GMC SIERRA 2004 Owner's Manual

SRC (Source):Press this button to select an audio
source: radio, cassette tapes, CDs, or DVDs, depending
on your vehicles options.
xSEEKw:While listening to FM1, FM2, or AM,
press the up or the down arrow to tune to the next or to
the previous station and stay there. If the front radio
is in use, you cannot seek through different stations.
While listening to a cassette tape, press the up or
the down arrow to hear the next or the previous
selection. If the cassette tape on the front radio is in
use, you cannot seek through different selections
on a tape.
While listening to a CD, press the up arrow to hear the
next track on the CD. Press the down arrow to go
back to the start of the current track if more than eight
seconds have played. If the CD player on the front radio
is in use, you cannot seek through different tracks.PROG (Program):The front passengers must be
listening to something different for each of these
functions to work:·Press this button to go to the preset radio stations
set on the pushbuttons on the main radio.
·When a cassette tape is playing, press this button
to go to the other side of the tape.
·When a CD is playing in the radio, press this button
to go back to the beginning of the CD.
·When a CD is playing in the CD changer, press this
button to select the next CD.
Theft-Deterrent Feature
THEFTLOCKžis designed to discourage theft of your
radio. The feature works automatically by learning
a portion of the Vehicle Identi®cation Number (VIN). If
the radio is moved to a different vehicle, it will not
operate and LOCKED will appear on the display.
When the radio and vehicle are turned off, the blinking
red light indicates that THEFTLOCK
žis armed.
With THEFTLOCK
žactivated, your radio will not operate
if stolen.
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Audio Steering Wheel Controls
You can control certain radio functions using the buttons
on your steering wheel.
g(OnStar/Voice Recognition):If your vehicle has
OnStarž, you can press this button to interact with
the OnStaržsystem. See the OnStaržmanual provided
with your vehicle for more information.
If your vehicle does not have OnStar
ž, pressing this
button will mute the audio system.PROG (Program):Press this button to play a station
you have programmed on the radio preset pushbuttons
on the selected band.
If a cassette tape is playing, press this button to play
the other side of the tape.
If a CD is playing in the CD changer, press this button
to go to the next available CD.
QSOURCER:Press this button to select FM1,
FM2, AM, or XM1 or XM2, (48 contiguous US states, if
equipped), or a cassette tape or CD. The cassette
or CD must be loaded to play. Available loaded sources
are shown on the display as a tape or a CD symbol.
QSEEKR:Press the up or the down arrow to go to
the next or to the previous radio station and stay
there.
If a cassette tape or CD is playing, the player will
advance with the up arrow and reverse with the down
arrow.
QVOLR(Volume):Press the up or the down arrow
to increase or to decrease volume.
3-128

DVD Distortion
You may experience audio distortion in the
IR headphones when operating cellular phones,
scanners, CB radios, Global Positioning Systems
(GPS)*, two-way radios, mobile fax, or walkie talkies.
It may be necessary to turn off the DVD player
when operating one of these devices in or near the
vehicle.
* Excludes the OnStar
žSystem.
Radio Reception
AM
The range for most AM stations is greater than for FM,
especially at night. The longer range, however, can
cause stations to interfere with each other. AM can pick
up noise from things like storms and power lines. Try
reducing the treble to reduce this noise.
FM Stereo
FM stereo will give you the best sound, but FM signals
will reach only about 10 to 40 miles (16 to 65 km).
Tall buildings or hills can interfere with FM signals,
causing the sound to come and go.
XMŸ Satellite Radio Service
(48 Contiguous US States)
XMŸ Satellite Radio gives you digital radio reception
from coast to coast. Just as with FM, tall buildings
or hills can interfere with satellite radio signals, causing
the sound to come and go. Your radio may display
NO SIGNAL to indicate interference.
Care of Your Cassette Tape Player
A tape player that is not cleaned regularly can cause
reduced sound quality, ruined cassettes, or a damaged
mechanism. Cassette tapes should be stored in their
cases away from contaminants, direct sunlight, and
extreme heat. If they are not, they may not operate
properly or may cause failure of the tape player.
Your tape player should be cleaned regularly after every
50 hours of use. Your radio may display CLEAN to
indicate that you have used your tape player for
50 hours without resetting the tape clean timer. If this
message appears on the display, your cassette
tape player needs to be cleaned. It will still play tapes,
but you should clean it as soon as possible to
prevent damage to your tapes and player. If you notice
a reduction in sound quality, try a known good
cassette to see if the tape or the tape player is at fault.
If this other cassette has no improvement in sound
quality, clean the tape player.
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For best results, use a scrubbing action, non-abrasive
cleaning cassette with pads which scrub the tape
head as the hubs of the cleaner cassette turn. The
recommended cleaning cassette is available through
your dealer.
When cleaning the cassette tape player with the
recommended non-abrasive cleaning cassette, it is
possible that the cassette may eject, because the cut
tape detection feature on your radio may recognize it as
a broken tape, in error. To prevent the cleaning
cassette from being ejected, use the following steps:
1. Turn the ignition on.
2. Turn the radio off.
3. Press and hold the TAPE DISC button for ®ve
seconds. READY will appear on the display and
the cassette symbol will ¯ash for ®ve seconds.
4. Insert the scrubbing action cleaning cassette.
5. Eject the cleaning cassette after the manufacturer's
recommended cleaning time.
When the cleaning cassette has been ejected, the cut
tape detection feature is active again.
You may also choose a non-scrubbing action, wet-type
cleaner which uses a cassette with a fabric belt to
clean the tape head. This type of cleaning cassette will
not eject on its own. A non-scrubbing action cleanermay not clean as thoroughly as the scrubbing type
cleaner. The use of a non-scrubbing action, dry-type
cleaning cassette is not recommended.
After you clean the player, press and hold the eject
button for ®ve seconds to reset the CLEAN indicator.
The radio will display --- or CLEANED to show the
indicator was reset.
Cassettes are subject to wear and the sound quality
may degrade over time. Always make sure the cassette
tape is in good condition before you have your tape
player serviced.
Care of Your CDs and DVDs
Handle discs carefully. Store them in their original cases
or other protective cases and away from direct sunlight
and dust. If the surface of a disc is soiled, dampen
a clean, soft cloth in a mild, neutral detergent solution
and clean it, wiping from the center to the edge.
Be sure never to touch the side without writing when
handling discs. Pick up discs by grasping the outer
edges or the edge of the hole and the outer edge.
3-130

Care of Your CD and DVD Player
The use of CD lens cleaner discs is not advised, due to
the risk of contaminating the lens of the CD optics
with lubricants internal to the CD mechanism.
Cleaning the Video Screen
Pour some isopropyl or rubbing alcohol on a clean cloth
and gently wipe the video screen. Do not spray
directly onto the screen and do not press too hard or
too long on the video screen.
Fixed Mast Antenna
The ®xed mast antenna can withstand most car washes
without being damaged. If the mast should ever
become slightly bent, you can straighten it out by hand.
If the mast is badly bent, as it might be by vandals,
you should replace it.
Check occasionally to be sure the mast is still tightened
to the cowl. If tightening is required, tighten by hand,
then with a wrench one quarter turn.
XMŸ Satellite Radio Antenna
System (48 Contiguous US States)
Your XMŸ Satellite Radio antenna is located on the roof
of your vehicle. Keep this antenna clear of snow and
ice build up for clear radio reception.
Chime Level Adjustment
The radio is the vehicle chime producer. To change the
volume level, press and hold pushbutton 6 with the
ignition on and the radio power off. The chime volume
level will change from the normal level to loud, and LOUD
will appear on the display. To change back to the default
or normal setting, press and hold pushbutton 6 again.
The chime level will change from the loud level to normal,
and NORMAL will appear on the display. Each time the
chime volume is changed, three chimes will sound as an
example of the new volume selected. Removing the radio
and not replacing it with a factory radio or chime module
will disable vehicle chimes.
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-NOTES
3-132

Your Driving, the Road, and Your Vehicle..........4-2
Defensive Driving...........................................4-2
Drunken Driving.............................................4-2
Control of a Vehicle........................................4-5
Braking.........................................................4-6
Traction Assist System (TAS)...........................4-9
Manual Selectable Ride.................................4-11
Locking Rear Axle........................................4-12
Steering......................................................4-12
QUADRASTEERŸ........................................4-14
Off-Road Recovery.......................................4-17
Passing.......................................................4-17
Loss of Control.............................................4-18
Off-Road Driving with Your Four-Wheel-Drive
Vehicle....................................................4-20
Driving at Night............................................4-37
Driving in Rain and on Wet Roads..................4-39
City Driving..................................................4-42Freeway Driving...........................................4-43
Before Leaving on a Long Trip.......................4-44
Highway Hypnosis........................................4-44
Hill and Mountain Roads................................4-45
Winter Driving..............................................4-47
If You Are Stuck: In Sand, Mud, Ice or Snow . . .4-51
Towing..........................................................4-53
Towing Your Vehicle.....................................4-53
Recreational Vehicle Towing...........................4-54
Loading Your Vehicle....................................4-57
Adding a Snow Plow or Similar Equipment.......4-64
Truck-Camper Loading Information..................4-68
Trailer Recommendations...............................4-70
Pickup Conversion to Chassis Cab..................4-70
Towing a Trailer...........................................4-70
Power Take-Off (PTO).................................4-101
Section 4 Driving Your Vehicle
4-1

Your Driving, the Road, and
Your Vehicle
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: They Are for
Everyone on page 1-11.
Defensive driving really means ªbe ready for anything.º
On city streets, rural roads or freeways, it means
ªalways expect the unexpected.º
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 is 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 Ð such as concentrating on a cellular telephone call,
reading, or reaching for something on the ¯oor Ð makesproper 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.
Drunken Driving
Death and injury associated with drinking and driving is
a national tragedy. It is the number one contributor
to the highway death toll, claiming thousands of victims
every year.
Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drive a
vehicle:
·Judgment
·Muscular Coordination
·Vision
·Attentiveness.
Police records show that almost half of all motor
vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol. In most cases,
these deaths are the result of someone who was
drinking and driving. In recent years, more than
16,000 annual motor vehicle-related deaths have been
associated with the use of alcohol, with more than
300,000 people injured.
4-2

Many adults Ð by some estimates, nearly half the adult
population Ð choose never to drink alcohol, so they
never drive after drinking. For persons under 21,
it is against the law in every U.S. state to drink alcohol.
There are good medical, psychological and
developmental reasons for these laws.
The obvious way to eliminate the leading highway
safety problem is for people never to drink alcohol and
then drive. But what if people do? How much is ªtoo
muchº if someone plans to drive? It is a lot less
than many might think. Although it depends on each
person and situation, here is some general information
on the problem.
The Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of someone
who is drinking depends upon four things:
·The amount of alcohol consumed
·The drinker's body weight
·The amount of food that is consumed before and
during drinking
·The length of time it has taken the drinker to
consume the alcohol.
According to the American Medical Association, a 180 lb
(82 kg) person who drinks three 12 ounce (355 ml)
bottles of beer in an hour will end up with a BAC
of about 0.06 percent. The person would reach thesame BAC by drinking three 4 ounce (120 ml) glasses
of wine or three mixed drinks if each had 1-1/2 ounces
(45 ml) of liquors like whiskey, gin or vodka.
It is the amount of alcohol that counts. For example, if
the same person drank three double martinis (3 ounces
or 90 ml of liquor each) within an hour, the person's
BAC would be close to 0.12 percent. A person
who consumes food just before or during drinking will
have a somewhat lower BAC level.
4-3

There is a gender difference, too. Women generally
have a lower relative percentage of body water
than men. Since alcohol is carried in body water, this
means that a woman generally will reach a higher BAC
level than a man of her same body weight will when
each has the same number of drinks.
The law in an increasing number of U.S. states, and
throughout Canada, sets the legal limit at 0.08 percent.
In some other countries, the limit is even lower. For
example, it is 0.05 percent in both France and Germany.
The BAC limit for all commercial drivers in the United
States is 0.04 percent.
The BAC will be over 0.10 percent after three to six
drinks (in one hour). Of course, as we have seen,
it depends on how much alcohol is in the drinks, and
how quickly the person drinks them.
But the ability to drive is affected well below a BAC of
0.10 percent. Research shows that the driving skills
of many people are impaired at a BAC approaching
0.05 percent, and that the effects are worse at night. All
drivers are impaired at BAC levels above 0.05 percent.
Statistics show that the chance of being in a collision
increases sharply for drivers who have a BAC of
0.05 percent or above. A driver with a BAC level of
0.06 percent has doubled his or her chance of having a
collision. At a BAC level of 0.10 percent, the chance
of this driver having a collision is 12 times greater; at a
level of 0.15 percent, the chance is 25 times greater!The body takes about an hour to rid itself of the alcohol
in one drink. No amount of coffee or number of cold
showers will speed that up. ªI will be carefulº is not the
right answer. What if there is 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 is something else about drinking and driving that
many people do not 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 Ð driver or passenger Ð is in a crash,
that person's chance of being killed or permanently
disabled is higher than if the person had not been
drinking.
4-4