flat tire OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE 2003 User Guide

If you need to replace any of your wheels, wheel bolts or
wheel nuts, replace them only with new GM original
equipment parts. This way, you will be sure to have the
Using the wrong replacement wheels, wheel
bolts or wheel nuts on your vehicle can be
dangerous.
It could affect the braking and
handling of your vehicle, make your tires lose
air and make you lose control. You could have
a collision in which you or others could be
injured. Always use the correct wheel, wheel
bolts and wheel nuts for replacement.
I
Notice: The wrong wheel can also cause problems
with bearing life, brake cooling, speedometer or odometer calibration, headlamp aim, bumper height,
vehicle ground clearance and tire or tire chain
clearance to the body and chassis.
See
Changing a Flat Tire on page 5-70 for more
information.
Used Replacement WI els
Putting a used wheel on your vehicle is
dangerous. You can’t know how it’s been used
or how far it’s been driven. It could fail suddenly
and cause a crash. If you have to replace a
wheel, use a new
GM original equipment wheel.
Tire Chains
Notice: Use tire chains only where legal and only
when you must. Use only SAE Class
“S” type chains
that are the proper size for your tires. Install them
on the front tires and tighten them as tightly
as possible with the ends securely fastened.
Drive slowly and follow the chain manufacturer’s
your vehicle, stop and retighten them. If the contact continues, slow down until
it stops. Driving too
fast or spinning the wheels with chains on will
damage your vehicle.
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Accessory Inflator
Your vehicle may have an air inflator. With it, you can
inflate things like air mattresses and basketballs,
and you can also use it to bring your tires up to the
proper pressure.
The air inflator is located in the rear compartment on
the driver’s side. To remove the cover, pull the tab
on the cover and pull it
off.
This is the switch for
the air inflator.
There may be an air inflator kit stored in the glove box.
It includes a 20-foot
(6 m) hose with an air pressure
gage and nozzle adapters.
....___ ting something too much can make it
explode, and you or others could be injured.
Be sure to read the inflator instructions, and
inflate any object only
to its recommended
pressure.
To use your air inflator system, do the following:
1. Turn the ignition to ACCESSORY or RUN.
2. Attach the appropriate nozzle adapter, if required,
to the end
of the hose that has the pressure gage.
3. Attach that end of the hose to the object you wish
to inflate.
4. Remove the protective cap covering the outlet.
5. Attach the other end of the hose to the outlet.
6. Press the accessory inflator switch. The light in the
switch will come on to show the system is working.
If the air inflator system does not turn on or the
light does not come on, the fuse may be blown or
installed incorrectly. See
Fuses and Circuit Breakers on
page 5-96 or see your dealer for service.
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Your air inflator will automatically shut off after about
10 minutes. The light in the switch will blink. After about
one minute you can use the system again. Press the
inflator switch and the indicator light will come on.
Notice: Don’t run your air inflator for longer than
30 minutes at one time. If you do, you may damage
the system.
After running the air inflator for
30 minutes, wait at least
10 minutes before restarting the air inflator.
To turn off the inflator, do the following:
1. Press the switch and detach the hose, first from the
2. Put the protective cap back on.
3. Place the inflator kit tools in the pouch, and store in
inflated
object, then from the outlet.
the glove box.
To put the cover back on, line up the tabs at the back
of the cover and put it in place. Push down the tab
to secure the cover.
If a Tire Goes Flat
It’s unusual for a tire to “blow out” while you’re driving,
especially
if you maintain your tires properly. If air
goes out of a tire, it’s much more likely to leak out
slowly. But if you should ever have a “blowout”, here are
a few tips about what to expect and what to do:
If a front tire fails, the flat tire will create a drag that
pulls the vehicle toward that side. Take your foot
off the
accelerator pedal and grip the steering wheel firmly.
Steer to maintain lane position, and then gently brake
to a stop well out of the traffic lane.
A rear blowout, particularly on a curve, acts much like
a skid and may require the same correction you’d use
in a skid. In any rear blowout, remove your foot from
the accelerator pedal. Get the vehicle under control by
steering the way you want the vehicle to go. It may
be very bumpy and noisy, but you can still steer.
Gently brake to a stop
- well off the road if possible.
If a tire goes flat, the next part shows how to use
your jacking equipment to change a flat tire safely.
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Changing a Flat Tire
If a tire goes flat, avoid further tire and wheel damage
by driving
slowly to a level place. Turn on your
hazard v.--nin- 'lashers.
Chan,,,lg a tire can cause an injury. The
vehicle can
slip off the jack and roll over you
or other people.
You and they could be badly
injured. Find a level place to change your tire.
To help prevent the vehicle from moving:
1. Set the parking brake firmly.
2. Put the shift lever in PARK (P).
3. Turn off the engine.
To be even more certain the vehicle won't
move, you can put blocks at the front and
rear of the tire farthest away from the one
being changed. That would be the tire on
the other side
of the vehicle, at the
opposite end. The following
steps will tell you how to use the jack and
change a tire.
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3. To remove the compact spare tire from the cable,
tilt the retainer at the end
of the cable so it can be
pulled up through the wheel opening.
-. If your vehicle is an all-wheel-drive vehicle, after
removing the compact spare tire turn the wrench
clockwise to raise the cable back up.
On an AWD vehicle, you can not store
a full-size
tire under the vehicle. It should be stowed inside the
vehicle by the cable provided. See “Storing the
Flat Tire on an All-Wheel-Drive Vehicle” later
in
this section.
If you have a front-wheel-drive vehicle, the hoist is
used to store a full-size or a flat road tire under
the vehicle. See “Storing the Spare Tire and
Tools”
and “Storing the Flat Tire on a Front-Wheel-Drive
Vehicle” later
in this section.
If the compact spare tire will not lower, check under the
vehicle to see
if the tire is hanging loose and the cable
end and spring under the wheel plate are missing. If
so,
the secondary latch system is engaged. See “Secondary
Latch System” later
in this section.
To continue changing the flat tire see “Removing the
Flat Tire and Installing the Spare Tire” later in this
section.
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Secondary Latch System
Your vehicle may have an underbody mounted tire hoist
assembly equipped with a secondary latch system.
It‘s designed to stop a tire from suddenly falling off your
vehicle
if the cable holding the spare tire is damaged.
For the secondary latch to work, the tire must be stowed
with the valve stem pointing down.
Front-wheel-drive vehicles use the underbody tire hoist
assembly to store either the compact spare or a flat
road tire. See “Storing a Flat or Spare Tire and
Tools”
in the Index for instructions on storing the spare or
flat tire correctly.
If your vehicle is equipped with all-wheel-drive, the
underbody tire hoist assembly stores only the compact
spare tire. See “Storing the Spare Tire and Tools”
later in this section for instructions. To store a flat
full-size tire correctly, see “Storing the Flat Tire
on
an All-Wheel-Drive Vehicle” later in this section. Before beginning this procedure read all the
instructions. Failure to read and follow the
instructions could damage the hoist assembly
and you and others could get hurt. Read and
follow the instructions listed below.
To release the spare tire from the secondary latch,
do the
f .. )wing:
Someone standing too close during the procedure could be injured by the jack.
If the
spare tire does not slide
off the jack completely,
make sure no one is behind you or on either
side of you as you pull the jack out from
the spare.
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1. Place the jack under the vehicle, ahead of the rear
bumper. Position the center
lift point of the jack
under the center of the compact spare tire.
2. Turn the folding wrench clockwise to raise the jack
until it lifts the secondary latch device under the
wheel plate.
5. Grasp the compact spare tire with both hands and
6. Reach under the vehicle and remove the folding
pull
it out
from under the vehicle.
wrench and jack.
Have the hoist assembly inspected as soon as you can.
You will not be able to store a spare or flat tire usinG
the hoist assembly until it has been repaired or replaced. 3. Keep raising tne jack untii rne compact spare tire
stops moving upward and is held firmly in place,
this lets you know that the secondary latch
has released.
4. Lower the jack by turning the folding wrench
counterclockwise. Keep lowering the jack until
the compact spare tire is resting on the folding
wrench. ~- -~
5-75

Removing the Wheel Covers
If the wheel has a center cap, use the handle of the
folding wrench to pry
it off. Then, with the other end of
the folding wrench, loosen the nuts.
If your vehicle has the plastic “bolt-on” wheel covers,
loosen the bolts completely using the folding wrench,
and remove the wheel cover.
Removing the Flat Tire and Installing
the Spare Tire
1. Loosen the wheel
nuts
- but do not
remove them
- using
the folding wrench.
(Turn the handle about
180 degrees, then flip
the handle back to
the starting position.
This avoids taking the
wrench
off the lug nut
for each turn.)
For wheels with
a wheel lock key, use the wheel
lock key between the lock nut and folding wrench.
The key is supplied
in the front passenger door
pocket.
Notice: To help avoid damage to lock nut or wheel
lock key, do not
use an impact wrench with this key.
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2. Near each wheel,
there is
a notch in
the vehicle's body.
Position the jack and
raise the jack head until
it fits firmly into the
notch
in the vehicle's
frame nearest the
flat tire.
Notice: Do not place the jack under the rear axle
control arms or you may damage your vehicle.
Only use the areas shown for proper jack location.
Do not raise the vehicle yet. Put the compact spare
tire near
you.
Getting under a vehicle when it is jacked up is
dangerous. If the vehicle slips off the jack you
could be badly injured or killed. Never get under
a vehicle when
it is supported only by a jack.
Raising your vehicle with the jack improperly
positioned
can damage the vehicle and even
make the vehicle fall.
To help avoid personal
injury and vehicle damage, be sure to fit the
raising the vehicle.
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5-77

3. Attach the folding
wrench to the jack,
and turn the wrench
clockwise to raise
the jack head a
few inches.
4. Raise the vehicle by turning the folding wrench
clockwise in the jack. Raise the vehicle far enough
off the ground so there is enough room for the
compact spare tire to
fit under the wheel well.
5. Remove all the wheel nuts and take off the flat tire.
6. Remove any rust or dirt
from the wheel bolts, mounting surfaces
and spare wheel.
Rust or dirt on the wheel, or on the parts to
which
it is fastened, can make the wheel nuts
become loose after a time. The wheel could
come
off and cause an accident. When you
change a wheel, remove any rust or dirt from
the places where the wheel attaches
to the
vehicle.
In an emergency, you can use a cloth
or a paper towel to do this;
but be sure to use
a scraper or wire brush later, if you need to,
to get all the
rust or dirt off.
5-78