tow GMC SAVANA 1996 Owner's Guide

When You Are Ready to Leave After
Parking
on a Hill
1. Apply your regular brakes and hold the pedal down
while you:
Start your engine:
Shift into a gear: and
Release the parking brake.
2. Let up on the brake pedal.
3. Drive slowly until the trailer is clear of the chocks.
4. Stop and have someone pick up and store the chocks.
Maintenance When Trailer Towing
Your vehicle will need service more often when you’re
pulling a trailer. See the Maintenance Schedule for more
on this. Things that are especially important
in trailer
operation are automatic transmission
fluid (don’t
overfill), engine oil, axle lubricant, belt, cooling system
and brake adjustment. Each
of these is covered in this
manual, and the Index will help
you find them quickly.
If you‘re trailering, it‘s a good idea to review these
sections before you start your trip.
Check periodically to see that
all hitch nuts and bolts
are tight.
Trailer Wiring Harness
The eight-wire harness, if you have one, is stored under
your vehicle along the rear frame crossmember.
It is
wrapped and bound with a plastic strap. The harness has
a 30-anlp battery feed and no connector, and you should
have a qualified electrical service person wire your
harness for you. 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.
The five-wire harness,
if you have one, is stored inside
the vehicle at the passenger side rear corner, behind the
jack. This should be wired by a qualified electrical
service person. It must be routed out
of your vehicle
between the rear door and the floor,
with enough of the
harness left on both sides
so that the trailer or the body
won’t pull
it.
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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12. Remove the cables in reverse order to prevent
electrical shorting. Take care
that they don’t touch
each other or any other metal.
A
A. Engine Block, Frame, Heavy Metal Engine Part
B. Good Battery
C. Dead Battery
Towing Your Vehicle
Try to have your GM dealer or a professional towing
service tow your vehicle. They
can provide the right
equipment and know how to tow it without damage. See
“Roadside Assistance” in your Index.
If your vehicle has been changed since it was
factory-new, by adding things like fog lamps, aero
skirting, or special tires and wheels, these things could
be damaged during towing.
Before
you do anything, turn on the hazard
warning flashers.
When you call, tell the towing service:
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That your vehicle has rear wheel drive.
The make, model and year of your vehicle.
Whether you can move the shift lever for
the transmission.
If there was an accident, what was damaged.
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A CAUTION: A CAUTION:
To help avoid injury to you or others:
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Never let passengers ride in a vehicle that is
being towed.
Never tow faster than safe or posted speeds.
Never tow with damaged parts not
fully secured.
Never get under your vehicle after it has
been lifted by the tow truck.
Always use separate safety chains on each
side when towing
a vehicle.
When your vehicle is being towed, have the ignition
key’off. The steering wheel should be clamped in a
straight-ahead position, with a clamping device
designed
for towing service. Do not use the vehicle’s
steering column lock for this. The transmission should
be in
NEUTRAL (N) and the parking brake should
be released.
A vehicle can fall from a car carrier if it isn’t
adequately secured. This can cause
a collision,
serious personal injury and vehicle damage. The
vehicle should be tightly secured with chains or
steel cables before it is transported.
Don’t use substitutes (ropes, leather straps,
canvas webbing, etc.) that can be cut by sharp
edges underneath the towed vehicle.
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FroF Towing
A towlng dolly must be used under the drive wheels
when towing
from the front.
Tow Limits -- 35 mph (56 kh), SO miles (80 km)
NOTICE:
Do not tow with sling-type equipment or the
front bumper system will be damaged. Use
wheel-lift or car-carrier equipment. Additional
ramping may be required for car-carrier
equipment. Use safety chains and wheel straps.
Towing a vehicle over rough surfaces could
damage a vehicle or wheel-lift equipment.
To help avoid damage, install a towing dolly
and raise the vehicle until adequate clearance
is obtained between the ground and/or
wheel-lift equipment.
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Rear Towing
NOTICE:
Do not tow the vehicle from the rear with
loads approaching rated
GVW as the weight
transfer will cause the front suspension to
become overloaded.
NOTICE:
Do not tow with the sling-type equipment or the
rear bumper will be damaged. Use wheel-lift or
car-carrier equipment. Additional ramping may
be required for car-carrier equipment. Use safety
chains and wheel straps.
Towing
a vehicle over rough surfaces could
damage a vehicle.
To help avoid damage, install a
towing dolly and raise the vehicle until adequate
clearance is obtained between the ground and/or
wheel-lift equipment.
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If No Steam Is Coming From Your Engine
If you get the overheat warning but see or hear no
steam, the problem may not be too serious. Sometimes
the engine can get a little too hot when you:
Climb a long hill on a hot day.
Stop after high-speed driving.
Idle for long periods in traffic.
Tow a trailer. See “Driving on Grades’’ in the Index.
If you get
the overheat warning with no sign of steam,
try this for a minute or
so:
1. If you have an air conditioner, turn it off.
2. Turn on your heater to full hot at the highest fan
speed and open the window as necessary.
3. If you’re in a traffic jam, shift to NEUTRAL (N);
otherwise, shift to the highest gear while
driving
-- DRIVE (D).
If you no longer have the overheat warning, you can
drive. Just to be safe, drive slower for about
10 minutes.
If the warning doesn’t come back on, you can
drive normally.
If the warning continues, pull over, stop, and park your
vehicle right away.
If there’s still no sign of steam, you can idle the engine
for two or three minutes while you’re parked, to push
the accelerator
until the engine speed is about twice as
fast as normal idle speed. Bring the engine speed back to
normal idle speed after two or three minutes. Now see if
the warning stops. But then, if you still have the
warning,
tLtrn off the engine atzd get everyone out ofthe
vehicle until it cools down.
You may decide not
to lift the hood but to get service
help right away.
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Under heavy vehicle loading, trailer towing andor high
outside temperatures, the fan speed increases as
the clutch
more fully engages.
So you may hear an increase in fan
noise. This is normal and should
not be mistaken as the
transmission slipping or making extra shifts. It is merely
the cooling system functioning properly. The fan will
the clutch partially disengages.
- slow down when additional cooling is not required and
8. Then replace the pressure cap. At any time during
this procedure
if coolant begins to flow out of the
filler neck, reinstall the pressure cap. Be sure the
arrows on
the pressure cap line up like this.
You may also hear this fan noise when you start
the engine.
It will go away as the fan clutch
partially disengages.
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If a Tire Goes Flat
It’s unusual for a tire to “blow out” while you’re driving,
especially
if you maintain your tires properly. If air goes
out of a tire, it’s much more likely
to leak out slowly.
But
if you should ever have a “blowout,” here are a few
tips about what to expect and what to do:
If a front tire fails, the flat tire will create a drag that
pulls the vehicle toward that side. Take
your foot off the
accelerator pedal and grip the st.eering wheel firmly.
Steer to maintain lane position, and then gently brake to
a stop well out of the traffic lane.
A rear blowout, particularly on a curve, acts much like a
skid and may require the same correction you’d use in a
skid.
In any rear blowout, remove your foot from the
accelerator pedal. Get the vehicle under control
by
steering the way you want the vehicle to go. It may be
very bumpy and noisy, but you can still steer. Gently
brake to
a stop -- well off the road if possible.
If a tire goes flat, the next part shows how to use your
jacking equipment to change a
flat tire safely.
Changing a Flat Tire
If a tire goes flat, avoid further tire and wheel damage
by driving slowly to
a level place. Turn on your hazard
warning flashers.
Changing a tire can cause an injury. The vehicle
can slip off the jack and roll over you or other
people. You and they could be badly injured.
Find a level place
to change your tire. To help
prevent the vehicle from moving:
1. Set the parking brake firmly.
2. Put the shift lever in PARK (P).
3. Turn off the engine.
To be even more certain the vehicle won’t move,
you can put blocks at the front and rear of the
tire farthest away from the one being changed.
That would be the tire on the other side of the
vehicle, at the opposite end.
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NOTICE:
Never remove or restore a tire frodto a stowage
position under the vehicle while the vehicle
is
supported by a jack. Always tighten the tire
fully against the underside of the vehicle
when restowing
If you have a vehicle which was completed from a cab
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A flat rear tire reduces clearance to remove the spare
tire. If there is less than 12 inches
(30.48 cm) between
the ground and
the rear bumper or any trailer hitch, jack
up the vehicle until the flat tire is off the ground.
(See “Removing the Flat Tire” and “Installing the
Spare Tire,” Steps
4 through 8, in this section.)
Unless your vehicle has a flat rear tire,
do not remove or
restore a tire from/to
a stowage position under the
vehicle while the vehicle is supported by a jack. Always
tighten the tire
fully against the underside of the vehicle
when restowing. and
chassis, refer
to the information from the body
supplier/installer.
The spare tire is
a full size tire, like the other tires on
your vehicle.
For cargo vans, the jack
is secured
in the rear
passenger side corner
of the vehicle.
Remove the retaining wing bolt and
lift it off the
mounting bracket. Set the jack and jacking equipment
near the
flat tire.
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6. Remove all the wheel
nuts, and take
off the
flat tire.
7. Remove any rust or dirt
from the wheel bolts,
mounting surfaces and
spare wheel.
I
A C it 'ION:
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Rust or dirt on the wheel, or on the parts to
which it is fastened, can make the wheel nuts
become loose after a time. The wheel could come'
off and cause an accident. When you change
a
wheel, remove any rust or dirt from the places
where the wheel attaches to the vehicle. In an
emergency, you can use
a cloth or a paper towel
to do this; but be,sure to use
a scraper or wire
brush later, if you need to, to get all the rust or
dirt off.
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A CAUTION:
7
Never use oil or g;,ase on studs or nuts. If you
do, the nuts might come
loose. Your wheel could
fall
off, causing a serious accident.
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