PONTIAC FIREBIRD 1997 Owners Manual

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 st,ot, 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.
Changing a Flat Tire
If a tire goes flat, avoid further tire and wheel damage
by driving slowly t,o a level place.
Turn on your hazard
warning flashers.
Cham- ng 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 an automatic transmission shift lever in
PARK (P), or shift a manual transmission tu
FIRST (1) or REWRSE (R).
3. Turn off the engine.
To be even more certain the vehicle wan? 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,
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On convertible models, you must also remove the
convertible top protection panel. It’s
at the upper back of
the trunk. Turn the two screw knobs under the trunk
edge
a quarter turn left (counterclockwise) to remove
the panel.
The following steps will tell you
how to use the jack and
change a tire.
Removing the Spare Tire and Tools
The equipment you’ll need is in the right (passenger)
rear area behind the trim panel.
First you must remove the close-out panel. See
“Close-Out Panel” in the Index. Find the plastic screw
heads in the trim panel over
the
spare tire. (See “Compact Spare Tire” later in this
section for more information about the compact spare.)
Use a coin or a key to turn the screw heads until the
slots point front and back. Gently
Iift the trim panel and
move
it out of the way.
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If you have speakers in the trim panel, you may have to
disconnect the wire from the speaker. The speaker wire
may be long enough to remove the trim panel without
disconnecting
the wire.
Remove the wing nut and adapter and
pull out the spare.
To remove the jack and wheel wrench, loosen and
remove the bolt and remove the plastic cover.
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The tools you’ll be using include the jack (A) and wheel
wrench
(B).
The jack has a bolt at the end. Attach the wheel wrench
to the jack
bolt.
Turn the wheel wrench to the right to raise the lift head
a little.
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If your wheel has a bolt-on center cap, loosen the plastic
caps using the wheel wrench. Each wheel has one locknut in place
of the standard
wheel nut.
A special wheel lock key (removal tool) and
instructions are
located in the center console. Attach the
wheel lock
key to the socket of the wheel wrench.
Remove the locking whe'el nut by turning
counterclockwise.
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Removing the Flat Tire and Installing the Spare Tire
1. Using the wheel wrench, loosen all the wheel nuts.
Don’t remove them yet. Position the
jack under the vehicle. There
is a notch
in the vehicle’s rocker flange
on the coupe model.
Raise the jack head until
it fits firmly into the notch
nearest the flat tire.
On convertible models, place
the jack in a
similar location.
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I
2. Stay away from moldings or fender flanges to avoid
damaging them.
Put the compact tire near you.
Getting under a vehicle when it is jacked L= 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.
NOTICE:
Raising your vehicle with the jack improperly
positioned
will damage the vehicle or may allow
the vehicle to fall
off the jack. Be sure to fit the
jack lift head into the proper location before
raising your vehicle.
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3. Remove any rust or dirt
from the wheel bolts,
mounting surfaces and spare wheel.
Raise the vehicle
by rotating the wheel wrench
clockwise. Raise the vehicle far enough
off the
ground
so there is enough room for the spare tire to
fit. Remove all the wheel nuts and take
off the
flat tire.
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~ 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.
Never use oil or grease on studs or nuts. If you
do, the nuts might come loose. Your wheel could
fall off, causing a serious accident,
Replace the wheel nuts with the rounded end of the
nuts toward the wheel. Tighten each nut by hand
until the wheel is held against the hub.
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5. Tighten the wheel nuts firmly in a criss-cross
sequence as shown.
4. Lower the vehicle by rotating the wheel wrench
counterclockwise. Lower the jack completely.
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