1994 CHEVROLET CAVALIER brake

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Features & Controls
II
I CHECK
L
I
I
... 86
Charging System Light
The charging system light will come on
briefly when you turn on the ignition
and the engine is not running, as a
check to show you it is working. Then it
should
go out. If it stays on, or comes
on while you are driving, you may have
a problem with the electrical charging
system. It could indicate that you have
a loose generator drive belt, or another
electrical problem. Have it checked
right away. Driving while this light is on
could drain your battery.
If you must drive a short distance with
the light on, be certain to turn
off all
your accessories, such as the radio and
air conditioner.
m
9rake Sysfem Warning Light
tour Chevrolet’s hydraulic brake
;ystem is divided into two parts. If one
)art isn’t working, the other part can
;till work and stop you. For good
)raking, though, you need both parts
vorlting well.
[f the warning light comes on, there
zould be a brake problem. Have your
brake system inspected right away.
rhis light should come
on as you start
the vehicle.
If it doesn’t come on then,
have it fixed
so it will be ready to warn
you if there’s a problem.
[f the light comes on while you are
jriving, pull off the road and stop
zarefully.
You may notice that the pedal
.s harder to push. Or, the pedal may go closer
to the floor. It may take longer to
stop.
If the light is still on, have the
vehicle towed for service. (See
Towing
Your Vehicle in the Index.)
The brake system warning light will also
come
on when you set your parking
brake, and it will stay
on if your parking
brake doesn’t release fully. If it stays on
after your parking brake is
fully
released, it means you have a brake
problem.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Anti-Lock Brake System Warning Light
With anti-lock, this light will come on
when you start your engine and it will
stay on for three seconds. That’s
normal.
If the light doesn’t come on,
have it fixed
so it will be ready to warn
you if there is a problem.
If the light stays on, turn the ignition
off. Or, if the light comes on and stays
on when you’re driving, stop as soon
as
possible and turn the ignition off. Then
start the engine again to reset the
system. If the light still stays on, or
comes on again while you’re driving,
your Chevrolet needs service.
If the
regular brake system warning light isn’t
on,
you still have brakes, but you don’t
have anti-lock brakes. If
the regular brake system warning
light is also on, you don’t have anti-lock
brakes and there’s a problem with your
regular brakes. See
Brake System
Warning Light
earlier in this part. If
the anti-lock brake system warning light
ever flashes, your anti-lock brake
system is still working but needs service
as soon as possible.
I SHIFT
Shift Light (MANUAL TRANSAXLE)
This light comes on when you need to
shift to the next higher gear. See the
Index under Manual Transaxle.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Here you’ll find information
about driving on different kinds
of
roads and in varying weather
conditions
. We’ve also included
many other useful tips on driving
.
107
Part 4
Your Driving and the Road
Defensive Drlvmg 108
Drunken Driving
........................................................................\
............................. 108
Control
of a Vehicle
Braking
........................................................................\
......................................... 110
Anti-Lock Brakes
........................................................................\
......................... 111
Steering Tips ........................................................................\
................................. 113
Steermg m Emergencies ........................................................................\
............... 114
Passing
........................................................................\
.......................................... 115
Driving at Night ........................................................................\
.............................. 117
Driving in the Rain
........................................................................\
.......................... 118
City Driving ........................................................................\
..................................... 119
Freeway Driving
........................................................................\
.............................. 120
Before Leaving on a Long Trip
........................................................................\
....... 121
Hill and Mountain Roads
........................................................................\
................ 122
Winter Drnmg 123
Recreational Towing
........................................................................\
........................ 125
Towing a Trailer
........................................................................\
.............................. 126
.. ........................................................................\
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..
.. ........................................................................\
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......... ~

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Your Driving and the Road
Defensive Driving
The best advice anyone can give about
driving is: Drive defensively.
Please start with a very important safety
device in your Chevrolet: Buclde up.
(See
Safety Belts in the Index.)
Defensive driving really means “be
ready for anything.”
On city streets,
rural roads,
or freeways, it means
“always expect the unexpected.”
Assume that pedestrians or other
drivers are going to be careless and
make mistakes. Anticipate what they
might do.
Be ready for their mistaltes.
Rear-end collisions are about the most
preventable of accidents. Yet they are
common. Allow enough following
distance. It’s the best defensive driving
maneuver, in both city and rural
driving. You never know when the
vehicle in front of you is going
to brake
or turn suddenly.
I Drunken Driving
Death and injury associated with
drinking and driving is a national
tragedy. It’s the number one contributor
to the highway death toll, claiming
thousands of victims every year.
Alcohol takes away three things that
anyone needs to drive a vehicle:
Judgment
Muscular Coordination
Vision
Police records show that almost half of
all motor vehicle-related deaths involve
alcohol
- a driver, a passenger or
someone else, such as a pedestrian, had
been drinking. In most cases, these
deaths are the result of someone who
was drinking and driving. About
20,000
motor vehicle-related deaths occur each
year because
of alcohol, and thousands
of people are injured. Just
how much alcohol is too much if a
person plans to drive? Ideally, no one
should drink alcohol and then drive.
But
if one does, then what’s “too
much”?
It can be a lot less than many
might think. Although it depends on
each person and situation, here is some
general information on the problem.
The Blood Alcohol Content (BAC)
of
someone who is drinking depends upon
four things:
How much alcohol is in the drink.
The drinker’s body weight.
The amount of food that is consumed
before and during drinking.
The length of time it has taken the
drinker to consume the alcohol.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Your Driving and the Road
true for brain, spinal cord and heart
injuries. That means that
if anyone who
has been drinking
- driver or
passenger
- is in a crash, the chance of
being killed or permanently disabled is
higher than if that person had not been
drinking. And we’ve already seen that
the chance
of a crash itself is higher for
drinking drivers.
Condrol of a Khkk
You have three systems that make your
vehicle go where you want it to
go. They
are the brakes, the steering and the
accelerator.
All three systems have to do
their work at the places where the tires
meet the road.
Sometimes, as when you’re driving on
snow or ice, it’s easy ta ask more
of
those control systems than the tires and
road can provide. That means you can
lose control
af your vehicle.
Bruking
Braking action involves perception
time
and reaction time.
First, you have to decide to push on the
brake pedal. That’s
perception the.
Then you have to bring up your foot
and do it. That’s reaction the.
Average reaction time is about 3/4 of a I
second. But that’s only an average. It
might be less with one driver and as
long as
two or three seconds or more
with another. Age, physical condition,
alertness, coordination,
and eyesight all
play a part. So do alcohol, drugs and
frustration. But even
in 3/4 of a second,
a vehicle moving at
60 mph (100 km/h)
travels 66 feet (20 m). That could be a
lot
of distance in an emergency, so
keeping enough space between your
vehicle
and others is important.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine And, of course, actual stopping
distances vary greatly with the surface
of the road (whether it’s pavement or
gravel); the condition
of the road (wet,
dry, icy); tire tread; and the condition
of
your brakes.
Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people drive in spurts
- heavy
acceleration followed by heavy braking
- rather than keeping pace with traffic.
This is a mistake. Your brakes may not
have time to cool between hard stops.
Your brakes
will wear out much faster if
you do a lot
of heavy braking. If you
keep pace with the traffic and allow realistic following
distances, you will
eliminate a lot of unnecessary braking.
That means better braking and longer
brake life.
If your engine ever stops while you’re
driving, brake normally but don’t pump
your brakes. If you do, the pedal may
get harder to push down. If your engine
stops, you will still have some power
brake assist. But you will use it when
you brake. Once the power assist is
used
up, it may take longer to stop and
the brake pedal will be harder to push.
L
- 20
- 10
9nti-Lock Brakes (ABS)
Your Chevrolet has an advanced
dectronic braking system that will help
prevent skidding.
rhis light on the instrument panel will
30 on when you start your vehicle.
When you start your vehicle, or when
you begin to drive away, you may hear a
momentary motor
or clicking noise.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Your Driving and the Road
And you may even notice that your
brake pedal moves a little while this is
going on. This is the ABS system
testing itself.
If there’s a problem with
the anti-lock brake system, the anti-lock
brake system warning light will stay on
or flash.
See
Anti-lock Brake System Warning
Light
in the Index.
Here’s how anti-lock works. Let’s say
the road is wet. You’re driving safely.
Suddenly
an animal jumps out in front
of you.
You slam on the brakes. Here’s what
happens with ABS.
A computer senses that wheels are
slowing down.
If one of the wheels is
about to stop rolling, the computer wil
separately work the brakes at each fro]
wheel and at the rear wheels.
The anti-lock system can change the
brake pressure faster than any driver
1
nt
could.*The computer is programmed to
make the most of available tire and road
conditions.
L-
You can steer around the obstacle while
braking hard.
As you brake, your computer keeps
receiving updates on wheel speed and
controls braking pressure accordingly.
Remember: Anti-lock doesn’t change
the time you need to get your foot up to
the brake pedal. If you get too close to
the vehicle in front of you, you won’t
have time to apply your brakes if that
vehicle suddenly slows or stops. Always
leave enough room up ahead to stop,
even though you have anti-lock brakes.
To Use Anti-Lock
Don’t pump the brakes. Just hold the
brake pedal down and let anti-lock
work for you. You may feel the system
working, or you may notice some noise,
but this is normal.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Braking in Emergencies
Use your anti-lock braking system when
you need to. With anti-lock, you can
steer and brake at the same time. In
many emergencies, steering can help
you more than even the very best
braking.
Power Steering
If you lose power steering assist
because the engine stops or the system
is not functioning, you can steer but it
will take much more effort.
Steering Tips
Driving on Curves
It’s important to take curves at a
reasonable speed.
A lot of the “driver lost control”
accidents mentioned
on the news
happen
on curves. Here’s why:
Experienced driver or beginner, each
of
us is subject to the same laws of physics
when driving on curves. The traction of
the tires against the road surface makes
it possible for the vehicle to change its
path when you turn the front wheels.
If
there’s no traction, inertia will keep the
vehicle going in the same direction.
If
you’ve ever tried to steer a vehicle on
wet ice, you’ll understand this.
The traction you can get in a curve
depends on the condition of your tires
and the road surface, the angle at which
the curve
is banked, and your speed.
While you’re in a curve, speed is the one
factor you can control.
Suppose you’re steering through a
sharp curve. Then you suddenly accelerate.
Both control systems
-
steering and acceleration - have to do
their work where the tires meet the
road. Adding the sudden acceleration
can demand too much
of those places.
You can lose control.
What should you do if this ever
happens? Ease up on the accelerator
pedal, steer the vehicle the way you
want it to go, and slow down.
Speed limit signs near curves warn that
you should adjust your speed. Of
course, the posted speeds are based on
good weather and road conditions.
Under less favorable conditions you’ll
want to go slower.
If you need to reduce your speed as you
approach
a curve, do it before you enter
the curve, while your front wheels are
straight ahead.
Try to adjust your speed
so you can
“drive” through the curve. Maintain a
reasonable, steady speed. Wait to
accelerate until you are out of the curve,
and then accelerate gently into the
straightaway.