PONTIAC GRAND-AM 1993 Owners Manual

Problems on the Road
Engine Overheating (CONT)
If No Steam is Coming from Your
Engine:
If you get the 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.
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If you get the overheat warning with no
sign of steam, try this for a minute or so:
1 . If you have an air conditioner, turn it
off.
2. Turn your heater to full hot at the
highest fan speed and open the window as necessary.
3. Try to keep your engine under load
(in a drive gear where the engine
runs slower).
If you no longer have the overheat
warning,
you can drive. Just to be safe,
drive slower for about ten 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, you can
idle the engine for two or three minutes
while you’re parked, to
see if the
warning stops.
But then, if you still have the warning,
TURN
OFF THE ENGINE AND GET
EVERYONE OUT
OF THE VEHICLE
until it cools down.
You may decide not to lift the hood but
to get service help right away.
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Cooling System
When you decide it’s safe to lift the
hood, here’s what you’ll see:
(A) Coolant surge tank with pressure cap
(B) Electric engine fan
bAU I IVIV
1 /r An electric fan under the hood
- b can start up even when the
engine is not running and can injure you. Keep hands, clothing
and tools away from any
underhood electric fan.
[f the coolant inside the coolant surge
tank is boiling, don’t do anything else
until
it cools down.
’he coolant level should be at or above
TJLL COLD.
f it isn’t, you may have a leak in the
adiator hoses, heater hoses, radiator,
dater pump or somewhere else
in the
ooling system.
A
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. Engine damage
from
runni
engine without coolant isn’
covered by your warranty.
there seems to be no leak, check
to
x if the electric engine fan is running.
C the engine is overheating, the fan
hould be running.
If it isn’t, your
chicle needs service.
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Problems on the Road
Engine Overheating (CONTJ
How to Add Coolant to the Coolant
Surge Tank:
If you haven’t found a problem yet, but
the coolant level isn’t at or above
FULL
COLD, add a 50/50 mixture of clean
water
(preferably distilled) and a proper
antifreeze at the coolant surge
tank, but
be sure the cooling system, including
the coolant surge
tank pressure cap, is
cool before
you do it. (See the Index
under Engine Coolant for more
information about the proper coolant
mix.)
182
L Steam and scalding liquids
L from a hot cooling system can
blow out and burn you badly. They
are under pressure, and if you turn
cap-evm a little-they can come
out at high speed. Never turn the
pressure cap when the cooliag
tank pressure cap, is hot. Wait for
the cooling system and coolant
you ever have to turn the pmsure
MP.
the coolant surge tank pressure
system, including the COoIant surge
surge tank pressure cap to cool if
Adding only plain water to
dangerous. Plain water, or some
other liquid like alcohol, can boil
before the proper coolant mix will.
Your vehicle’s coolant warning
system is set for the proper coolant
mix. With plain water or the
wrong mix, 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 mix
of
clean water and a proper
antifreeze.
k your cooling system can be I
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NOTICE
A
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.
1. You can remove the coolant surge
tank pressure cap when the cooling
system, including the coolant surge
tank pressure cap and upper radiator
hose, is no longer hot. Turn the
pressure cap slowly about
?A turn to
the left and then stop.
If you hear a hiss, wait for that to stop.
A hiss means there is still some pressure
left.
183 .
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Problems on the Road
,
Engine Overheating (CONT.)
2. Then keep turning the pressure cap, and remove it.
Once the pressure cap is
off, look
inside the surge
tank opening and
look for a small cylinder at the base
of the opening. This should be
covered with coolant. If the cylinder
is uncovered, the coolant in your
system is low.
184
3. Fill the coolant surge tank with the
proper mix, up to
FULL COLD, or
just above the small cylinder at the
base of the opening.
4. With the coolant surge tank pressure
cap off,
start the engine and let it run
until you can feel the upper radiator
hose getting hot. Watch out for the
engine fan.
By this time, the coolant level inside
the coolant surge
tank may be lower.
If the level is lower, add more
of the
proper mix to
the coolant surge tank
until the level reaches F'ULL COLD,
or just above the small cylinder at the
base
of the opening.
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5. Then replace the pressure cap. Be sure the pressure cap is tight.
Ifa 3iii.e Goes Hat
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, 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 your tire goes flat, the next section
shows how to use your jacking
equipment to change a flat tire safely.
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Problems on the Road
Changing a Flat lire
If a tire goes flat, avoid further tire and
wheel damage by driving slowly to a
level place. Turn
on your hazard
warning flashers.
186
IUII
Changing 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 I
a level place to change your tire. To help prevent the vehicle from moving:
1. Set the parking brake firmly.
2. Put an automatic shift lever in P Wk). I
3. Shift a manual transaxle to 1 or R (Reverse).
4. Turn off the engine.
To be even more certain the vehicle won't move, you can put chocks at the
front and fear 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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The following steps will tell you how to
use the jack and change a tire.
The equipment you’ll need is in the
trunk.
1. Turn the center retainer nut on the
compact spare tire housing
counterclockwise to remove it, then
lift the tire cover. You will find the
jaclung instructions label on the
underside
of the tire cover.
I
2. Remove the wing bolt securing the
compact spare tire, spacer and wheel
wrench by turning it counterclockwise.
Then lift
off the spacer and remove
the spare tire.
3. Remove the bolt securing the jack by
turning it counterclockwise. Then
remove the jack.
187
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Problems on the Road
Changing a Flat Tire (CONT.)
4. Remove the band around the jack.
Turn the jack handle clockwise to
raise the jack head a few inches.
L.. i
5. Using the wheel wrench, remove the
plastic cap nuts (if your vehicle has
them) and loosen all the wheel nuts. Don’t remove them yet.
On some models, a cover plate must
be removed to find the wheel nuts.
Carefully use the wedge end of the
wheel wrench
to pry it off.
6. Near each wheel, there is a notch in
the vehicle’s frame. Position the jack
under the vehicle. Raise the jack
head until it fits firmly into the notch in the vehicle’s frame nearest the flat
tire. Put the compact spare tire near
you.
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Ih Getting under a vehicle when
it is jacked up is dangerous. If
llle 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 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
vehicle.
Do not jack or lift vehicle using oil
pan. Pans could crack and begin to
leak fluid.
7. Raise tne venicle ~y rotating tne
wheel wrench clockwise. Raise the
vehicle far enough off the ground
so
there is enough room for the spare
tire to
fit.
8. Remove all of the wheel nuts, and
carefully pry the wheel cover from
the wheel,
if your flat tire has onp
Then take off
the flat tire.
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