traction control CHEVROLET VENTURE 2003 1.G User Guide

Suppose you are steering through a sharp curve. Then
you suddenly apply the brakes. Both control systems
Ð steering and braking Ð have to do their work where
the tires meet the road. Unless you have four-wheel
anti-lock brakes, adding the hard braking can demand
too much of those places. You can lose control.
The same thing can happen if you are steering through
a sharp curve and you suddenly accelerate. Those
two control systems Ð steering and acceleration Ð can
overwhelm those places where the tires meet the
road and make you lose control. See
Traction Control
System (TCS) on page 4-8.
What should you do if this ever happens? Ease up on
the brake or accelerator pedal, steer the vehicle the way
you want it to go, and slow down.
Speed limit signs near curves warn that you should
adjust your speed. Of course, the posted speeds
are based on good weather and road conditions. Under
less favorable conditions you will want to go slower.
If you need to reduce your speed as you approach
a curve, do it before you enter the curve, while your front
wheels are straight ahead.
Try to adjust your speed so you can ªdriveº through the
curve. Maintain a reasonable, steady speed. Wait to
accelerate until you are out of the curve, and then
accelerate gently into the straightaway.
Steering in Emergencies
There are times when steering can be more effective
than braking. For example, you come over a hill and ®nd
a truck stopped in your lane, or a car suddenly pulls
out from nowhere, or a child darts out from between
parked cars and stops right in front of you. You
can avoid these problems by braking Ð if you can stop
in time. But sometimes you can not; there is not
room. That is the time for evasive action Ð steering
around the problem.
Your vehicle can perform very well in emergencies like
these. First apply your brakes.
See
Braking on page 4-6. 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.
4-11

·Check your mirrors, glance over your shoulder, and
start your left lane change signal before moving out
of the right lane to pass. When you are far
enough ahead of the passed vehicle to see its front
in your inside mirror, activate your right lane
change signal and move back into the right lane.
(Remember that your right outside mirror is convex.
The vehicle you just passed may seem to be
farther away from you than it really is.)
·Try not to pass more than one vehicle at a time on
two-lane roads. Reconsider before passing the
next vehicle.
·Do not overtake a slowly moving vehicle too rapidly.
Even though the brake lamps are not ¯ashing, it
may be slowing down or starting to turn.
·If you are being passed, make it easy for the
following driver to get ahead of you. Perhaps
you can ease a little to the right.
Loss of Control
Let us review what driving experts say about what
happens when the three control systems (brakes,
steering and acceleration) do not have enough friction
where the tires meet the road to do what the driver
has asked.
In any emergency, do not give up. Keep trying to
steer and constantly seek an escape route or area of
less danger.
Skidding
In a skid, a driver can lose control of the vehicle.
Defensive drivers avoid most skids by taking reasonable
care suited to existing conditions, and by not
ªoverdrivingº those conditions. But skids are always
possible.
The three types of skids correspond to your vehicle's
three control systems. In the braking skid, your wheels
are not rolling. In the steering or cornering skid, too
much speed or steering in a curve causes tires to slip
and lose cornering force. And in the acceleration
skid, too much throttle causes the driving wheels
to spin.
A cornering skid is best handled by easing your foot off
the accelerator pedal.
If you have the Traction Control System, remember: It
helps avoid only the acceleration skid. If you do not have
this system, or if the system is off, then an acceleration
skid is also best handled by easing your foot off the
accelerator pedal.
If your vehicle starts to slide, ease your foot off the
accelerator pedal and quickly steer the way you want
the vehicle to go. If you start steering quickly enough,
your vehicle may straighten out. Always be ready
for a second skid if it occurs.
4-14

Of course, traction is reduced when water, snow, ice,
gravel or other material is on the road. For safety,
you will want to slow down and adjust your driving to
these conditions. It is important to slow down on slippery
surfaces because stopping distance will be longer and
vehicle control more limited.
While driving on a surface with reduced traction, try
your best to avoid sudden steering, acceleration
or braking (including engine braking by shifting to a
lower gear). Any sudden changes could cause the tires
to slide. You may not realize the surface is slippery
until your vehicle is skidding. Learn to recognize warning
clues Ð such as enough water, ice or packed snow
on the road to make a ªmirrored surfaceº Ð and slow
down when you have any doubt.
If you have the anti-lock braking system, remember: It
helps avoid only the braking skid. If you do not have
anti-lock, then in a braking skid (where the wheels are
no longer rolling), release enough pressure on the
brakes to get the wheels rolling again. This restores
steering control. Push the brake pedal down steadily
when you have to stop suddenly. As long as the wheels
are rolling, you will have steering control.Driving at Night
Night driving is more dangerous than day driving.
One reason is that some drivers are likely to be
impaired Ð by alcohol or drugs, with night vision
problems, or by fatigue.
4-15

Driving on Snow or Ice
Most of the time, those places where your tires meet
the road probably have good traction.
However, if there is snow or ice between your tires and
the road, you can have a very slippery situation.
You'll have a lot less traction or ªgripº and will need to
be very careful.What's the worst time for this? ªWet ice.º Very cold
snow or ice can be slick and hard to drive on. But wet
ice can be even more trouble because it may offer
the least traction of all. You can get wet ice when it's
about freezing (32ÉF; 0ÉC) and freezing rain begins
to fall. Try to avoid driving on wet ice until salt and sand
crews can get there.
Whatever the condition ± smooth ice, packed, blowing
or loose snow ± drive with caution.
If you have traction control, keep the system on. It will
improve your ability to accelerate when driving on a
slippery road. But you can turn the traction system off if
you ever need to. You should turn the system off if
your vehicle ever gets stuck in sand, mud, ice, or snow.
See
If You Are Stuck: In Sand, Mud, Ice or Snow on
page 4-30. Even though your vehicle has a traction
system you'll want to slow down and adjust your
driving to the road conditions. See
Traction Control
System (TCS) on page 4-8.
If you don't have a traction system, accelerate gently.
Try not to break the fragile traction. If you accelerate too
fast, the drive wheels will spin and polish the surface
under the tires even more.
4-27

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 transaxle back
and forth, you can destroy your transaxle. See
ªRocking Your Vehicle To Get It Out.º
For information about using tire chains on your vehicle,
see
Tire Chains on page 5-67.
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 your vehicle
has traction control, you should turn your traction
control system off. See
Traction Control System (TCS)
on page 4-8. 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 transaxle 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. If you do need to be towed out,
see ªTowing Your Vehicleº following.
4-31

Buying New Tires
To ®nd out what kind and size of tires you need, look at
the Certi®cation/Tire label.
The tires installed on your vehicle when it was new had
a Tire Performance Criteria Speci®cation (TPC Spec)
number on each tire's sidewall. When you get new tires,
get ones with that same TPC Spec number. That way
your vehicle will continue to have tires that are designed
to give proper endurance, handling, speed rating,
traction, ride and other things during normal service on
your vehicle. If your tires have an all-season tread
design, the TPC number will be followed by an ªMSº (for
mud and snow).
If you ever replace your tires with those not having a
TPC Spec number, make sure they are the same size,
load range, speed rating and construction type (bias,
bias-belted or radial) as your original tires.{CAUTION:
Mixing tires could cause you to lose control
while driving. If you mix tires of different sizes
or types (radial and bias-belted tires), the
vehicle may not handle properly, and you
could have a crash. Using tires of different
sizes may also cause damage to your vehicle.
Be sure to use the same size and type tires on
all wheels. It's all right to drive with your
compact spare temporarily, it was developed
for use on your vehicle. See ªCompact Spare
Tireº in the index.
{CAUTION:
If you use bias-ply tires on your vehicle, the
wheel rim ¯anges could develop cracks after
many miles of driving. A tire and/or wheel
could fail suddenly, causing a crash. Use only
radial-ply tires with the wheels on your vehicle.
5-64

Uniform Tire Quality Grading
Quality grades can be found where applicable on the
tire sidewall between tread shoulder and maximum
section width. For example:
Treadwear 200 Traction AA Temperature A
The following information relates to the system
developed by the United States National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, which grades tires by
treadwear, traction and temperature performance.
(This applies only to vehicles sold in the United States.)
The grades are molded on the sidewalls of most
passenger car tires. The Uniform Tire Quality Grading
system does not apply to deep tread, winter-type
snow tires, space-saver or temporary use spare tires,
tires with nominal rim diameters of 10 to 12 inches
(25 to 30 cm), or to some limited-production tires.
While the tires available on General Motors passenger
cars and light trucks may vary with respect to these
grades, they must also conform to federal safety
requirements and additional General Motors Tire
Performance Criteria (TPC) standards.
Treadwear
The treadwear grade is a comparative rating based on
the wear rate of the tire when tested under controlled
conditions on a speci®ed government test course.
For example, a tire graded 150 would wear one and
a half (1.5) times as well on the government course as
a tire graded 100. The relative performance of tires
depends upon the actual conditions of their use,
however, and may depart signi®cantly from the norm
due to variations in driving habits, service practices and
differences in road characteristics and climate.
Traction ± AA, A, B, C
The traction grades, from highest to lowest, are AA, A,
B, and C. Those grades represent the tire's ability
to stop on wet pavement as measured under controlled
conditions on speci®ed government test surfaces of
asphalt and concrete. A tire marked C may have poor
traction performance. Warning: The traction grade
assigned to this tire is based on straight-ahead braking
traction tests, and does not include acceleration,
cornering, hydroplaning, or peak traction characteristics.
5-65

Fuse Usage
HTD MIRROR Heated Mirrors
RH T/LP Driver's Side Taillamp (Export Only)
RR FOG LP Fog Lamps (Export Only)
CIGAR/DIC/
APO FRTCigarette Lighter, DIC, Front
Auxiliary Power Outlets, Data Link
T/SIG Turn Signal Switch
PWR QTR
VENTInterior Lamp and Multifunction
Switch (Power Vent Switch), Auto
Level
FRT/WPR/
WSHRWindshield Wiper/Washer Motor and
Switch
HAZARD Hazard Switch
RR PWR SCKTRear Electric Accessory Plug
Housing
DRLDaytime Running Lamp Control
Module
LH T/LPPassenger's Side Taillamp
(Export Only)
RR
DEFOG/HTD
MIRRORRear Window Defogger Relay,
Heated Mirrors
ON STAR OnStar
ž
Fuse Usage
SIR In¯atable Restraint Control Module
HVAC
BLOWERHeater-A/C Control
MALL
CLUSTERInstrument Cluster, Body Control
Module, Electronic Level Control
(ELC) Sensor and Relay, Theft,
Door Ajar
STOP LAMP Stoplamp Switch
CLUSTER
BATTModule/Electronic Brake Control
Module/Electronic Brake Traction
Control Module (EBCM/EBTCM)
ENHANCED
EVAP/AWDEvaporative Emissions (EVAP)
Canister Vent Solenoid Valve,
All-Wheel Drive (AWD)
Blank Not Used
ELC/TRAILERELC Air Compressor and ELC
Height Sensor, Trailer Harness
CTSY LAMP Courtesy Lamp
IGN 1BCM, Electronic Brake Control
Indicator Lamp Driver Module,
Instrument Panel Cluster, Rear Side
Door Actuator Control Module, Rear
Windows, Rear Parking Aid
RR HVAC
TEMP CONTRear HVAC-A/C Control
5-98

J
Jump Starting.................................................5-44
K
Key Lock Cylinders Service..............................6-12
Keyless Entry System....................................... 2-5
Keys............................................................... 2-3
L
Lamps on Reminder........................................3-15
Lamps...........................................................3-15
Exterior......................................................3-15
Interior.......................................................3-17
Lap Belt................................................1-46, 1-47
Lap-Shoulder Belt...................................1-36, 1-49
Last Door Closed Locking................................2-12
Last Door Locking...........................................2-64
LATCH System...............................................1-69
Child Restraints...........................................1-69
Securing a Child Restraint Designed for the
LATCH System........................................1-71
Latches, Side Window.....................................2-25
Leaving Your Vehicle With the
Engine Running..........................................2-40Leaving Your Vehicle.......................................2-13
Liftgate..........................................................2-22
Lighted Vanity Mirror.......................................2-26
Light.............................................................3-40
Air Bag Readiness.......................................3-40
Anti-Lock Brake System Warning...................3-42
Brake System Warning.................................3-41
Malfunction Indicator....................................3-45
Safety Belt Reminder...................................3-40
TCS Warning Light......................................3-43
Traction Control System (TCS) Warning..........3-43
Loading Your Vehicle.......................................4-34
Lockout Deterrent...........................................2-64
Lockout Protection..........................................2-13
Locks............................................................2-63
Automatic Door...........................................2-63
Door........................................................... 2-9
Last Door Closed Locking.............................2-12
Leaving Your Vehicle....................................2-13
Lockout Protection.......................................2-13
Power Door................................................2-11
Programmable Automatic Door Locks.............2-12
Loss of Control...............................................4-14
Low Engine Oil Level Message.........................3-53
Low Fuel Warning Message.............................3-57
Low Oil Pressure Message...............................3-52
Luggage Carrier..............................................2-55
9

T
Tachometer....................................................3-39
Taillamps.......................................................5-56
Turn Signal, Stoplamps and Back-up Lamps....5-56
TCS Warning Light..........................................3-43
Theft-Deterrent, Radio....................................3-103
Theft-Deterrent Systems...................................2-27
Content Theft-Deterrent................................2-27
PASS-Key
žIII Operation..............................2-29
PASS-KeyžIII .............................................2-29
Throttle System Inspection...............................6-16
Tilt Wheel........................................................ 3-7
Tire In¯ation Check.........................................6-10
Tires.............................................................5-60
Buying New Tires........................................5-64
Chains.......................................................5-67
Changing a Flat Tire....................................5-71
Compact Spare Tire.....................................5-86
If a Tire Goes Flat.......................................5-70
In¯ation -- Tire Pressure...............................5-61
Inspection and Rotation................................5-62
Uniform Tire Quality Grading.........................5-65
Wheel Alignment and Tire Balance.................5-66
Wheel Replacement.....................................5-66
When It Is Time for New Tires......................5-63
To Use the Engine Coolant Heater....................2-34
Top Strap Anchor Location...............................1-67
Top Strap......................................................1-66
Torque Lock...................................................2-41Total Weight on Your Vehicle's Tires..................4-38
Towing..........................................................4-32
Recreational Vehicle.....................................4-32
Towing a Trailer..........................................4-36
Your Vehicle...............................................4-32
Traction.........................................................3-51
Active Message...........................................3-51
Control System (TCS).................................... 4-8
Control System Warning Light.......................3-43
Service Traction System Warning Message.....3-50
Trailer Brakes.................................................4-39
Trailer Wiring Harness.....................................4-43
Transaxle Operation, Automatic.........................2-34
Transaxle.......................................................5-20
Fluid, Automatic...........................................5-20
Transfer Case (Power Transfer Unit)..................5-50
Transmission, Transaxle, Transfer Case Unit
Repair Manual............................................7-10
Transportation Options...................................... 7-8
Trip Computer................................................3-60
Turn and Lane-Change Signals.......................... 3-8
Turn Signal/Multifunction Lever........................... 3-7
Turn Signals When Towing a Trailer..................4-41
U
Ultrasonic Rear Parking Assist (URPA)...............3-22
Underbody Flushing Service.............................6-14
Underhood Fuse Block...................................5-100
16