Oldsmobile Aurora 1997 Owner's Manuals

Malfunction Indicator Lamp
(Service Engine
Soon Light)
SERVICE
ENGINE SOON
Your Aurora is equipped
with a computer which
monitors operation of the
fuel, ignition and emission
control systems.
This system is called OBD
I1 (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.
(In Canada, OBD I1 is replaced by
Enhanced Diagnostics.) The
SERVICE ENGINE SOON
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.
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 doesn’t come on, have it repaired.
This light will also come on during a malfunction in one
of two ways:
a
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Light Flashing -- A misfire condition has been
detected. A misfire increases vehicle emissions and
may damage the emission control system on your
vehicle. Retailer or qualified service center diagnosis
and service is required.
Light On Steady -- An emission control system
malfunction has been detected on your vehicle.
Retailer or qualified service center diagnosis and
service may be required.

If the Light Is Flashing If the Light Is On Steady
The following may prevent more serious damage to
your vehicle:
Reducing vehicle speed.
Avoiding hard accelerations.
0 Avoiding steep uphill grades.
If you are towing a trailer, reduce the amount of
cargo being hauled as soon as it is possible.
If the light stops flashing and remains on steady, see “If
the Light Is On Steady” following.
If the light continues to flash, when it is safe to do so,
stop the vehicle. Find a safe place to park your vehicle.
Turn the key
off, wait at least 10 seconds and restart the
engine.
If the light remains on steady, see “If the Light
Is On Steady” following. If the light is still flashing,
follow the previous steps, and drive the vehicle to your
retailer or qualified service center for service.
You may be able to correct the emission system
malfunction by considering the following:
Did
you just drive through a deep puddle of water?
If so, your electrical system may be wet. The condition
will usually be corrected when the electrical system
dries out. A few driving trips should
turn the light off.
Are you low on fuel?
As your engine starts to run out of fuel, your engine may
not run as efficiently as designed since small amounts of
air are sucked into the
fuel line causing a misfire. The
system can detect this. Adding fuel should correct this
condition. Make sure to install the fuel cap properly. It
will take a few driving trips to turn the light off.
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Have you recently changed brands of fuel?
If so, be sure to fuel your vehicle with quality fuel (see
“Fuel” in the Index). Poor fuel quality will cause your
engine not to run as efficiently as designed. You may
notice this as stalling after start-up, stalling when you
put the vehicle into gear, misfiring, hesitation on
acceleration
or stumbling on acceleration. (These
conditions may go away once the engine is warmed up.)
This will be detected by the system and cause the light
to turn on.
If you experience one or more of these conditions,
change the fuel brand you use. It
will require at least one
full tank of the proper fuel
to turn the light off.
If none of the above steps have made the light turn off,
have your retailer or qualified service center check
the
vehicle. Your retailer has the proper test equipment and
diagnostic tools to fix any mechanical or electrical
problems that may have developed.
Oil Pressure Warning Light
OIL
If you have a problem with
your oil, this light may stay
on after you start your
engine,
or come on when
you
are driving. A warning
chime and the message
LOW OIL PRESSURE may
also come on.
These indicate that oil
is not going through your engine
quickly enough to keep it cool. The engine could be low
on oil, or could have some other oil problem. Have it
fixed right away.
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The oil light could also come on in three other situations:
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 you turn the
ignition to
START. If it doesn’t come on with the
ignition
on, you may have a problem with the fuse or
bulb. Have it fixed right away.
0 Sometimes when the engine is idling at a stop, the
light may blink on and off. This is normal.
If you make a hard stop, the light may come on for a
moment. This is normal.
d!!, CAUTION:
Don’t keep driving if the oil pressure is low. If
you do, your engine can become so hot that it
catches fire. You
or others could be burned.
Check your oil
as soon as possible and have your
vehicle serviced.
NOTICE:
Damage to your engine from neglected oil
problems can be costly and
is not covered by
your warranty.
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Fuel Gage
When the ignition is on,
your
fuel gage tells you
about how much fuel you
have left.
When you have less than
3.0 gallons (1 It .3 L) of fuel
remaining, the message LOW FUEL will be displayed
and a chime will sound. You need to get more
fuel
right away.
Press the FUEL button on the Driver Information Center
to turn off the warning. Here
are four things that some owners ask about. None
of these show a problem with your fuel gage:
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At the service station, the gas pump shuts off before
the gage reads
“F’ (Full).
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 gage moves a little when you turn a corner or
speed up.
The tank is not necessarily empty when the pointer is
over the
“E” (Empty) mark. There is a reserve of
about 1.5 gallons (5.6 L) in the tank. You should still
get more fuel as soon as possible.

Driver Information Center
The Driver Information Center (DIC) displays
information in either English or metric. When the
system
is on or off, push the OFF button down for two
seconds to change the display between English and
metric. This will also change the digital screen for the
climate control system between English and metric.
In addition to the functions described in this part, the
DIC also displays various warning messages under
appropriate conditions.
Turn on the system by pressing any button except
RESET, ENTER or
OFF- When you turn on the ignition,
the DIC will be in the mode
last displayed when the
engine was turned
off. Keep in mind that this also
applies to the
OFF mode.
To turn off messages on the DIC (except LOW OIL
PRESSURE,
LOW BRAKE FLUID, PARK BRAKE
SET and the hot engine warnings), press any button on
the DIC.
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You will need to open the cover to access the control
buttons.
To open the cover, push the button located to
the right of the cover.
To close the cover, push it down to its closed position.
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Fuel Economy
The ECON button displays average fuel economy and
instantaneous
fuel economy calculated for your specific
driving conditions.
Press ECON to display average fuel economy, such as:
25.2 AVG MI/GAL or 9.3 AVG L/lOO KM
Press ECON again to display instantaneous
fuel
economy, such as:
Fuel
28 INST MI/GAL or 8.4 INST L/lOO KM
Press again
to return to average fuel economy.
The average
fuel economy is viewed as a long-term
approximation
of your overall driving conditions.
If you press RESET in this mode while you’re driving,
the system will begin figuring fuel economy from that
point in time. Press
FUEL
to see how much fuel has been used since
you last pressed the reset button. The display will show
a reading such as:
10.4 GALLONS USED or
39.4 LITERS USED
To learn how much fuel will be used from a specific
starting point, first press FUEL to display
fuel used, then
press RESET.
Don’t confuse fuel used with
the amount of fuel in your tank.
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Fuel Range
RANGE calculates the remaining distance you can drive
without refueling. It’s based on fuel economy and the
fuel remaining in the tank. The display will show a
reading such as:
FUEL RANGE 235 MI or FUEL RANGE 378 KM
If the range is less than SO miles (80 km), the display
will read
LOW FUEL RANGE.
The fuel economy data used to determine fuel range is
an average of recent driving conditions.
As your driving
conditions change, this data is gradually updated.
Resetting fuel range causes the fuel economy data to be
updated immediately. To reset fuel range, press
RANGE, then RESET.
Average Speed
The. calculation for average speed begins when SPEED
is reset. Press SPEED to display the average speed,
such as:
AVG SPEED 56 MPH or AVG SPEED 90 KM/H
To reset the average speed, press SPEED and then RESET.
Engine
The ENG button scrolls through the following functions:
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Oil pressure, such as:
OIL PRESSURE 40 PSI or OIL PRESSURE 276 kPa
Battery voltage, such as:
BATTERY 13.8 VOLTS
Transaxle fluid life, such as:
TRANS
FLUID LIFE 40%
This is an estimate of the transaxle fluid’s remaining
useful life.
It will show 100% when the system is
reset after a transaxle fluid change. It will alert you
to change your transaxle fluid on a schedule
consistent with your driving conditions.
Engine oil life, such as:
OIL LIFE 30%
This
is an estimate of the oil’s remaining useful life.
It
will show 100% when the system is reset after an
oil change.
It will alert you to change your oil on a
schedule consistent with your driving conditions.
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When the remaining oil life or transaxle fluid life is low,
the system will alert you with a message:
CHANGE OIL SOON
or CHANGE TRNS
FLUID SOON
When the oil or transaxle fluid life is down to zero, you
will receive
the message:
CHANGE OIL NOW or CHANGE TRNS
FLUID NOW
To reset the OIL LIFE reminder after an oil change or
the TRNS FLUID LIFE reminder after a transaxle
fluid change:
1. With the ignition on, press the ENG button so the
OIL LIFE percentage or the TRNS LIFE percentage
is displayed.
2. Press RESET and hold for five seconds. The word
RESET will appear, then OIL LIFE 100% or TRNS
FLUID 100%.
Remember, you must reset the OIL LIFE or TRNS
FLUID yourself after each oil or transaxle fluid change.
It will not reset itself. Also, be careful not to reset the
OIL LIFE or TRNS FLUID accidentally at any time
other than when the oil or transaxle fluid has just been
changed. It can’t be reset accurately until the next oil or
transaxle fluid change. The
DIC does
not replace the need to maintain your
vehicle
as recommended in the Maintenance Schedule in
this manual.
Also, the oil change reminder will not
detect dusty conditions or engine malfunctions that may
affect the oil.
If you drive in dusty areas, change your oil
after every
3,000 miles (5 000 km) or three months,
whichever occurs first, unless the DIC instructs you to
do so sooner. Also, the oil change reminder does not
measure how much oil you have in your engine.
So, be
sure to check your oil level often. See “Engine Oil” in
the Index.
Check Oil Level Warning
When CHECK OIL LEVEL appears, it indicates that the
engine oil level is
1 to 1 1/2 quarts (0.9 L to 1.4 L) low.
The message will appear only if the engine is running
and it’s been at least eight minutes since the engine was
last running. If the message appears, check the oil
dipstick level. If it reads low, your oil level should be
brought up
to the proper level (see “Engine Oil” in the
Index). After bringing the oil
to the proper level, the
ignition must be off for eight minutes to allow
the
majority of oil to drain into the oil pan.

Distance to Destination
This feature acts as a reverse trip odometer by counting
backward from an estimated distance which you enter
before starting your trip. It also uses that information to
determine the estimated time
of arrival.
To set, press DEST, then RESET and enter a maximum
of four digits for the length of your trip. (Always use
whole miles or kilometers.) Then press ENTER. The
system will only accept the last four digits you enter as
your distance to destination.
The system will display the total distance to destination,
such as:
365 MI TO DEST or 587 KM TO DEST
When the system counts down to zero distance
remaining, even if you’re in another display, a chime
will sound and the display will show:
TRIP COMPLETE
The TRIP COMPLETE message will
go off when you
press any button, or when you turn your ignition to
OFF,
then on. The display returns to the mode displayed prior
to the interruption.
Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA)
ETA is based on the average speed, the date and time of
the day, and the estimated distance to your destination.
After you have entered your distance to destination,
press ETA to display estimated time of arrival, such as:
ETA TUE
1256 PM
Press ETA again
to display the time to destination. The
display will show the current time as the hours and
minutes to destination, such as:
1250 TIME TO DEST
If the time to destination calculation is seven days or
greater, the display will read:
TRIP OVER
7 DAYS
When the trip is complete a chime will sound and the
display will show:
TRIP COMPLETE
The trip complete message will
go off when you press
any button,
or when you turn your ignition off, then on.
The display returns to the mode displayed prior to
the interruption.
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