heater OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE 2003 Owners Manual

Heated Seats
Your vehicle may have this
feature. If it does, the
heated seat switches are
located
in the instrument
panel switchbank.
This feature will heat the lower cushions and lower back
of the driver’s and front passenger’s seats for added
comfort.
The left switch is for the driver’s seat and the right switch is for the front passenger’s seat. Press the bottom
of the switch
to turn the heater on. The indicator light
on the switch will be lit. Press the top of the switch
to turn the heater
off. The heated seat switch will turn
off when the ignition is turned to OFF and will resume
operation when the ignition is turned to
RUN, unless the
switch
is manually turned off.
Reclining Seatbacks
To adjust the manual seatback, pull up on the lever
located on the outboard sides of both the driver’s and
the front passenger’s seat.
It is easier to recline the seat
if you lean forward, taking your weight off the seatback.
If your vehicle has the eight-way power seats, there
is a power recliner. See
Eight-Way Power Seats
on page 1-3.
1 -4

Section 2 Features and Controls
Keys ..................................................
Remote Keyless Entry System ............
Remote Keyless Entry System Operatior
Doors and Locks
................................
Door Locks .......................................
1
............ 2.3
............ 2.5
........... 2.6
............ 2.9
............ 2.9
Power Door Locks
........................................ 2-10
Last Door Closed Locking
.............................. 2-1 1
Programmable Automatic Door Locks
.............. 2.12
Lockout Protection
........................................ 2.13
Leaving Your Vehicle
.................................... 2.13
Dual Sliding Doors
.
Power Sliding Door
Liftgate
.................
Windows .................
Power Windows .....
Power Rear Quarter
...................................... 2.13
PSD)
.............................. 2.16
...................................... 2.22
...................................... 2.24
...................................... 2.25
Windows
........................ 2.26
Sun Visors
................................................... 2-26
Content Theft-Deterrent
. . .................... 2.27
PASS-Key@
Ill ................... ............ 2.29
PASS-Key@
Ill Operation .... 2.30
Theft-Deterrent Systems
.................................. 2.27 Starting
and Operating
Your Vehicle ................ 2.32
Ignition Positions
.............. .......... 2-32
New Vehicle Break-In
.................................... 2.32
Starting Your Engine
..................................... 2-34
Engine Coolant Heater
.................................. 2-35
Automatic Transaxle Operation
....................... 2-36
Parking Brake
.............................................. 2-39
Shifting Into Park (P)
..................................... 2-40
Shifting Out of Park (P)
................................. 2-42
Parking Over Things That Burn
....................... 2-43
Engine Exhaust
............................................ 2-43
Running Your Engine While You Are Parked
....... 2-44
Mirrors
........................................................... 2-45
Manual Rearview Mirror
................ .......... 2-45
Outside Power Mirrors
................................... 2-45
Outside Convex Mirror
................................... 2-46
Outside Heated Mirrors
.................................. 2-46
Onstar@ System
............................................. 2-47
HomeLink@ Transmitter
................................... 2-49
Programming the HomeLink Transmitter
........... 2-50
2-1

Engine Coolant Heater
Your vehicle may have an engine coolant heater. In very
cold weather,
0°F (-1 8°C) or colder, the engine coolant
heater can help. You’ll get easier starting and better fuel
economy during engine warm-up. Usually, the coolant
prior to starting your vehicle. At temperatures above
32°F (OOC), use of the coolant heater is not required.
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To Use the Engine Coolant Heater
1. Turn off the engine.
2. Open the hood and unwrap the eieciricai cord.
The electrical cord is located on the driver’s side
of the engine compartment.
3. Plug it into a normal, grounded 1 10-volt AC outlet.
Plugging the cord into an ungrounded outlet
could cause an electrical shock.
Also, the
wrong kind
of extension cord could overheat
and cause a fire. You could be seriously
injured. Plug the cord into a properly grounded
three-prong 110-volt
AC outlet. If the cord
won’t reach, use a heavy-duty three-prong
extension cord rated
for at least 15 amps.
4. Before starting the engine, be sure to unplug and
store the cord as it was before to keep it away
from moving engine parts.
If you don’t, it could be
damaged.
How long should you keep the coolant heater plugged
kind of oil you have, and some other things. Instead
of trying to list everything here, we ask that you contact
your dealer in the area where you’ll be parking your
vehicle. The dealer can give you the best advice for that
particular area.
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2-35

Run your engine only as long as you must. This saves
fuel. When you run the engine, make it
go a little
faster than just idle. That is, push the accelerator
slightly. This uses less fuel for the heat that you get
and
it keeps the battery charged. You will need a
well-charged battery to restart the vehicle, and possibly
for signaling later on with your headlamps. Let the
heater run for a while.
Then, shut the engine
off and close the window almost
all the way to preserve the heat. Start the engine
again and repeat this only when you feel really
uncomfortable from the cold. But do it as little as
possible. Preserve the fuel as long as you can.
To help keep warm, you can get out of the vehicle
and do some fairly vigorous exercises every half hour
or
so until help comes.
If You Are Stuck: In Sand, Mud,
Ice or Snow
In order to free your vehicle when it is stuck, you will
need to spin the wheels, but you don’t want to spin your
wheels too fast. The method known as “rocking” can
help you get out when you’re stuck, but you must
use caution.
If you let your tires spin at high spe ~ ~, ~ rey
can explode, and you or others could be
injured. And, the transaxle or other parts
of
the vehicle can overheat. That could cause an
engine compartment fire or other damage.
When you’re stuck, spin the wheels as little as
possible. Don’t spin the wheels above
35 mph
(55 km/h) as shown on the speedometer.
4-30

Engine Coolant
The cooling system in your vehicle is filled with
DEX-COOL@ engine coolant. This coolant is designed
to remain in your vehicle for 5 years or 150,000 miles
(240
000 km), whichever occurs first, if you add
only DEX-COOL@ extended life coolant.
The following explains your cooling system and how to
add coolant when it is low.
If you have a problem
with engine overheating, see
Engine Overheating on
page
5-26.
A 5060 mixture of clean, drinkable water and
DEX-COOL@ coolant will:
Give freezing protection down to -34°F (-37°C).
Give boiling protection up to 265°F
(129°C).
0 Protect against rust and corrosion.
Help keep the proper engine temperature.
Let the warning messages and gages work as they
should.
Notice: When adding coolant, it is important that
you use only
DEX-COOL@ (silicate-free) coolant.
If coolant other than DEX-COOL@ is added to
the system, premature engine, heater core or
radiator corrosion may result. In addition, the engine
coolant will require change sooner
-- at 30,000 miles
(50,000 km) or 24 months, whichever occurs first.
Damage caused by the use
of coolant other
than DEX-COOL@
is not covered by your new
vehicle warranty.
5-23

What to Use
Use a mixture of one-half clean, drinkable water and
one-half
DEX-COOL@ coolant which won’t damage
aluminum parts.
If you use this coolant mixture,
you don’t need
to add anything else.
Adding on
, plain wa ~ ~ * to your cooling
system can be dangerous. Plain water, or
some other liquid such as alcohol, can boil
before the proper coolant mixture will. Your
vehicle’s coolant warning system
is set for the
proper coolant mixture.
With plain water or the
wrong mixture, your engine could get too hot but you wouldn’t get the overheat warning.
Your engine could catch fire and you or others
could be burned. Use a
50/50 mixture of clean,
drinkable water and
DEX-COOL@ coolant.
Notice: If you use an improper coolant mixture,
your engine could overheat and be badly damaged.
The repair cost wouldn’t be covered by your
warranty.
Too much water in the mixture can freeze
and crack the engine, radiator, heater core and
other parts.
If you have to add coolant more than four times a year,
have your dealer check your cooling system.
Notice: If you use the proper coolant, you don’t
have to add extra inhibitors or additives which claim
to improve the system. These can be harmful.
Checking Coolant
The engine coolant
reservoir is located on the
driver’s side
of the vehicle,
above the engine air
cleanedfilter. See
Engine
Compartment Overview
on page
5- 12 for more
information on location.
5-24

If No Steam Is Coming From
Your Engine
If you get an engine overheat warning but see or
hear no steam, the problem may not be too serious.
Sometimes the engine can get a little
too hot when you:
Climb a long hill on a hot day.
Stop after high-speed driving.
Idle for long periods in traffic.
Tow a trailer.
If you get the overheat warning with no sign of steam,
try this for a minute or
so:
1. If your air conditioner is on, turn it off.
2. Turn on your heater to full hot at the highest fan
speed and open the window as necessary.
3. If you’re in a traffic jam, shift to NEUTRAL (N);
otherwise, shift to the highest gear while
driving
- AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE (D) or
THIRD
(3).
If you no longer have the overheat warning, you can
drive. Just to be safe, drive slower for about
10 minutes.
If the warning doesn’t come back on, you can drive
normally.
If the warning continues, pull over, stop, and park your
vehicle right away.
If there’s still no sign of steam, idle the engine for
three minutes while you’re parked. If you still have the
warning,
turn off the engine and get everyone out of
the vehicle until it cools down. Also, see “Overheated
Engine Protection Operating Mode” listed previously in
this section.
You may decide not to
lift the hood but to get service
help right away.
5-28

The coolant level should be at or above the FULL COLD
mark. If it isn’t, you may have a leak at the pressure cap
or in the radiator hoses, heater hoses, radiator, water
pump or somewhere else in the cooling system. Heater
and radiator hoses, and other engine
parts, can be very hot. Don’t touch them.
If you do, you can
be burned.
Don’t run the engine
if there is a leak. If you run
the engine,
it could lose all coolant. That could
cause an engine fire, and you could be burned.
Get any leak fixed before you drive the vehicle.
If there seems to be no leak, with the engine on, check
to see
if the electric engine cooling fans are running.
If the engine is overheating, both fans should be
running. If they aren’t, your vehicle needs service.
5-30

Notice: Engine damage from running your engine
without coolant isn’t covered by your warranty.
See “Overheated Engine Protection Operating
Mode” in the Index for information on driving to
a safe place in an emergency.
Notice: When adding coolant, it is important that
you use only
DEX-COOL@ (silicate-free) coolant.
If coolant other than DEX-COOL@
is added to the
system, premature engine, heater core or radiator
corrosion may result. In addition, the engine coolant
will require change sooner
- at 30,000 miles
(50 000 km) or 24 months, whichever occurs first.
Damage caused by the use of coolant other
than DEX-COOL@ is not covered by your new
vehicle warranty.
How to Add Coolant to the Coolant
Recovery Tank
If you haven’t found a problem yet, but the coolant
level isn’t at
or above the FULL COLD mark, add a
50/50 mixture of clean, drinkable waterand DEX-COOL@
engine coolant at the coolant recovery tank. See Engine
Coolant on page
5-23 for more information.
Adding only plain water to your cooling
system can be dangerous. Plain water, or
some other liquid such as alcohol, can boil
before the proper coolant mixture will. Your
vehicle’s coolant warning system
is set for the
proper coolant mixture. With plain water or the
wrong mixture, your engine could get too hot
but you wouldn’t get the overheat warning.
Vn~lr en~ine mt1ld catch fire and YOU or others
could be burned. Use a 50/50 mixture of clean,
drinkable water and DEX
COOL@ coolant.
5-31

Notice: In cold weather, water can freeze and crack
the engine, radiator, heater core and other parts.
Use the recommended coolant and the proper
coolant mixture.
You can be burned if you
spill coolant on hot
engine parts. Coolant contains ethylene glycol and
it will burn if the engine parts are hot
enough. Don’t spill coolant on
a hot engine.
When the coolant in the coolant recovery tank is at or
above the
FULL COLD mark, start your vehicle.
If the overheat warning continues, there’s one more
thing you can try.
You can add the proper coolant
mixture directly to the radiator, but be sure the cooling
system
is cool before you do it.
5-32