brake CHEVROLET CAVALIER 1996 3.G Owner's Manual

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Your instrument panel is designed to let you know at a glance how your vehicle is running. You’ll know how fast
you’re going, how much fuel you’re using, and many other things you’ll need to drive safely and economically.
The main components of your instrument panel are:
1. Instrument Panel Intensity Control
2. Turn Signal/Multifunction Lever
3. Hazard Warning Flashers Switch
4. Ignition Switch
5. Windshield Wiperwasher Controls
6. Audio System
7. Climate Controls and Rear Window Defogger
8. Ashtray .
9. Parking Brake Lever
10. Tilt Steering Wheel Lever (Option)
11. Hood Release Lever
12. Fuse Panel
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine You may wonder what happens if your vehicle needs a
new odometer installed.
If the new one can be set to the mileage total of the old
odometer, then it must be. But if it can't, then it's set at
zero and
a label must be put on the driver's door to
show the old mileage reading when the new odometer
was installed.
Trip Odometer (Option)
RPM 4
APPLY BRAKE TO
SHIFT FROM PARK
0
The trip odometer can tell you how far your vehicle has
been driven since
you last set the trip odometer to zero.
To set the trip odometer to zero, press the knob to the
right
of it.
Tachometer (Option)
The tachometer displays the
engine speed in revolutions
,,\\\\"I I ""///,
4' 3 5 e4 \\ 4 per minute (rpm) .
$
32 XIOOO 61
RPM
NOTICE: I
~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~~~
Do not operate the engine with the tachometer in
the red area, or engine damage may occur.
2-64

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Brake System Warning Light
Your Chevrolet’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
briefly when
you turn the
ignition key to
RUN. If it
doesn’t come on then, have
BRAKE
(@) (a)
warn you if there’s a
it fixed
so it will
be ready to
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.
It may take longer to stop. If the light is still on, have the
vehicle towed for service. (See “Towing Your Vehicle”
in the Index.)
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 doesn’t release
fully. If it stays on after your parking brake is fully
released, it means you have a brake problem.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Anti-Lock Brake System Warning Light
With the anti-lock brake
system, this light will come
on when you start your
engine and
it will stay on
for three 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 Chevrolet 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.
Enhanced lkaction System Warning Light
(Option)
ETS
OFF
With the Enhanced Traction
System (ETS), 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 Enhanced Traction System
and your vehicle may need service. When this warning
light is on, the system will not limit wheel spin. Adjust
your driving accordingly.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine The Enhanced Traction System warning light may come
on for the following reasons:
0 If you turn the system off by moving the shift lever to
a position other than THIRD
(3) or OVERDRIVE (a)?
the warning light will come on and stay on. To turn
the system back on, move the shift lever back to the
THIRD (3) or OVERDRIVE (a) position again. The
warning light should go
off. (See “Enhanced Traction
System”
in the Index for more information.)
The warning light will come on when you set your
parking brake with the engine running, and
it will
stay on if your parking brake doesn’t release fully.
If the transaxle shift lever is in the THIRD
(3) or
OVERDRIVE
(@) position and the warning light
stays on after your parking brake is fully released, it
means there’s
a problem with the system.
If the Enhanced Traction System warning light comes
on and stays on for an extended period
of time when
the transaxle shift lever is in the THIRD
(3) or
OVERDRIVE
(0) position and the parking brake is
fully released, your vehicle needs service.
Enhanced Traction System Active Light
LOW
TRAC
When your Enhanced
Traction System is limiting wheel spin, this light will
come on. Slippery road
conditions may exist if the
Enhanced Traction System
active light comes on,
so
adjust your driving
accordingly.
The light will stay on for a few seconds after the
Enhanced Traction System stops limiting wheel spin.
The Enhanced Traction System active light also comes
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
there to tell you when the system is active.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 0 Section 4 Your Driving and the Road
I
Here you’ll find information about driving on different
kinds
of roads and in varying weather conditions. We’ve
also included many other useful tips on driving.
Defensive Driving
The best advice anyone can give about driving is: Drive
defensively.
Please start with a very important safety device in your
Chevrolet: 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.
4-1

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.
Braking
Braking action involves perception tiMe &Id
reaction time.
First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal.
That’s
perception time. Then you have to bring up
vour 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 h/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.
4-5

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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,
Anti-Lock Brakes
Your vehicle has anti-lock brakes (ABS). ABS is an
advanced electronic braking system that will help
prevent a braking skid.
When you start your engine, or when you begin to drive
away, your anti-lock brake system will check itself. You
may hear a momentary motor or clicking noise while
this test is going on, and you may even notice that your
brake pedal moves a little. This is normal.
If there’s a problem with the anti-lock brake system, this
warning light will stay
on.
See “Anti-Lock Brake
System Warning Light” in
the Index.
4-6

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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. 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.
4-7

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Remember: Anti-lock doesn’t change the time you need
to get your foot up to the brake pedal or always decrease
stopping distance. 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.
Using 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.
Enhanced Traction System
If your vehicle has the optional four-speed automatic
transaxle, it also has an Enhanced Traction System
(ETS) that limits wheel spin. This is especially useful
in slippery road conditions. The system operates only
when the transaxle shift lever is in the
THIRD (3) or
OVERDRIVE
(a) position and the system senses
that one or both of the front wheels are spinning or
beginning to lose traction. When this happens, the system reduces engine power and may also upshift the
transaxle to limit wheel spin.
LOW
TRAC
This light will come on
when your Enhanced
Traction System is limiting
wheel spin. See “Enhanced
Traction System Active
Light” in the Index.
You
may feel or hear the system working, but this
is normal.
4-8