OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE 2003 Owners Manual
Manufacturer: OLDSMOBILE, Model Year: 2003, Model line: SILHOUETTE, Model: OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE 2003Pages: 466, PDF Size: 21.55 MB
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A.  Side Outlets 
B. Front Outlets 
C.  Turn  SignaVMultifunction  Lever 
D. Hazard  Warning  Flasher Switch 
E. Instrument Panel Cluster 
F.  Center  Outlets 
G. Audio  System 
H.  Side  Outlets 
I. Exterior  Lamps  Control 
J. Hood  Release 
K. Audio Steering  Wheel Controls 
L. Horn 
M. Ignition Switch 
N. Audio Steering  Wheel Controls 
0. Climate Controls 
P.  Rear  Fan  Controls 
Q. Cupholder  Tray 
R. Accessory  Power  Outlet 
S. Instrument Panel Switchbank 
T. Glove Box 
U. Front Outlets 
V. Instrument Panel Fuse Block 
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Hazard Warning  Flashers 
Your hazard warning flashers  let  you  warn others. They 
also  let police  know you have  a  problem.  Your front 
and  rear turn signal lamps will flash  on and 
off. 
Your  hazard  warning 
flashers  button is 
located  on  top of the 
steering  column. 
Your  hazard warning  flashers  work  no  matter  what 
position your  key is in,  and  even 
if the  key  isn’t in. 
Press the button to  make  the front and  rear  turn signal 
lamps  flash on and 
off. Press the button  again to 
turn  the flashers 
off. 
When  the  hazard  warning flashers are  on,  your turn 
signals won’t  work. 
Other  Warning  Devices 
If you carry reflective triangles,  you  can  set  one  up  at 
the  side  of the  road  about 
300 feet (1 00 m) behind 
your vehicle. 
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Horn 
You  can  sound the horn  by pressing the  horn symbols 
on your  steering  wheel. 
Tilt Wheel 
A tilt  wheel  allows  you  to  adjust  the steering wheel before 
you  drive.  You  can raise  it  to the highest level  to give  your 
legs  more  room  when  you  exit and enter the vehicle. 
The  lever  that  allows  you  to 
tilt the steering wheel is 
located  on the  left  side  of the steering column. 
To tilt the  wheel,  hold the 
steering  wheel and pull 
the  lever. 
Turn  SignaVMultifunction Lever 
Then  move  the steering  wheel  to  a comfortable position 
and  release  the lever  to  lock the wheel  in place. 
1 
The  lever on the  left  side of the steering column 
includes the following: 
Turn and  Lane-Change Signals 
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Flash-to-Pass 
Windshield Wipers 
0 Windshield Washer 
0 Cruise Controi 
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Turn and Lane-Change Signals 
The turn  signal  has  two  upward (for right)  and  two 
downward  (for left) positions.  These positions allow  you 
to  signal a turn  or  a lane  change. 
To signal  a turn,  move  the lever  all  the  way  up  or 
down.  When  the turn is finished, the  lever will  return 
automatically. 
-1 An  arrow  on the  instrument 
panel cluster will flash  in 
the  direction  of the 
turn  or lane  change. 
To  signal  a lane  change,  just  raise  or lower  the lever 
until  the arrow starts  to flash.  Hold it there until  you 
complete  your  lane change.  The  lever will  return by itself 
when  you  release it. 
As  you  signal  a  turn or a lane change, 
if the arrow 
flashes faster  than normal,  a signal bulb  may be 
burned  out  and  other drivers  won’t  see  your turn signal. 
If a bulb  is burned  out,  replace it to help avoid  an 
accident.  If the arrows don’t go  on  at all when  you  signal 
a  turn,  check  for  burned-out bulbs  and  check the 
fuse.  See 
Bulb Replacement on page 5-52 and Fuses 
and  Circuit  Breakers on page 
5-96. 
If you  have  a  trailer towing option with  added  wiring  for 
the  trailer lamps,  the signal  indicator will  flash  at a normal 
rate  even 
if a turn signal bulb is burned  out.  Check  the 
front  and  rear  turn signal  lamps  regularly  to  make  sure 
they are  working. 
Turn  Signal On Chime 
If either turn signal is left  on  for  more  than 3/4 mile 
(1.2 km),  a  chime  will sound  to let the  driver  know  to 
turn 
it off. 
If you  need  to leave  the signal on for  more  than  3/4  mile 
(1.2 km),  turn off the signal  and  then turn it  back  on. 
Headlamp  High/Low-Beam  Changer 
To change the headlamps  from high to  low  beam, or 
low  to  high,  simply pull the turn  signal  lever  all  the  way 
toward  you.  Then  release it. 
When  the high beams 
are on,  this  light  on  the 
instrument  panel  cluster 
will also  be  on. 
Your  fog lamps  will turn 
off when  you  switch  to 
high  beams.  Using your high beams  in fog  is  not 
recommended. 
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Flash-to-Pass 
When the headlamps  are off, pull the  lever toward you 
to  momentarily  switch  on the  high beams (to signal 
that  you  are  going  to  pass).  When  you release  the  lever, 
they  will  turn 
off. 
Windshield  Wipers 
To  operate  the  windshield  wipers turn the  band marked 
WIPER,  located  on the multifunction  lever. 
MIST: Turn the band  to  MIST for  a single wiping cycle. 
Hold  it  there  until the  wipers  start.  Then let 
go. The 
wipers  will  stop  after  one  wipe. 
If you  want  more  wipes, 
hold  the  band  on mist  longer. 
OFF:  Turn the  band  to 
OFF to turn off the 
windshield  wipers. 
LOW: Turn  the  band to  LOW,  for  steady wiping  at 
low  speed. 
HIGH: Turn  the band  to  HIGH, for  steady  wiping  at 
high  speed. 
DELAY: Turn  the  band away  from you  to  one of the 
five  sensitivity  settings  between 
OFF and  LOW,  to 
choose  the  delayed  wiping  cycle. The further the  band 
is turned toward  LOW,  the  shorter the  delay will be. 
Use  this setting  tor  light  rain or  snow.  Remember that damaged 
wiper blades may prevent you 
from seeing well enough to  drive safely.  To avoid 
damage,  be sure to  clear ice and  snow from the wiper 
blades before using  them. 
If they’re frozen to the 
windshield, carefully loosen  or thaw  them.  If  your  blades 
do become damaged,  get new blades  or blade inserts. 
Heavy snow  or ice can overload  your wipers. 
A circuit 
breaker will stop them until the  motor cools. Clear away 
snow or ice to prevent an  overload. 
Windshield Washer 
To wash  your windshield, press and  hold the windshield 
washer  paddle. The washers and wipers will operate. 
When  you release the paddle, the washers will stop, and 
the wipers will continue 
to operate  for two cycles, unless 
your wipers  had already been  on. In that case, the wipers 
will resume the  wi-- 
- r speed  you had selected earlier. 
I I 
In freezing  weather, don’t use your washer 
until  the windshield  is warmed.  Otherwise  the 
washer fluid  can form ice  on the  windshield, 
blocking  your vision. 
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Rear Window WasherNViper 
Your vehicle  may  have  a 
rear  window  wiper. If it 
does,  the rear  window 
wiper switch  is located 
in 
the  instrument panel 
switchbank. 
i 
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Press  the wiper  symbol  on  the bottom  of the  switch to 
turn  on  the  intermittent  wiper. 
To turn off the wiper, 
gently  press the top  of the  switch. 
To  wash  and  wipe  the  rear window,  press the washer 
symbol  on  the top  of the switch.  Washer fluid will 
run  down the glass as  long  as  the switch is  held  in.  When 
the top 
of the  switch  is  released,  the  wiper  will 
continue  to cycle three  more times.  There is only 
one  washer  fluid reservoir  for  the front and  rear 
windshield wipers.  See 
Windshield  Washer  Fluid  on 
page 
5-38. 
To wash  the rear  window  when  the  rear  wiper  is already 
on, press  the top 
of the  switch  with  the  wash  symbol 
on it.  Press  in the  bottom  of  the  switch  to continue the 
intermittent wiper cycle  after the washing  cycle  is 
completed. 
Cruise Control 
Your  vehicle  may  have  cruise control.  With  cruise 
control,  you  can  maintain  a  speed of about 
25 mph 
(40 km/h)  or  more  without  keeping your  foot  on 
the  accelerator. This  can  really help on  long  trips. 
Cruise control  does  not  work  at  speeds  below  about 
25 mph (40 km/h). 
When  you  apply your  brakes,  the  cruise control 
disengages. 
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Cruise  control  can be dangerous  where 
you  can’t  drive  safely 
at a steady  speed. 
So, don’t  use  your  cruise  control  on 
winding  roads  or in heavy  traffic. 
Cruise  control  can be dangerous  on 
slippery  roads.  On such  roads,  fast 
changes  in 
tire traction  can  cause 
needless  wheel  spinning,  and  you  could 
lose  control.  Don’t  use  cruise  control  on 
slippery  roads. 
If  your  vehicle  is in  cruise control  when the optional 
traction  control system  begins to  limit  wheel  spin, the 
cruise control will automatically disengage.  See 
Traction 
Control  System  (TCS)  on 
page 4-10. When  road 
conditions  allow you to safely  use it again,  you  may  turn 
tne  cruise controi  back 
on. 
I ou leave  your  cruise  control  on  when  you’re 
not  using  cruise,  you  might 
hit a  button  and go 
into  cruise  when  you  don’t  want  to.  You could 
be  startled  and  even lose  control.  Keep  the 
cruise  control  switch 
off until  you  want  to  use 
cruise  control. 
1. Move  the cruise control switch to ON. 
2. Get  up  to  the speed  you want. 
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3. Press the  SET button at the  end  of the  lever and 
4. Take  your foot off the accelerator pedal. 
release 
it. 
Resuming a Set  Speed 
Suppose  you  set your  cruise control  at  a desired  speed 
and  then  you apply  the  brake.  This,  of course,  shuts 
off the  cruise control.  But  you  don’t  need  to  reset  it. 
Once  you’re  going about 
25 mph (40 km/h)  or  more, 
you  can  move  the cruise control  switch  from 
ON to  R/A 
(resume/accelerate) briefly. 
You’ll  go right  back  up  to your  chosen  speed  and 
stay there. 
If you  hold the switch  at  R/A,  the  vehicle  will  keep 
going faster  until  you release  the switch  or  apply  the 
brake. 
So unless  you  want  to  go  faster,  don’t  hold 
the  switch  at  R/A. 
Increasing  Speed  While  Using 
Cruise Control 
There  are two  ways  to go  to  a  higher  speed: 
Use  the accelerator pedal to  get to the  higher 
speed. Press the  SET button  at  the  end  of the  lever, 
then  release  the button and  the  accelerator  pedal. 
You’ll  now cruise  at the higher  speed. 
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0 Move the cruise  switch from ON to R/A. Hold  it  there 
until  you  get  up  to the  speed  you  want,  and then 
release  the  switch.  (To  increase your speed 
in very 
small  amounts,  move  the switch to 
R/A briefly  and 
then  release  it.  Each time you do this, your vehicle 
will  go  about  1 mph  (1.6 km/h)  faster.) 
The  accelerate  feature will work  whether  or  not you 
have  set  an  initial cruise control speed. 
Reducing  Speed  While  Using 
Cruise  Control 
There  are two  ways  to  reduce  speed while  using 
cruise  control: 
0 Press  the  SET  button at the  end  of the lever until  you 
reach  the lower  speed  you  want, then release 
it. 
0 To  slow  down  in very  small  amounts,  press the 
SET  button  briefly.  Each  time you do this, you’ll go 
about  1 mph  (1.6 km/h)  slower. 
Passing Another  Vehicle  While Using 
Cruise Control 
Use  the accelerator pedal to  increase your speed. 
When  you take your foot 
off the pedal, your vehicle will 
slow  down  to the cruise control  speed you set earlier. 
Using Cruise Control  on Hills 
How  well your  cruise control will  work  on hills depends 
upon  your speed,  load and the steepness  of the 
hills.  When  going up steep  hills,  you  may  have  to 
step  on  the  accelerator pedal  to maintain your  speed. 
When  going downhill,  you  may  have to brake or shift 
to  a lower  gear to keep  your speed  down.  Of  course, 
applying  the brake takes  you  out of cruise control. 
Many  drivers find  this  to be too  much  trouble  and don’t 
use  cruise control  on steep hills. 
Ending Cruise Control 
There  are two  ways  to turn off the cruise control: 
0 Step  lightly  on  the  brake pedal,  or 
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Erasing Speed  Memory 
When you turn off the cruise control or  the ignition, 
your cruise control set  speed  memory is erased. 
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