brake CHEVROLET EXPRESS 1998 1.G User Guide

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Windshield Washer Cruise Control (Option)
With cruise control, you can maintain a speed of about
25 mph (40 km/h) or more without keeping your foot
on the accelerator. This can really help on long trips.
Cruise control does not work at speeds below about
25 mph (40km/h).
At the top of the lever, there’s a paddle with the word
PUSH on it. To spray washer fluid on the windshield,
push the paddle.
-1
/:1 CAUTION:
In freezing weather, don’t use your washer until
the windshield is warmed. Otherwise the washer
fluid can form ice on the windshield, blocking
your vision.
Washer fluid will spray as long as you push the paddle.
When you let go of the paddle, the wipers will continue
to wipe for approximately two more wipe cycles and
then either stop or return to the preset speed. When you apply your
brakes, the cruise control
shuts
off.
A CAUTILN:
Cruise control can be dangerous where you
can’t drive safely at a steady speed.
So,
don’t use your cruise control on winding
roads or in heavy traf‘fic.
slippery roads. On such roads, fast changes
in tire traction can cause needless wheel
spinning, and you could lose control. Don’t
use cruise control on slippery roads.
Cruise control can be dangerous on
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Setting Cruise Control
I
If you leave your cruise control switch on when
you’re not using cruise, you might hit a button
and
go into cruise when you don’t want to. You
could be startled and even lose control. Keep the
cruise control switch
off until you want to use it.
1. Move the cruise control switch to ON.
2. Get up to the speed you want.
Resuming a Set Speed
- Suppose you set your cruise control at a desired speed
and
then you apply the brake. This, of course, shuts off
the cruise control. But you don’t need to reset it.
Once you’re going about
25 mph (40 km/h) or more,
you can move the cruise control switch from
ON to R/A
(Resume/Accelerate) for about half
a second.
Press in the
SET button
at the end of
the lever
and release it.
Take your
foot off the
accelerator pedal. You’ll
go right back up to your chosen speed and
stay there.
Remember, if you hold the switch at R/A longer than
half a second, the vehicle will keep going faster until
you release the switch or apply the brake.
So unless you
want to go faster, don’t hold the switch at R/A.
Increasing Speed While Using Cruise Control
There are two ways to go to a higher speed:
Use the accelerator pedal to get to the higher speed.
Push the button at the end
of the lever, then release
the button and the accelerator pedal.
You’ll now
cruise at the higher speed.
0 Move the cruise switch from ON to WA. Hold it
there until
you get up to the speed you want, and
then release the switch,
To increase your speed in
very small amounts, move the switch to R/A for less
than half
a second. Each time you do this, your
vehicle will go about
1 mph (1.6 km/h) faster.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Reducing Speed While Using Cruise Control
There are two ways to reduce your speed while using
cruise control:
Push in the button at the end of the lever until you
reach the lower speed you want, then release it.
To slow down in very small amounts, push the
button for less than half a second. Each time
you do
this, you’ll go
1 mph (1.6 kdh) slower. When going up
steep hills, you may have to step
on the
accelerator pedal to maintain your speed. If the
steepness of the hill causes the vehicle speed to drop
more than
15 mph (24 km/h) below the set speed, your
cruise control will automatically disengage. When going
downhill, you may have to brake or shift to a lower gear
to keep your speed down. Of course, applying the brake
takes you out of cruise control. Many drivers find this to
be too much trouble and don’t use cruise control
on
steep hills.
Passing Another Vehicle While Using Cruise Control
Use the accelerator pedal to increase your speed. When
you take your foot
off the pedal, your vehicle will slow
down to the cruise control speed
you set earlier.
Ending Cruise Control
There are two ways to turn off the cruise control:
Step lightly on the brake pedal; or
Using Cruise Control on Hills 0 Move the cruise switch to OFF.
How well your cruise control will work on hills depends
upon your speed, load and the steepness of the hills. Erasing Speed Memory
When you turn off the cruise control or the ignition,
your cruise control set speed memory
is erased.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine The DRL system will make your headlamps come on at
a reduced brightness when:
0 The ignition is on,
0 The headlamp switch is off, and
The parking brake is released.
When the DRL are on, only your headlamps will be on.
The taillamps, sidemarker and other lamps won’t be on.
Your instrument panel won’t be lit up either.
When it begins to get dark, your
DRL indicator light is
a reminder to turn y,our headlamp switch on. The other
lamps that come
on with your headlamps will also
come on.
When you turn off the headlamp switch, the regular
lamps will go off, and your headlamps will change to
the reduced brightness of DRL.
To idle your vehicle with the engine on and the DRL off,
set the parking brake. The DRL will stay off until you
release
the parking brake.
As with any vehicle, you should turn on the regular
headlamp system when you need
it.
Center High-Mounted Stoplamp
Your vehicle’s center high-mounted stoplamp is located
above the rear doors at the center
of the vehicle.
If items are loaded
on the roof of the vehicle, as in a
luggage carrier, care should be taken not
to block or
damage the center high-mounted stoplamp unit.
If you tow a trailer that is equipped with provisions for
a
center high-mounted stoplamp, see your GM dealer for
instructions
on how to make it operate with your
vehicle’s electrical system. As with any electrical system
modification, have the work performed
by a qualified
electrical service person.
2-42

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Brake System Warning Light This iiiht should come on briefly when you turn the
When the ignition
is on, the brake system warning light fixed so it will be ready to warn you if a problem.
will come
on when you set your parking brake. The light
will stay on if your parking brake doesn’t release fully.
If the light comes on while you are driving, pull off the
If it stays on after your parking brake is fully released, it road and stop Carefully. YOU may notice that the Pedal is
ignition key
to RUN. If it doesn’t come on then, have it
means you have a brake problem.
Your vehicle’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.
BRAKE
United States Canada
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.)
I-
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.
2-56

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Anti-Lock Brake System Warning Light
ANTI -
LOCK
United States Canada
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, or comes on when you’re driving,
your vehicle 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 section.
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.
Engine Coolant Temperature (I ~ - -:
This gage shows the engine
coolant temperature. If the
gage pointer moves into
the red area your engine is
too hot!
It means that your engine coolant has overheated. If
you have been operating your vehicle under normal
operating conditions,
you should pull off the road, stop
your vehicle, and turn
off the ‘engine as soon as possible.
The “Problems on the Road” section
of this
manual shows what to do. See “Engine Overheating”
in the Index.
2-57

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.
Defensive driving requires that a driver concentrate on
the driving task. Anything that distracts from the
driving task
-- such as concentrating on a cellular
telephone call, reading, or reaching for something
on the
floor
-- makes proper defensive driving more difficult
and can even cause a collision, with resulting injury. Ask
a passenger to help do things like this, or pull
off the road
in a safe place to do them yourself. These simple
defensive driving techniques could save your life.
Defensive Driving
The best advice anyone can give about driving is:
Drive defensively.
Please start with a very important safety device in your
vehicle: Buckle up. (See “Safety Belts” in
the Index.)
4-2

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine right answer. What if there’s an emergency, a need to
take sudden action, as when a child darts into the street?
A person with even a moderate BAC might not be able
to react quickly enough to avoid the collision.
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, especially injuries to the brain, spinal cord or
heart. This means that when anyone who has been
drinking
-- driver or passenger -- is in a crash, that
person’s chance
of being killed or permanently disabled
is higher than if the person had not been drinking.
Drinking and then driving is very dangerous.
Your reflexes, perceptions, attentiveness and
judgment can be affected by even
a small amoun
of alcohol. You can have a serious
-- or even
fatal
-- collision if you drive after drinking.
Please don’t drink and drive or ride with a drive
who has been drinking. Ride home in a cab; or
if
you’re with a group, designate a driver who will
not drink.
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.
4-5

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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 kdh) 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; the condition
of your brakes; the weight of the
vehicle and the amount of brake force applied. 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.
4-6

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS)
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 and 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. This is normal.
ANTI -
LOCK
United States Canada
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. 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
both rear wheels.