brakes OLDSMOBILE CUTLASS 1997 Owners Manual

Vehicle Symbols
These are some of the symbols you may find on your vehicle.
For example,
these symbols
are used
on an
original battery:
POSSIBLE A
CAUTION
INJURY
PROTECT EYES BY
SHIELDING
CAUSTIC
ACID COULD BAllERY
CAUSE
BURNS
AVOID
SPARKS
OR
FLAMES
SPARK
OR ,\I/,
COULD FLAME
EXPLODE BATIERY
These symbols
are important
for you and
your passengers
whenever your vehicle is
driven:
DOOR LOCK
UNLOCK
FASTEN SEAT
BELTS
These symbols
have to do with
your lamps:
SIGNALS e
TURN
FOG LAMPS
# 0
These symbols
are on some
of
your controls:
WINDSHIELD
WIPER
WINDSHIELD DEFROSTER
WINDOW
DEFOGGER
VENTILATING FAN
(
These symbols
are used on
warning
and
indicator lights:
COOLANT -
TEMP -
CHARGING BAllERY
SYSTEM
BRAKE
(0)
COOLANT a
ENGINE OIL e,
PRESSURE
ANTI-LOCK
(@)
BRAKES
Here are some
other symbols
you may see:
FUSE
P
LIGHTER
HORN
)cr
SPEAKER
b
FUEL B
V
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SECOND (2): This position gives you more power but
lower fuel economy. You can use
SECOND (2) on hills.
It can help control your speed as you go down steep
mountain roads, but then you would also want to use
your brakes
off and on.
NOTICE:
Don’t drive in SECOND (2) for more than
25 miles (41 km), or at speeds over 55 mph
(88 kmh), or you can damage your transaxle.
Use DRIVE (D) or THIRD
(3) as much as
possible. Don’t shift into SECOND
(2) unless
you are going slower than
65 mph (105 km/h)
or you can damage your engine.
SECOND (2) will select either first or second gear
depending on vehicle speed.
If your vehicle is slowing,
the transaxle will downshift to first gear at
20 to
25 miles per hour (32 to 40 km/h) for engine braking.
You may notice some variation in shift speed in
SECOND (2) when accelerating or braking. FIRST
(1): This position gives you even more power
(but lower fuel economy) than
SECOND (2). You can
use it on very steep hills, or in deep snow or mud.
If the selector lever is put in FIRST (l), the transaxle
won’t shift into fiist gear until the vehicle
is going
slowly enough.
NOTICE:
If your front wheels can’t rotate, don’t try to
drive. This might happen
if you were stuck in
very deep sand or mud
or were up against a
solid object. You can damage your transaxle.
Also,
if you stop when going uphill, don’t hold
your vehicle there with only the accelerator
pedal. This could overheat and damage the
transaxle. Use your brakes or shift into PARK
(P)
to hold your vehicle in position on a hill.
I 2-20
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Second-Gear Start
Your vehicle is equipped with a second-gear start
feature. Place the shift lever in SECOND
(2) gear to
provide more traction when you are starting on ice
or other slippery surfaces. The transaxle will be in
SECOND
(2) gear when the vehicle begins to move.
After starting in SECOND
(2) gear, place the shift lever
in THIRD
(3) or DRIVE (D).
This feature is only for improved traction only when
the road surface is slippery and
is not intended for
continuous use or when the vehicle is stuck in sand,
mud, ice, snow
or gravel.
Parking Brake
To set the parking brake,
hold the regular brake pedal
down with your right foot.
Push down the parking
brake pedal with your left
foot. If the ignition is on,
the brake system warning
light will come on. To
release the parking brake, hold the regular brake
pedal down with your right foot. Push down on the
parking brake pedal with your left foot.
If the parking
brake
is not released when you begin to drive, a chime
will sound warning you that the parking brake is still on.
NOTICE:
Driving with the parking brake on can cause
your rear brakes to overheat. You may have to
replace them, and you could
also damage other
parts
of your vehicle.
If you are towing a trailer and are parking on a hill, see
“Towing a Trailer” in the Index. That section shows
what to do first to keep the trailer from moving.
2-21
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Anti-Lock Brake System Warning Light
With the anti-lock brake
system, this light will
come on when you turn
your ignition on or start your engine and it
will
stay on for three seconds.
That’s normal.
If the light stays on and the chime sounds, turn the
ignition to
OFF. Or, if the light comes on when you’re
driving, stop as soon as possible and turn the ignition off. Then start the engine again to reset the system.
If
the light still stays on, or comes on again while you’re
driving, your Oldsmobile needs service.
If the regular
brake system warning light isn’t on, you still have
brakes, but you don’t have anti-lock brakes.
If the
regular brake system warning light is also on, you
don’t have anti-lock brakes and there’s
a problem
with your regular brakes. See “Brake System Warning
Light” earlier in
this section.
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Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people dnve in
spurts
-- heavy acceleration followed by heavy
braking
-- rather than keeping pace with traffic. This is a
mistake. Your brakes may not have time to cool between
hard stops. Your brakes will wear out much faster
if you
do
a lot of heavy braking. If you keep pace with the
traffic and allow realistic following distances, you will eliminate a lot of unnecessary braking. That means
better braking and longer brake life.
If your engine ever stops while you’re driving, brake
normally but don’t pump your brakes. If you do, the
pedal may get harder to push down.
If your engine
stops, you will still have some power brake assist. But
you
will use it when you, brake. Once the power assist is
used up, it may take longer to stop and the brake pedal
will be harder to push.
Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS)
Your vehicle has anti-lock brakes (ABS). ABS is an
advanced electronic braking system that will help
prevent a braking skid.
If there’s a problem with the
anti-lock brake system,
this
warning light will stay on.
See “Anti-Lock Brake
System Warning Light” in
the Index.
4-7
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Here’s how anti-lock works. Let’s say the road is wet.
You’re driving safely. Suddenly an animal jumps out
in
front of you.
.You slam on the brakes. Here’s what happens with
ABS.
A computer senses that wheels are slowing down. If one
of the wheels is about to stop rolling, the computer will
separately work the brakes at each front wheel and at the
rear wheels. The anti-lock system can change the brake pressure faster
than any driver could. The computer
is programmed to
make the most of available tire and road conditions.
You can steer around the obstacle while braking hard.
As you brake, your computer keeps receiving updates on
wheel speed and controls braking pressure accordingly.
4-8
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Remember: Anti-lock doesn’t change the time you need
to get your foot up to the brake pedal or always decrease
stopping distance. If you get too close to the vehicle in
front
of you, you won’t have time to apply your brakes
if that vehicle suddenly slows or stops. Always leave
enough room up ahead to stop, even though you have
.anti-lock brakes.
Using Anti-Lock
Don’t pump the brakes. Just hold the brake pedal
down and let anti-lock work for you. You may feel the
system working, or you may notice some noise, but
this
is normal.
Braking in Emergencies
With anti-lock, you can steer and brake at the same
time.
In many emergencies, steering can help you more
than even the very best braking.
Steering
Power Steering
If you lose power steering assist because the engine
stops or the system is not functioning, you can steer but
it will take much more effort.
Steering Tips
Driving on Curves
It’s important to take curves at a reasonable speed.
A lot of the “driver lost control” accidents mentioned on
the news happen on curves. Here’s why:
Experienced driver or beginner, each of us is subject to
the same laws of physics when driving on curves. The
traction of the tires against the road surface makes it
possible for the vehicle to change its path when you
turn
the front wheels. If there’s no traction, inertia will keep
the vehicle going in the same direction. If you’ve ever
tried to steer a vehicle on wet ice, you’ll understand this\
.
The traction you can get
in a curve depends on the
condition
of your tires and the road surface, the angle at
which the curve is banked, and yom speed. While you’re
in a curve, speed is the one factor you can control.
Suppose you’re steering through a sharp curve. Then you
suddenly accelerate. Both control systems
-- steering and
acceleration
-- have to do their work where the tires meet
the road. Adding the sudden acceleration can demand too
much
of those places. You can lose control.
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What should you do if this ever happens? Ease up on the
accelerator pedal, steer the vehicle the way you want it
to go, and slow down.
Speed limit signs near curves warn that you should
adjust your speed. Of course, the posted speeds
are
based on good weather and road conditions. Under less
favorable conditions you’ll want to go slower.
If you need to reduce your speed as you approach a
curve, do it before you enter the curve, while your front
wheels are straight ahead.
Try to adjust you speed so you can “drive” through the
curve. Maintain a reasonable, steady speed. Wait to
accelerate until you are out of the curve, and then
accelerate gently into the straightaway.
Steering in Emergencies
There are times when steering can be more effective
than braking. For example, you come over a
hill and
find a truck stopped in your lane, or a car suddenly pulls
out from nowhere, or a child darts out from between
parked cars and stops right in front of you. You can
avoid these problems by braking
-- if you can stop in
time. But sometimes you can’t; there isn’t room.
That’s the time for evasive action
-- steering around
the problem.
Your Oldsmobile can perform very well in emergencies
like these. First apply your brakes. (See “Braking in
Emergencies” earlier in this section.) It is better to
remove
as much speed as you can from a possible
collision. Then steer around the problem, to the left or
right depending on the space available.
4-10
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Check your mirrors, glance over your shoulder, and start your left lane change signal before moving out
of the right lane to pass. When you are far enough
ahead of the passed vehicle to see its front in your
inside mirror, activate your right lane change signal
and move back into the right lane. (Remember that
your right outside mirror is convex. The vehicle you
just passed may seem to be farther away from you
than it really is.)
Try not to pass more than one vehicle at a time on
two-lane roads. Reconsider before passing the
next vehicle.
Don’t overtake a slowly moving vehicle too rapidly.
Even though the brake lamps are not flashing, it may
be slowing down or starting to
turn.
If you’re being passed, make
following driver to get ahead
can ease a little to the right. it easy
for the
of you. Perhaps
you
Loss of Control
Let’s review what driving experts say about what
happens when the three control systems (brakes, steering
and acceleration) don’t have enough friction where the
tires meet the road
to do what the driver has asked.
In any emergency, don’t give up. Keep trying to steer and
constantly seek
an escape route or area of less danger.
Skidding
In a skid, a driver can lose control of the vehicle.
Defensive drivers avoid most skids by taking reasonable
care suited to existing conditions, and by not “overdriving”\

those conditions. But skids are always possible.
The three types
of skids correspond to your
Oldsmobile’s three control systems. In the braking
skid,
your wheels aren’t rolling. In the steering or cornering
skid, too much speed or steering
in a curve causes tires
to slip and lose cornering force. And in the acceleration
skid, too much throttle causes the driving wheels to spin.
4-13
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If you drive regularly in steep country, or if you’re
planning to visit there, here are some tips that can make
your trips safer and more enjoyable.
Keep your vehicle in good shape. Check all fluid
levels and also the brakes, tires, cooling system
and transaxle. These parts can work hard on
mountain roads.
0 Know how to go down hills. The most important
thing to know is this: let your engine do some of the
slowing down. Shift to a lower gear when you go
down a steep or long
hill.
If you don’t shift down, your brakes could
get
so hot that they wouldn’t work well. You
would then have poor braking or even none going
down
a hill. You could crash. Shift down to let
your engine assist your brakes on
a steep
downhill slope.
I
Coasting downhill in NEUTRAL (N) or with the
ignition
off is dangerous. Your brakes will have to
do
all the work of slowing down. They could get so
hot that they wouldn’t work well. You would then
have poor braking or even none going down
a hill.
You could crash. Always have your engine Fanning
and your vehicle
in gear when you go downhill.
0
0 Know how to go uphill. Drive in the highest
gear possible.
Stay in you own lane when driving on two-lane
roads
in hills or mountains. Don’t swing wide or cut
across the center of the road. Drive at speeds that let
you stay in your own lane.
0
0
As you go over the top of a hill, be alert. There
could be something in your lane, like a stalled car or
an accident.
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.
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