1993 PONTIAC BONNEVILLE Owners Manual

Your Driving and the Road
Hi// and Mountain Roads
Driving on steep hills or mountains is
different from driving
in flat or rolling
terrain.
If you drive regularly in steep
country, or if you’re planning to visit
there, here are some tips that can make
your trips safer and more enjoyable.
Keep your vehicle in good shape.
Check all fluid levels and also the
brakes, tires, cooling system and
transaxle. These parts can work hard
on mountain roads.
Know how to go down hills. The most
important thing to know is this: let
your engine
do some of the slowing
down. Don’t make your brakes do
it
all. Shift to a lower gear when you go
down a steep or long hill. That way,
you will slow down without excessive
use of your brakes.
176
If you don’t shift down, your
brakes could get
so hot that
they wouldn’t work well.
You
would then have poor braking or
even
none going down a hill. You
could crash. Shift down to let your
engine
assist your brakes on a
steep downhill slope.
I CAUTION I
Know how to go uphill. Shift down to
D (Drive). This will help cool your
engine and transaxle, and you can
, climb the hill better.
Stay in your own lane when driving on
two-lane roads in hills or mountains.
Don’t swing wide or cut across the
center of the road. Drive at speeds that
let
you stay in your own lane. That
way, you won’t be surprised by a
vehicle coming toward you
in the
same lane.
It takes longer to pass another vehicle
when you’re going uphill. You’ll want
to leave extra room to pass.
If a
vehicle
is passing you and doesn’t have
enough room, slow down to make
it
easier for the other vehicle to get by.
ProCarManuals.com

As you go over the top of a hill, be
alert. There could be something in
your lane, like a stalled car or an
accident.
You may see highway signs on
mountains that warn of special
problems. Examples are long grades,
passing or no passing zones,
a falling
rocks area, or winding roads. Be alert
to these and take appropriate action.
problems. See the
Index under Winter
Driving.
Winter driving can present special
Parking on Hills
Hills and mountains mean spectacular
scenery. But please be careful where you
stop if you decide
to look at the view or
take pictures.
Look for pull-offs or
parking areas provided for scenic
viewing.
Another part of
this manual tells how to
use your parking brake (see the
Idex
under Parking Brake). But on a
mountain or steep hill, you can
do one
more thing. You can turn your front
wheels to keep your vehicle from rolling
downhill or out into traffic.
Here’s how
:
Parking Downhill
Turn your wheels to the right.
You don’t have to
jam your tires against
the curb,
if there is a curb. A gentle
contact
is all you need.
ProCarManuals.com

...
your Driving and the Road
Parking on Hills (CONI:)
Parking Uphill
If there is a curb, turn your wheels to
the left
if the curb is at the right side of
your vehicle.
178
If you’re going uphill on a one-way
street and
you’re parking on the left
side, your wheels should point to the
right.
If there is no curb when you’re parking
uphill, turn the wheels to the right.
If there is no curb when you’re parking
uphill
on the left side of a one-way
street, your wheels should be turned to
the left.
ProCarManuals.com

Toque Lock
If you are parking on a hill and you
don’t shift your transaxle into P (Park)
properly, the weight of the vehicle may
put too much force on the parking pawl in the transaxle.
You may find it difficult
to pull the shift lever out of P (Park).
This is called “torque lock.” To prevent
torque lock, always be sure
to shift into
P (Park) properly before you leave the
driver’s seat. To find out how, see the
Index under Shifing Into P (Park).
When you are ready to drive, move the
shift lever
out of P (Park) before you
release the parking brake.
If torque lock does occur, you may need
to have another vehicle push yours a
little uphill
to take some of the pressure
from the transaxle,
so you can pull the
shift lever out
of P (Park).
Winter Driving
Here are some tips for winter driving:
Have your Pontiac in good shape for
winter. Be sure your engine coolant
mix is correct.
Snow tires can help in loose snow, but
they may give
you less traction on ice
than regular tires.
If you do not expect
to be driving in deep snow, but may
have to travel over ice,
you may not
want to switch to snow tires at all.
I
You may want to put winter
emergency supplies in your trunk.
Include an ice scraper, a small brush
or broom, a supply of windshield
washer fluid, a rag,
some winter outer
clothing, a small shovel, a flashlight, a
red cloth, and a couple
of reflective
warning triangles. And,
if you will be
driving under severe conditions,
include a small bag of sand, a piece of
old carpet
or a couple of burlap bags
to help provide traction. Be sure
you
properly secure these items in your
vehicle.
17s ...
ProCarManuals.com

Your Driving and the Road
Driving on Snow or Ice
Most of the time, those places where
your tires meet the road probably have
good traction.
However, if there
is snow or ice
between your tires and the road, you can
have a
very slippery situation. You’ll
have a lot
less traction or “grip” and
will need to be very
careful.
What’s the worst time for this? “Wet
ice.”
Very cold snow or ice can be slick
and hard to drive on. But wet ice can
be
even more trouble because it may offer
the least traction of all. You can get
“wet” ice when it’s about freezing
(32°F; OOC) and freezing rain begins to
fall.
Try to avoid driving on wet ice
until salt and sand crews can get there. Whatever
the condition-smooth ice,
packed, blowing or loose snow-drive
with caution. Accelerate gently.
Try not
to break the fragile traction.
If you
accelerate too fast, the drive wheels will
spin and polish the surface under the
tires even more.
If you have the traction
control
system, it will improve your
ability to accelerate when driving on a
slippery road. Even though your vehicle
has a traction control system, you’ll
want
to slow down and adjust your
driving to the road conditions. See the
Index under Traction Control.
Your anti-lock brakes improve your
ability to make a hard
stop on a slippery
road. Even though you have the anti-
lock braking
system, you’ll want to
begin stopping sooner than you would on dry pavement. See the
Idex under
Anti-Lock Brake System.
Allow greater following distance on I
any slippery road.
Watch
for slippery spots. The road
might be fine until you
hit a spot that’s
covered with ice.
On an otherwise
clear road, ice patches may appear
in
shaded areas where the sun can’t
reach: around clumps
of trees, behind
buildings,
or under bridges.
Sometimes the surface of a
curve or
an overpass may remain icy when the
surrounding
roads are clear. If you see
a patch of ice ahead of you, brake
before you are on it.
Try not to brake
while you’re actually on the ice, and
avoid sudden steering maneuvers.
..I 180
ProCarManuals.com

If You’re Caught in a Bli’ard
If you are stopped by heavy snow, you
could be in a serious situation.
You
should probably stay with your vehicle
unless you know for sure that
you are
near help and you can hike through the
snow. Here are some things to
do to
summon help and keep yourself and
your passengers safe:
Turn on your hazard flashers.
Tie a red cloth to your vehicle to alert
police that you’ve been stopped by the
snow.
Put on extra clothing or wrap a
blanket around you.
If you have no
blankets or extra clothing, make body
insulators from newspapers, burlap
bags, rags, floor mats-anything you
can wrap around yourself
or tuck
under your clothing to keep warm.
but be careful.
You can run the engine to keep warm, cause deadly
CO (carbon
monoxide) gas to get inside.
CO
could overcome you and kill you.
You can’t see it or smell it, so you
might not know
it was in your
vehicle. Clear away snow from
around the base of your vehicle,
especially any that is blocking your
exhaust pipe. And check around
again from time to time to be
sure
snow doesn’t collect there.
Open a window just a little on the
side of the vehicle that’s away from
the wind. This
will help keep CO
out.
ProCarManuals.com

Your Driving and the Road
If bu’re Caught in a Blizzard
(CONT)
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 headlights. 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’re Stuck in Deep Snow
This manual explains how to get the
vehicle out of deep snow without
damaging it. See the
Index under
Rocking Your Whicle.
ProCarManuals.com

Towing a Tmiler
I
If you don't use the correct
equipment and drive properly,
you can lose control when you pull
a trailer. For example, if the trailer
is too heavy, the brakes may not
work well-or even at all. You and
your passengers could be seriously injured. Pull a trailer only if you
have followed all the steps in this
section.
NOTICE
I I; Pulling a trailer improperly can : __
damage your vehicle and result in' ;'
costly repairs not covered by your
follow the advice in this section.
Your Pontiac can tow a trailer, unless it
is equipped with the
3800 Supercharged
Engine (Code
1). Do not attempt to tow
a trailer
if equipped with the 3800
Supercharged Engine (Code 1). To
identify what the vehicle trailering
capacity is for your vehicle,
you should
read the information in
Weight of the
Trailer that appears later in this section.
But trailering is different than just
driving your vehicle by itself. Trailering
means changes in handling, durability,
and fuel economy. Successful, safe trailering
takes correct equipment, and it
has to be used properly.
That's the reason for this section.
In it
are many time-tested, important
trailering tips and safety rules. Many
of
these are important for your safety and
that of your passengers.
So please read
this section carefully before you pull a
trailer.
Load-pulling components such as the
engine, transaxle, wheel assemblies, and
tires are forced to work harder against
the drag of the added weight. The engine
is required to operate at relatively higher
speeds and under greater loads, generating
extra heat. What's more, the trailer adds
considerably to wind resistance,
increasing the pulling requirements.
ProCarManuals.com