light GMC ENVOY 1998 Repair Manual

You can be temporarily blinded by approaching
headlamps. It can take
a second or two, or even several
seconds,
for your eyes to readjust to the dark. When you
are faced with severe glare
(as from a driver who
doesn’t lower the high beams, or a vehicle with
misaimed headlamps), slow down a little. Avoid staring
directly into the approaching headlarnps.
Keep your windshield and all the
glass oi=ryour vehicle
clean
-- inside and out. Glare at night is made much
worse by dirt on the glass. Even the inside
of the glass
can build up
a film caused by dust. Dirty glass makes
lights dazzle and flash more than clean glass would,
making
the pupils of your eyes contract repeatedly.
Remember that your headlamps light
up far less of a
roadway when you are in a turn or curve. Keep your
eyes moving; that way, it’s easier to pick out dimly
lighted objects. Just
as your headlamps should be
checked regularly for proper
aim, so should your eyes
be examined regularly. Some drivers suffer from night
blindness
-- the inability to see in dim light -- and aren’t
even aware
of it.
Driving in Rain and on Wet Roads
Rain and wet roads can mean driving trouble. On a wet
road, you can‘t stop, accelerate or turn
as well because
your tire-to-road traction isn‘t as good
as on dry roads.
And,
if your tires don’t have much tread left, you’ll get
even
less traction. It’s always wise to go slower and be
cautious
if rain starts to fall while you are driving. The
surface may get wet suddenly when your reflexes are
tuned for driving
on dry pavement.
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The heavier the rain, the harder it is to see. Even if your
windshield wiper blades are
in good shape, a heavy rain
can make
it harder to see road signs and traffic signals,
pavement markings, the edge
of the road and even
people walking.
It’s wise to keep your wiping equipment in good shape
and keep your windshield washer tank filled
with
washer fluid. Replace your windshield wiper inserts
when they show signs
of streaking or missing areas on
the windshield, or when strips of rubber start
to separate
from
the inserts. Driving
too fast through large water puddles or even
going through some car washes can cause problems, too.
The water may affect your brakes. Try to avoid puddles.
But
if you can’t, try to slow down before you hit them.
Wet brakes can cause accidents. They won’t work
as well in a quick stop and may cause pulling to
one side. You could lose control
of the vehicle.
After driving through a large puddle
of water or
a car wash, apply your brake pedal lightly until
your brakes work normally.
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Hydroplaning
Hydroplaning is dangerous. So much water can build up
under your tires that they can actually ride on the water.
This can happen
if the road is wet enough and you’re
going fast enough. When your vehicle is hydroplaning,
it has little or no contact with the road.
Hydroplaning doesn‘t happen often.
But it can if your
tires do not have much tread
or if the pressure in one or
more
is low. It can happen if a lot of water is standing on
the road. If you can see reflections from trees, telephone
poles or other vehicles, and raindrops ”dimple” the
water‘s surface, there could be hydroplaning.
Hydroplaning usually happens at higher speeds. There
just isn’t a hard and fdst rule about hydroplaning. The
best advice
is to slow down when it is raining.
1 )riving Through Deep Standing W ’ Fr
NOTICE:
If you drive too quickly through deep puddles or
standing water, water can come in through your
engine’s air intake and badly damage your
engine. Never drive through water that
is slightly
lower than the underbody
of your vehicle. If’ you
can’t avoid deep puddles or standing water, drive
through them very slowly.
Some Other Rainy Weather Tips
0 Besides slowing down, allow some extra following
distance.
And be especially carefir1 when you pass
another vehicle. Allow yourself more clear room
ahead, and be prepared
to have your view restricted
by road spray.
Have good tires with proper tread depth. (See
“Tires”
in the Index.)
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City Driving One of the biggest problems with city streets is the
amount of traffic on them.
You'll want to watch out for
what the other drivers are doing and pay attention to
traffic signals.
Here are ways to increase your safety
in city driving:
0 Know the best way to get to where you are going. Get
a city map and plan your trip into an unknown part of
the city just as you would for a cross-country trip.
0 Try to use the freeways that rim and crisscross most
large cities. You'll save time and energy. (See the
next part, "Freeway Driving.")
0 Treat a green light as a warning signal. A traffic light
is there because the corner
is busy enough to need it.
When a light turns green, and just before you start to
move, check both ways for vehicles that have not
cleared the intersection or may be running the
red light.
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Freeway Driving
Mile for mile, freeways (also called thruways, parkways,
expressways, turnpikes or superhighways) are the safest
of all roads. But they have their own special rules.
The most important advice
on freeway driving is: Keep
up with traffic and keep to the right. Drive at the same
speed most of the other drivers are driving. Too-fast
or
too-slow driving breaks a smooth traffic flow. Treat the
left lane on a freeway as a passing lane.
At the entrance, there is usually a ramp that leads to the
freeway.
If you have a clear view of the freeway as you
drive along the entrance ramp, you should begin to
check traffic. Try to determine where you expect to
blend with the flow. Try to merge into the gap at close to
the prevailing speed. Switch
on your turn signal, check
your mirrors and glance over your shoulder as often as
necessary. Try to blend smoothly
with the traffic flow.
Once you are on the freeway, adjust your speed
to the
posted limit or to the prevailing rate if it’s slower. Stay
in the right lane unless you want to pass.
Before changing lanes, check your mirrors. Then use
your turn signal.
Just before
you leave the lane, glance quickly over your
shoulder
to make sure there isn’t another vehicle in your
“blind” spot.
Once you are
moving on the freeway, make certain you
allow
a reasonable following distance. Expect to move
slightly slower at night.
When you want to leave the freeway. move to
the proper
lane well
in advance. If you miss your exit, do not,
under any circumstances, stop and back up. Drive on to
the next exit.
The exit ramp can be curved. sometimes quite sharply.
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You may see highway signs on mountains that warn
of special problems. Examples are long grades,
passing or no-passing zones,
a falling rocks area
or winding roads. Be alert
to these and take
appropriate action.
Winter Driving
Here are solne tips for winter driving:
Have your vehicle in good shape for winter.
You may want to put winter emergency supplies in
Tnclude an ice scraper, a small brush or broom, a supply
of windshield washer fluid, a rag, some winter outer
clothing,
a small shovel, a flashlight, a red cloth and
reflective warning triangles.
And, if you will be driving
under severe conditions, include a small bag
of sand, a
piece of old carpet or a couple of burlap bags to help
provide traction. Be sure
you properly secure these
your vehicle.
items
in your vehicle.
Driving on Snow or Ice
Most of the time, those places where your tires
road probably have
good traction.
However,
if there is snow or ice between your t
the road, you can have a very slippery situation meet the
ires and . You’ll
have a lot less traction or “,I-ip” and will need to be
very careful. -- -
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Snow can trap exhaust gases under your vehicle.
This can cause
deadly CO (carbon monoxide) gas
to get inside. CO could overcome
you and kill
you. You can’t see it
or smell it, so you might not
know it
is in your vehicle. Clear away snow from
around the base
of your vehicle, especially any
that is blocking your exhaust pipe. And check
around again from time to time to be sure snow
doesn’t collect there.
Open a window just
a little on the side of the
vehicle that’s away from the wind. This will help
keep
CO out.
Run your engine only as long as you must. This saves
fuel. When you
run the engine. make it go a little faster
than just idle. That is. push the accelerator slightly. This
uses less fuel for the heat that you get and
it keeps the
battery charged.
YOLI will need a well-charged battery to
restart the vehicle, and possibly for signaling later
on
with your headlamps. Let the heater run for a while.
Then, shut the engine off and close the window almost
all the way to preserve the heat. Start the engine again
and repeat this only when you feel really uncomfortable
from the cold.
But do it as little as possible. Preserve the
fuel
as long as you can. To help keep warm, you can get
out of the vehicle and do some fairly vigorous exercises
every half hour or
so until help comes.
Recreational Vehicle Towing
Vehicles with the electronic shift transfer case require
special modifications before they can be towed
in this
manner. Please contact your dealer
.for the towing
information that is appropriate
for yoc~r
particular vehicle.
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Trailer Wiring Harness
The heavy-duty trailer wiring is an eight-wire harness
assembly. The harness is stored under the vehicle, on the
driver’s side corner frame rear crossmember. The
heavy-duty trailer wiring has a 30-amp feed wire
with
an in-line fuse located by the junct.ion block. See “Fuses
and Circuit Breakers”
in the Index. The harness does not
have a cannector and should be wired by
a qualified
electrical technician. The technician can use the
following color code chart when connecting the wiring
harness
to your trailer.
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Dark Blue: Use for electric trailer brakes or
auxiliary wiring.
Red: Use for battery charging;
it connects to the
starter solenoid.
Light Green: Back-up lamps.
Brown: Taillamps and parking lamps.
Yellow: Left stoplamp and turn signal.
Dark Green: Right stoplamp
and turn signal.
White (Heavy Gage): Ground wire.
White (Light Gage): Auxiliary stoplamp.
Securely attach the harness to the trailer, then tape or
strap
it to your vehicle’s frame rail. Be sure you leave it
loose enough so the wiring doesn’t bend or break, but
not
so loose that it drags on the ground. Store the
harness
in its original place. Wrap the harness together
and tie
it neatly so it won’t be damaged.
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2. Get the vehicles close enough so the jumper cables
can reach, but be sure
the vehicles aren’t touching
each other.
If they are, it could cause a ground
connection you don’t want.
You wouldn’t be able to
start your vehicle, and the bad grounding could
damage
the electrical systems.
To avoid the possibility of the vehicles rolling, set
the parking brake firmly on each vehicle. Put your
vehicle
in PARK (P).
3. Turn off the ignition on both vehicles. Unplug
unnecessary accessories plugged into the cigarette
lighter or the accessory power outlets. Turn
off all
lamps that aren’t needed as well as radios. This will
avoid sparks and help save both batteries. In
addition, it could save your radio!
NOTICE:
If you leave your radio on, it could be badly
damaged. The repair wouldn’t be covered by
your warranty.
L
4. Open both hoods and locate the batteries. Find the
positive
(+) and negative (-) terminals on
each battery.
A
Using a match near a battery can cause battery
gas to explode. People have been hurt doing this,
and some have been blinded. Use
a flashlight if
you need more light.
Be sure the battery has enough water.
You don’t
need
to add water to the ACDelco Freedom’
battery installed in every new
GM vehicle. But if
a battery has filler caps, be sure the right amount
of fluid is there. If it is low, add water to take care
of that first. If you don’t, explosive gas could
be present.
Battery fluid contains acid that can burn you.
Don’t get it
on you. If you accidentally get it in
your eyes or on your skin, flush the place with
water and get medical help immediately.
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Rocking Your Vehicle To Get It Out
First, turn your steering wheel left and right. That will
clear
the area around your front wheels. Shift the transfer
case into
4HI. 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.
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 you do need to be towed out, see
“Towing Your Vehicle”
in the Index.
Using the Recovery Hooks
Your vehicle is equipped with recovery hooks. The
recovery hooks are provided at the front
of your vehicle.
You may need
to use them if you’re stuck off-road
and need
to be pulled to some place where you can
continue driving.
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