power steering CHEVROLET AVALANCHE 2012 2.G Owner's Manual

Black plate (54,1)Chevrolet Avalanche Owner Manual - 2012
10-54 Vehicle Care
Accessory Weight:The
combined weight of optional
accessories. Some examples
of optional accessories are
automatic transmission, power
steering, power brakes, power
windows, power seats, and air
conditioning.
Aspect Ratio
:The relationship
of a tire's height to its width.
Belt
:A rubber coated layer of
cords that is located between
the plies and the tread. Cords
may be made from steel or other
reinforcing materials.
Bead
:The tire bead contains
steel wires wrapped by steel
cords that hold the tire onto
the rim.
Bias Ply Tire
:A pneumatic tire
in which the plies are laid at
alternate angles less than
90 degrees to the centerline of
the tread. Cold Tire Pressure
:The
amount of air pressure in a tire,
measured in kPa (kilopascal)
or psi (pounds per square inch)
before a tire has built up heat
from driving. See Tire Pressure
on page 10‑56.
Curb Weight
:The weight of a
motor vehicle with standard and
optional equipment including the
maximum capacity of fuel, oil,
and coolant, but without
passengers and cargo.
DOT Markings
:A code molded
into the sidewall of a tire
signifying that the tire is in
compliance with the U.S.
Department of Transportation
(DOT) Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards. The DOT code
includes the Tire Identification
Number (TIN), an alphanumeric
designator which can also identify the tire manufacturer,
production plant, brand, and
date of production.
GVWR
:Gross Vehicle Weight
Rating. See Vehicle Load Limits
on page 9‑16.
GAWR FRT
:Gross Axle Weight
Rating for the front axle. See
Vehicle Load Limits on
page 9‑16.
GAWR RR
:Gross Axle Weight
Rating for the rear axle. See
Vehicle Load Limits on
page 9‑16.
Intended Outboard Sidewall
:
The side of an asymmetrical tire,
that must always face outward
when mounted on a vehicle.
Kilopascal (kPa)
:The metric
unit for air pressure.
Light Truck (LT‐Metric) Tire
:A
tire used on light duty trucks and
some multipurpose passenger
vehicles.

Black plate (98,1)Chevrolet Avalanche Owner Manual - 2012
10-98 Vehicle Care
Weatherstrips
Apply silicone grease on
weatherstrips to make them last
longer, seal better, and not stick or
squeak. SeeRecommended Fluids
and Lubricants on page 11‑12.
Tires
Use a stiff brush with tire cleaner to
clean the tires.
Notice: Using petroleum-based
tire dressing products on the
vehicle may damage the paint
finish and/or tires. When applying
a tire dressing, always wipe off
any overspray from all painted
surfaces on the vehicle.
Wheels and Trim —Aluminum
or Chrome
Use a soft, clean cloth with mild
soap and water to clean the wheels.
After rinsing thoroughly with clean
water, dry with a soft, clean towel.
A wax may then be applied.
Keep the wheels clean using a soft,
clean cloth with mild soap and
water. Rinse with clean water. After
rinsing thoroughly, dry with a soft,
clean towel. A wax may then be
applied.
Notice: Chrome wheels and other
chrome trim may be damaged if
the vehicle is not washed after
driving on roads that have been
sprayed with magnesium,
calcium, or sodium chloride.
These chlorides are used on
roads for conditions such as ice
and dust. Always wash the
chrome with soap and water after
exposure. Notice:
To avoid surface damage,
do not use strong soaps,
chemicals, abrasive polishes,
cleaners, brushes, or cleaners
that contain acid on aluminum or
chrome-plated wheels. Use only
approved cleaners. Also, never
drive a vehicle with aluminum or
chrome-plated wheels through an
automatic car wash that uses
silicone carbide tire cleaning
brushes. Damage could occur
and the repairs would not be
covered by the vehicle warranty.
Steering, Suspension, and
Chassis Components
Visually inspect front and rear
suspension and steering system for
damaged, loose, or missing parts
or signs of wear. Inspect power
steering lines and hoses for proper
hook-up, binding, leaks, cracks,
chafing, etc. Visually check constant
velocity joints, rubber boots, and
axle seals for leaks.

Black plate (12,1)Chevrolet Avalanche Owner Manual - 2012
11-12 Service and Maintenance
Recommended Fluids, Lubricants, and Parts
Recommended Fluids and Lubricants
Fluids and lubricants identified below by name, part number, or specification can be obtained from your dealer.Usage Fluid/Lubricant
Engine Oil Use only engine oil licensed to the dexos1 specfication, or equivalent, of
the proper SAE viscosity grade. ACDelco dexos1 Synthetic Blend is
recommended. See
Engine Oil on page 10‑8.
Engine Coolant 50/50 mixture of clean, drinkable water and use only DEX-COOL Coolant.
See
Engine Coolant on page 10‑18.
Hydraulic Brake System DOT 3 Hydraulic Brake Fluid (GM Part No. 12377967, in
Canada 89021320).
Windshield Washer Optikleen
®Washer Solvent.
Power Steering System GM Power Steering Fluid (GM Part No. 89021184, in Canada 89021186).
Automatic Transmission DEXRON
®-VI Automatic Transmission Fluid.
Key Lock Cylinders Multi-Purpose Lubricant, Superlube (GM Part No. 12346241, in
Canada 10953474).
Chassis Lubrication Chassis Lubricant (GM Part No. 12377985, in Canada 88901242) or
lubricant meeting requirements of NLGI #2, Category LB or GC-LB.
Front Axle SAE 80W-90 Axle Lubricant (GM Part No. 89021671, in
Canada 89021672).

Black plate (4,1)Chevrolet Avalanche Owner Manual - 2012
i-4 INDEX
DVDRear Seat Entertainment
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-35
DVD/CD Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-19
E
E85 Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-63
Electrical Equipment, Add-On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-84
Electrical System Engine CompartmentFuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-41
Fuses and Circuit
Breakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-41
Instrument Panel Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-46
Overload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-40
Emergency, OnStar
®. . . . . . . . . . 14-2
Engine Air Cleaner/Filter . . . . . . . . . . . 10-16
Check and Service EngineSoon Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19
Compartment Overview . . . . . . . 10-6
Coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-18
Coolant Temperature
Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14 Engine (cont'd)
Cooling System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-18
Cooling System Messages . . . 5-37
Drive Belt Routing . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-3
Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-31
Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-25
Heater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-27
Oil Pressure Gauge . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
Overheated Protection
Operating Mode . . . . . . . . . . . 10-24
Overheating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-22
Power Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-39
Pressure Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Running While Parked . . . . . . . . 9-31
Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-25
Engine Oil Life System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10-11
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-38
Entry/Exit Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8
Equipment, Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-75
Event Data Recorders . . . . . . . . 13-19
Extender, Safety Belt . . . . . . . . . . 3-20
Exterior Cargo Lamps . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Exterior Lamp Controls . . . . . . . . . 6-1
Exterior Lamps Off Reminder . . . 6-3
F
Fan Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-25
Features Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Filter, Engine Air Cleaner . . . . . . . . . 10-16
Flash-to-Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Flashers, Hazard Warning . . . . . . 6-5
Flat Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-70 Changing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-72
Floor Mats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10-102
Fluid Automatic Transmission . . . . 10-13
Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-28
Four-Wheel DriveTransfer Case . . . . . . . . . 9-37, 9-42
Power Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-25
Washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-26
Fog Lamps
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Folding Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-21
Four-Wheel Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-30, 9-37, 9-42
Front Axle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-31

Black plate (8,1)Chevrolet Avalanche Owner Manual - 2012
i-8 INDEX
O
Object Detection SystemMessages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-40
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12 Trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Off-Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6 Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Oil Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-8
Engine Oil Life System . . . . . .10-11
Engine Oil PressureGauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-38
Pressure Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Older Children, Restraints . . . . . 3-36
Online Owner Center . . . . . . . . . . 13-6
OnStar
®
Additional Information . . . . . . . . 14-5
Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-4
Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-5
Emergency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
OnStar
®System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-27 Operation, Infotainment
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Ordering Service Publications . . . . . . . . 13-16
Outlets Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9
Overheated Engine
Protection
Operating Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-24
Overheating, Engine . . . . . . . . . . 10-22
Overview, OnStar
®. . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1
P
Park Shifting into . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Shifting out of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-29
Park Tilt Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22
Parking Assist, Ultrasonic . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-54
Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-45
Brake and P (Park)Mechanism Check . . . . . . . . 10-34
Over Things That Burn . . . . . . . 9-30
Passenger Airbag Status Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
Passenger Sensing System . . . 3-29 Perchlorate Materials
Requirements, California . . . . . 10-3
Personalization Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-45
Phone Bluetooth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-47
Power
Door Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-20
Outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9
Protection, Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8
Retained Accessory (RAP) . . . 9-28
Seat Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Steering Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-25
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-24
Power Assist Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
Pregnancy, Using Safety
Belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
Privacy Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID) . . . . . . . 13-20
Program Courtesy Transportation . . . . 13-13
Proposition 65 Warning, California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2

Black plate (10,1)Chevrolet Avalanche Owner Manual - 2012
i-10 INDEX
Safety Belts (cont'd)Reminders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Replacing after a Crash . . . . . . 3-21
Use During Pregnancy . . . . . . . . 3-19
Safety Defects Reporting Canadian Government . . . . . . 13-18
General Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-18
U.S. Government . . . . . . . . . . . 13-17
Safety Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Safety System Check . . . . . . . . . . 3-20
Satellite Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9
Scheduling Appointments . . . . . 13-12
Seats Adjustment, Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Center Seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Head Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Heated and Ventilated Front . . . 3-9
Lumbar Adjustment, Front . . . . . 3-4
Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Power Adjustment, Front . . . . . . 3-4
Rear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Reclining Seatbacks . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Secondary Latch System . . . . . 10-83
Securing Child
Restraints . . . . . . . . 3-51, 3-53, 3-54 Security
Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-25
Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
Security, OnStar
®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
Service Accessories andModifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Doing Your Own Work . . . . . . . . 10-4
Engine Soon Light . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19
Maintenance Records . . . . . . .11-15
Maintenance, General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-1
Parts Identification Label . . . . . 12-1
Publications Ordering Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-16
Scheduling Appointments . . . 13-12
Servicing the Airbag . . . . . . . . . . . 3-34
Shift Lock Control Function Check, Automatic
Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-33
Shifting
Into Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Out of Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-29
Sidemarker Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . 10-38 Signals, Turn and
Lane-Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Specifications and Capacities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-2
Speedometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
StabiliTrak OFF Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-23
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-46
Start Assist, Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-46
Start Vehicle, Remote . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Starter Switch Check . . . . . . . . . 10-33
Starting the Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-25
Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4 Fluid, Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-25
Wheel Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Wheel Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Steps Power Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
Stoplamps and Back-Up Lamps Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . 10-38
Storage Areas
Armrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Cargo Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Center Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2