wiring PONTIAC FIREBIRD 1994 Owners Manual

Your Driving and the Road
Backing Up
Hold the bottom of the steering wheel
with one hand. Then, to move the trailer
to the left, just move that hand to the left.
To move the trailer to the right, move
your hand to the right. Always back up
slowly and, if possible, have someone
guide you.
Making 7hms
When you’re turning with a trailer, make
wider turns than normal.
Do this so your
trailer won’t strike soft shoulders, curbs,
road signs, trees, or other objects. Avoid
jerky or sudden maneuvers. Signal well in
advance.
Thrn Signals When Towing a Trailer
When you tow a trailer, your vehicle has
to have a different turn signal flasher and
extra wiring. The green arrows on your
instrument panel will flash whenever you signal a turn or lane change. Properly
hooked up, the trailer lights will also
flash, telling other drivers you’re about to
turn, change lanes or stop. When
towing a trailer, the green arrows
on your instrument panel will flash for
turns even
if the bulbs on the trailer are
burned out. Thus, you may think drivers
behind you are seeing your signal when
they are not. It’s important to check
occasionally to be sure the trailer bulbs
are still working.
Driving on Grades
Reduce speed and shift to a lower gear
before you start down a long or steep
downgrade. If you don’t shift down, you
might have to use your brakes
so much
that they would get hot and no longer
work well.
On a long uphill grade, shift down and
reduce your speed to around
45 mph
(70 km/h) to reduce the possibility of
engine and transmission overheating.
If you are towing a trailer and you
have an automatic transmission with
Overdrive, you may prefer to drive in
“D”
instead of Overdrive (or, as you need to, a
lower gear). Or,
if you have a manual
transmission with fifth (or sixth) gear and
you are towing a trailer, it’s better not to
use fifth (or sixth) gear. Just drive in
fourth gear (fifth gear if you have a six-speed manual transmission) or, as you
need to, a lower gear.
Parking on Hills
You really should not park your vehicle,
with a trailer attached, on a hill. If
-
something goes wrong, your rig could
start to move. People can be injured, and
both your vehicle and the trailer can be
damaged.
But if you ever have to park your rig on a
hill, here’s how to do it:
1. Apply your regular brakes, but don’t
shift into
“P” (Park) yet, or into gear
for a manual transmission.
2. Have someone place chxks under the
3. When the wheel chocks are in place,
release the regular brakes until the
chocks absorb the load. trailer wheels.
4. Reapply the regular brakes. Then
apply your parking brake, and then shift to
“P” (Park), or “R” (Reverse)
for a manual transmission.
5. Release the regular brakes.
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I
NOTICE:
Do not tow with sling-type equiment
or fascia/fog light damage will occur.
Use wheel lift or car carrier equip-
ment. Additional ramping may be
required for car carrier equipment.
Use safety chains and wheel straps. Attach a
separate safety chain around
outboard end of each lower control arm.
~TICE:
I
Take care not to damage the brake
pipes and hoses or the
ABS sensor
and wiring.
NOTICE:
Towing a vehicle over rough surfaces
could damage a vehicle. Damage can
occur from vehicle-to-ground
or vehicle-to-wheel-lift-equipment
contact.
To help avoid damage,
install a towing dolly and raise
vehicle until adequate clearance is
obtained between the ground and/or
wheel-lift equipment.
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I Fuses and Circuit
Breakers
'he wiring circuits in your vehicle are
rotected from short circuits by
a
ombination of fuses, circuit breakers,
nd fusible thermal links in the wiring
self. This greatly reduces the chance of
ires caused by electrical problems.
'here are two fuse centers on your ehicle. One is in the left side of your
lstrument panel.
The other is in the engine compartment.
3pen the cover on either of the boxes to
:xpose the fuses.
>oak at the silver-colored band inside the
'use. If the band is broken or melted,
.eplace the fuse. Be sure you replace a
)ad fuse with a new
one of the correct
rize.
f you ever have a problem on the road
md don't have a spare fuse, you can
)orrow one. Just pick some feature
of
Jour vehicle that you can get along
without
- like the radio or cigarette
ighter
- and use its fuse, if it is the size
IOU need. Replace it as soon as you can.
Headlights
The headlight wiring is protected by a
circuit breaker. An electrical overload
will cause the lights to go
on and off, or in
some cases to remain
off. If this happens,
have your headlight wiring checked right
away.
Windshield Wipers
The windshield wiper motor is protected
by a circuit breaker and a fuse. If
the
motor overheats due to heavy snow, etc.,
the wiper will stop until the motor
cools. If the overload is caused by some
electrical problem and not snow, etc.,
be sure to get it fixed.
Power Windows and Other Power
Options
Circuit breakers protect the power
windows and other power accessories.
When the current load is too heavy,
the circuit breaker opens and closes,
protecting the circuit until the problem
is fixed or goes away.
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