
SEEK TYPE button or one of the SEEK arrows to
take you to the category's ®rst station.
4. If you want to go to another station within that
category and the category is displayed, press
the SEEK TYPE button once. If the category is not
displayed, press the SEEK TYPE button twice
to display the category and then to go to another
station.
If the radio cannot ®nd the desired program type, NONE
will appear on the display and the radio will return to
the last station you were listening to.
SCAN:You can also scan through the channels within
a category by performing the following:
1. Turn the P-TYPE LIST knob. TYPE and a PTY will
appear on the display.
2. Select a category by turning the P-TYPE LIST
knob.
3. Once the desired category is displayed, press either
SCAN arrow, and the radio will begin scanning
within your chosen category.
4. Press wither SCAN arrow again to stop scanning.
3-69

Adjusting the Speakers (Balance/Fade)
AUDIO:To adjust the balance between the right
and the left speakers, push the AUDIO knob until BAL
appears on the display. Turn the knob to move the
sound toward the left or the right speakers.
To adjust the fade between the front and rear speakers,
push and hold the AUDIO knob until FAD appears on
the display. Turn the knob to move the sound toward the
front or the rear speakers.
To adjust the balance and the fade to the middle
position, select balance or fade and push and hold the
AUDIO knob. The radio will beep once and will
adjust the display level to the middle position.
To adjust all tone and speaker controls to the middle
position, push and hold the AUDIO knob when no tone
or speaker controls are displayed. The radio will
produce one beep and CENTERED will appear on the
display.
Finding a PTY Station (RDS and XMŸ)
To select and ®nd a desired PTY perform the following:
1. Press the P-TYPE button. P-TYPE and the last
selected PTY will be displayed on the screen.
2. Select a category by turning the P-TYPE knob.
3. Once the desired category is displayed, press either
SEEK arrow to select the category and take you to
the category's ®rst station.
4. If you want to go to another station within that
category and the category is displayed, press
either SEEK arrow once. If the category is not
displayed, press either SEEK arrow twice to display
the category and then to go to another station.
5. If PTY times out and is no longer on the display, go
back to Step 1.
If both P-TYPE and TRAF are on, the radio will search
for stations with the selected PTY and traffic
announcements.
3-80

Problem Recommended Action
After stopping the player, I
push Play but sometimes
the DVD starts where I
left off and sometimes at
the beginning.If the stop button was
pressed one time, the
DVD player will resume
playing where the DVD
was stopped. If the stop
button was pressed two
times the DVD player will
begin to play from the
beginning of the DVD.
The auxiliary source is
running but there is no
picture or sound.Press the SRCE button to
change from the DVD
player mode to the
auxiliary source mode.
Check to make sure that
the auxiliary source is
connected to the inputs
properly.
My disc is stuck in the
player. The Load/Eject
button does not work.Press the Load/Eject
button on the DVD
player.
Turn the power off, then
on again, then press the
Load/Eject button on the
DVD player.
Do not attempt to forcibly
remove the disc from the
DVD player. This could
permanently damage the
DVD player.Problem Recommended Action
Sometimes the wireless
headphone audio cuts out
or buzzes.This could be caused by
interference from cellular
telephone towers or by
using your cellular
telephone in the vehicle.
I lost the remote and/or
the headphones.See your dealer for
assistance.
What is the best way to
clean the video screen?Wipe the video screen
with a soft cloth that is
damp with water.
Rear Seat Audio (RSA)
This feature allows rear seat passengers to listen to any
of the audio sources: radio, cassette tapes, CDs,
DVDs, XMŸ (USA only, if equipped) depending on your
vehicles options. However, the rear seat passengers
can only control the music sources that the front
seat passengers are not listening to. For example, rear
seat passengers may listen to a cassette tape through
headphones while the driver listens to the radio through
the front speakers. The rear seat passengers have
control of the volume for each set of headphones. The
front seat audio controls always override the RSA
controls.
3-99

Your Driving, the Road, and Your Vehicle..........4-2
Defensive Driving...........................................4-2
Drunken Driving.............................................4-3
Control of a Vehicle........................................4-6
Braking.........................................................4-6
Traction Assist System (TAS).........................4-10
Locking Rear Axle........................................4-11
Stabilitrak
žSystem.......................................4-12
Steering......................................................4-14
Off-Road Recovery.......................................4-16
Passing.......................................................4-16
Loss of Control.............................................4-18
Off-Road Driving with Your Four-Wheel-Drive
Vehicle....................................................4-19
Driving at Night............................................4-32
Driving in Rain and on Wet Roads..................4-33
City Driving..................................................4-36Freeway Driving...........................................4-37
Before Leaving on a Long Trip.......................4-38
Highway Hypnosis........................................4-39
Hill and Mountain Roads................................4-39
Winter Driving..............................................4-41
If You Are Stuck: In Sand, Mud, Ice or Snow........4-45
Towing..........................................................4-48
Towing Your Vehicle.....................................4-48
Recreational Vehicle Towing...........................4-48
Loading Your Vehicle....................................4-51
Level Control...............................................4-53
Adding a Snow Plow or Similar Equipment.......4-54
Truck-Camper Loading Information..................4-57
Trailer Recommendations...............................4-58
Towing a Trailer...........................................4-58
Section 4 Driving Your Vehicle
4-1

{CAUTION:
If you let your tires spin at high speed, they
can explode, and you or others could be
injured. And, the transmission or other parts of
the vehicle can overheat. That could cause an
engine compartment ®re or other damage.
When you're stuck, spin the wheels as little as
possible. Don't spin the wheels above 35 mph
(55 km/h) 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 transmission
back and forth, you can destroy your transmission.
For information about using tire chains on your
vehicle, see
Tire Chains on page 5-68.
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 you have a
four-wheel-drive vehicle, shift into 4HI or 4LO. If
your vehicle has the Traction Assist System, you should
turn it off by pressing the TAS on/off button. If your
vehicle has the Stabilitrak
žSystem, turn the system off
by pressing the Stabilitrakžbutton so that the
STABILITY SYS DISABLED message and the traction
off light are illuminated on the instrument panel
cluster. 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 transmission 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. Or, you can use your
recovery hooks if your vehicle has them. If you do need
to be towed out, see
Towing Your Vehicle on
page 4-48.
4-46