ignition Oldsmobile Alero 2004 s Owner's Guide

Low Coolant Warning Light
This light comes on
briefly when you turn your
ignition on.
If this light comes on and stays on and you hear a
chime, the coolant level in your vehicle is low.
SeeEngine Coolant on page 5-23. If the light is on
along with an overheat warning, you may have a serious
overheating problem. SeeEngine Coolant Temperature
Gage on page 3-31listed previously.
Notice:If you operate the engine without coolant
or fail to maintain the cooling system properly,
you could damage the engine. The repairs would not
be covered by your warranty. Always follow the
maintenance schedule in this manual for
maintaining your cooling system. SeeCooling
System on page 5-29for more information.
SeeEngine Overheating on page 5-26for information
on what to do. Your vehicle should be serviced as soon
as possible.
Malfunction Indicator Lamp
Service Engine Soon Light in the
United States or Check Engine Light in
Canada
Your vehicle is equipped with a computer which
monitors operation of the fuel, ignition and emission
control systems.
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This system is called OBD II (On-Board
Diagnostics-Second Generation) and is intended to
assure that emissions are at acceptable levels for the life
of the vehicle, helping to produce a cleaner environment.
The SERVICE ENGINE SOON or CHECK ENGINE light
comes on to indicate that there is a problem and service
is required. Malfunctions often will be indicated by the
system before any problem is apparent. This may prevent
more serious damage to your vehicle. This system is also
designed to assist your service technician in correctly
diagnosing any malfunction.
Notice:If you keep driving your vehicle with this
light on, after a while, your emission controls may
not work as well, your fuel economy may not be as
good and your engine may not run as smoothly. This
could lead to costly repairs that may not be covered
by your warranty.
Notice:Modications made to the engine, transaxle,
exhaust, intake or fuel system of your vehicle or the
replacement of the original tires with other than those
of the same Tire Performance Criteria (TPC) can
affect your vehicle’s emission controls and may
cause this light to come on. Modications to these
systems could lead to costly repairs not covered by
your warranty. This may also result in a failure to
pass a required Emission Inspection/
Maintenance test.This light should come on, as a check to show you it is
working, when the ignition is on and the engine is
not running. If the light does not come on, have it
repaired. This light will also come on during a
malfunction in one of two ways:
•Light Flashing— A misfire condition has been
detected. A misfire increases vehicle emissions
and may damage the emission control system on
your vehicle. Diagnosis and service may be
required.
•Light On Steady— An emission control system
malfunction has been detected on your vehicle.
Diagnosis and service may be required.
If the Light Is Flashing
The following may prevent more serious damage to
your vehicle:
•Reducing vehicle speed.
•Avoiding hard accelerations.
•Avoiding steep uphill grades.
•If you are towing a trailer, reduce the amount of
cargo being hauled as soon as it is possible.
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When the ignition is on but the engine is not running,
the light will come on as a test to show you it is working,
but the light will go out when the engine is running. If
it doesn’t come on with the ignition on, you may have a
problem with the bulb. Have it fixed right away.
{CAUTION:
Do not keep driving if the oil pressure is low. If
you do, your engine can become so hot that it
catches re. You or others could be burned.
Check your oil as soon as possible and have
your vehicle serviced.
Notice:Lack of proper engine oil maintenance may
damage the engine. The repairs would not be
covered by your warranty. Always follow the
maintenance schedule in this manual for changing
engine oil.
Change Engine Oil Light
The CHANGE OIL light
should come on briefly as
a bulb check when you
start the engine. If the light
doesn’t come on, have it
serviced.
If the CHANGE OIL light comes on and stays on after
you start the engine, have the oil changed.
To reset the CHANGE OIL light, seeEngine Oil on
page 5-15.
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Security Light
This light will come on
when you turn the key to
ON and will stay on
until the vehicle starts.
If you’re driving and the security light comes on and
remains on, your Passlock
®system is not working
properly. Your vehicle is not protected by Passlock®
and you should see your dealer.
Cruise Control Light
The CRUISE light comes
on whenever you set your
cruise control, if equipped.
Low Washer Fluid Warning Light
This light will come on briefly when you turn on the
ignition. It will also stay on, or come on and a chime will
sound, if the windshield washer fluid reservoir is less
than one-third full.
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Service Vehicle Soon Light
This light will come on
briefly when you turn the
ignition to ON.
It will stay on, or come on and a chime will sound if it
detects a problem on the vehicle, such as a Daytime
Running Lamps (DRL) or an automatic headlamp
system malfunction. If this happens, see your dealer as
soon as possible.
Fuel Gage
Your fuel gage tells you about how much fuel you have
left, when the ignition is on. When the indicator nears
empty, the light will come on and you will hear a chime.
You still have a little fuel left, but you should get
more soon.
Here are four things that some owners ask about. None
of these show a problem with your fuel gage:
•At the service station, the gas pump shuts off
before the gage reads full.
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•It takes a little more or less fuel to fill up than the
gage indicated. For example, the gage may have
indicated the tank was half full, but it actually took a
little more or less than half the tank’s capacity to
fill the tank.
•The indicator moves a little when you turn a corner
or speed up.
•The gage goes back to empty when you turn off the
ignition.
Audio System(s)
Notice:Before you add any sound equipment to
your vehicle – like a tape player, CB radio, mobile
telephone or two-way radio – be sure you can add
what you want. If you can, it’s very important to do it
properly. Added sound equipment may interfere with
the operation of your vehicle’s engine, radio or other
systems, and even damage them. Your vehicle’s
systems may interfere with the operation of sound
equipment that has been added improperly.
So, before adding sound equipment, check with
your dealer and be sure to check federal rules
covering mobile radio and telephone units.Your audio system has been designed to operate easily
and to give years of listening pleasure. You will get
the most enjoyment out of it if you acquaint yourself with
it first. Figure out which radio you have in your vehicle,
find out what your audio system can do and how to
operate all of its controls to be sure you’re getting the
most out of the advanced engineering that went into it.
Your vehicle has a feature called Retained Accessory
Power (RAP). With RAP, you can play your audio
system even after the ignition is turned off. See
“Retained Accessory Power (RAP)” underIgnition
Positions on page 2-17.Setting the Time for Radios without
Radio Data Systems (RDS)
Press and hold the HR or MIN arrow for two seconds.
Then press the HR arrow until the correct hour appears
on the display. Press and hold the MIN arrow until
the correct minute appears on the display. The time may
be set with the ignition on or off.
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Setting the Time for Radios with
Radio Data Systems (RDS)
Press and hold HR or MN for two seconds. Then press
and hold HR until the correct hour appears on the
display. AM or PM will appear on the display for morning
and evening hours. Press and hold MN until the
correct minute appears on the display. The time may be
set with the ignition on or off.
To synchronize the time with an FM station broadcasting
Radio Data System (RDS) information, press and
hold HR and MN at the same time for two seconds until
UPDATED appears on the display. If the time is not
available from the station, NO UPDATE will appear on
the display.
RDS time is broadcast once a minute. Once you have
tuned to an RDS broadcast station, it may take a
few minutes for your time to update.
Radio with CD (Base Level)
Playing the Radio
PWR (Power):Press this knob to turn the system on
and off.
VOL (Volume):Turn this knob to increase or to
decrease volume.
RCL (Recall):Press this knob to switch the display
between the radio station frequency and the time. Time
display is available with the ignition turned off.
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To adjust both tone controls and both speaker controls
to the middle position, first end out of audio mode
by pressing another button, causing the radio to perform
that function, or by waiting five seconds for the display
to return to the time of day. Then press and hold
the AUDIO button for more than two seconds until you
hear a beep. CEN will appear on the display.
Adjusting the Speakers (Balance/Fade)
AUDIO:To adjust the balance between the right
and the left speakers, press and release the AUDIO
button until BAL appears on the display. Then press and
hold the up or the down arrow to move the sound
toward the right or the left speakers.
To adjust the fade between the front and the rear
speakers, press and release the AUDIO button until
FAD appears on the display. Then press and hold the up
or the down arrow to move the sound toward the front
or the rear speakers.
To adjust balance or fade to the middle position, select
BAL or FAD. Then press and hold AUDIO for more
than two seconds until you hear a beep. L and a zero
or F and a zero will appear on the display.To adjust both tone controls and both speaker controls to
the middle position, first end out of audio mode by
pressing another button, causing the radio to perform that
function, or by waiting five seconds for the display to
return to the time of day. Then press and hold AUDIO for
more than two seconds until you hear a beep. CEN will
appear on the display.
Radio Messages
CAL (Calibration):Your audio system has been
calibrated for your vehicle from the factory. If CAL
appears on the display it means that your radio has not
been configured properly for your vehicle and must
be returned to the dealer for service.
Playing a CD
With the ignition on, insert a CD partway into the slot,
label side up. The player will pull it in and the CD should
begin playing. CD will appear on the display. If you
want to insert a CD with the ignition off, first press the
eject button or the RCL knob.
If you turn off the ignition or radio with a CD in the
player, it will stay in the player. When you turn on the
ignition or the radio, the CD will start playing where
it stopped, if it was the last selected audio source.
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oSEEKp:Press the right or the left arrow to go to
the next or to the previous track. The track number
will appear on the display.
RCL (Recall):Press this knob to see the current track
number or how long the current track has been
playing.
AM FM:Press this button to listen to the radio when a
CD is playing. The inactive CD will remain safely
inside the radio for future listening.
CD:Press this button to play a CD when listening to
the radio. CD will appear on the display.
Z(Eject):Press this button to eject a CD. Eject may
be activated with either the ignition or radio off. CDs
may be loaded with the radio and ignition off if this
button is pressed first.
CD Messages
If the CD comes out, it could be for one of the following
reasons:
•It is very hot. When the temperature returns to
normal, the CD should play.
•You are driving on a very rough road. When the
road becomes smoother, the CD should play.
•The CD is dirty, scratched, wet, or upside down.
•The air is very humid. If so, wait about an hour and
try again.
•There may have been a problem while burning
the CD.
•The label may be caught in the CD player.
If the CD is not playing correctly, for any other reason,
try a known good CD.
If any error occurs repeatedly or if an error cannot be
corrected, contact your dealer.
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SCV (Speed-Compensated Volume):With SCV, your
audio system adjusts automatically to make up for
road and wind noise as you drive.
Set the volume at the desired level. Press this button to
select MIN, MED, or MAX. Each higher setting allows for
more volume compensation at faster vehicle speeds.
Then, as you drive, SCV automatically increases the
volume, as necessary, to overcome noise at any speed.
The volume level should always sound the same to you
as you drive. If you don’t want to use SCV, select OFF.
RCL (Recall):Press this knob to switch the display
between the radio station frequency and the time.
Pressing this knob with the ignition off will display
the time.
For XM™ (48 contiguous US states, if equipped), press
the RCL knob while in XM™ mode to retrieve four
different categories of information related to the current
song or channel: Artist, Song Title, Category or PTY,
Channel Number/Channel Name.To change the default on the display, press the RCL knob
until you see the display you want, then hold the knob
until the display flashes. The selected display will now be
the default.
Finding a Station
BAND:Press this button to switch between FM1, FM2,
AM, or XM1 or XM2 (48 contiguous US states, if
equipped). The display will show your selection.
TUNE:Turn this knob to select radio stations.
SSEEKT:Press the right or the left arrow to go to
the next or to the previous station and stay there.
The radio will seek only to stations that are in the
selected band and only to those with a strong signal.
SSCANT:Press and hold either arrow for two
seconds until SC appears on the display and you hear a
beep. The radio will go to a station, play for a few
seconds, then go on to the next station. Press either
arrow again to stop scanning.
To scan preset stations, press and hold either SCAN
arrow for more than four seconds until PRESET SCAN
appears on the display. You will hear a double beep and
the P will blink with the preset number. The radio will go
to the first preset station stored on your pushbuttons, play
for a few seconds, then go on to the next preset station.
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