1994 CHEVROLET TRACKER weight

1. Hold the brake pedal down with your
right foot and set the parking brake.
2. Move the shift lever into “P” (Park)
position like this:
0 Hold in the button on the lever,
and push the lever all
the way
toward the front of your vehicle.
3. If you have four-wheel drive, be sure
the transfer case is
in a drive gear -
not in “N” (Neutral).
4. Move the key to “LOCK.”
5. Remove the key and take it with you.
If you can walk away from your
vehicle
with the key in your hand,
your vehicle is
in “P” (Park).
Leaving Your Vehicle with the
Engine Running
(AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION)
A CAUTION:
Xt can be dangerous to leave your
vehicle with the engine running. Your
vehicle could move suddenly if the
shift lever is not fully in “P” (Park)
with the parking brake firmly set.
I€ YOU have four-wheel drive and
your transfer case is in “N” (Neutral),
your vehicle
will be free to roll, even
if your shift lever
is in “F‘” (Park). So
be sure the transfer case is in a drive
gear
- not in “N’ (Neutral).
And, if you leave the vehicle with the
engine running, it
could overheat and
even catch
fie. You or others could
be injured. Don’t leave your vehicle
with the engine running unless
you
have to.
Torque Lock
(AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION)
If you are parking on a hill and you don’t
shift your transmission into “P” (Park)
properly, the weight
of the vehicle may
put too much force
on the parking pawl in
the transmission. You may find it difficult
to pull the shift lever out of “P” (Park).
This is called ”torque lock.” To prevent
torque lock, set the parking brake and
then shift into “P“ (Park) properly before
you leave the driver‘s seat. To find out
how, see “Shifting into ’P7 (Park)’‘ in the
Index.
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 transmission, so you can pull the
shift lever out of ’bP’’ (Park).
Shifting out of P (Park)
(AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION)
Your Geo has a brake-transmission shift
interlock. You have
to fully apply your
regular brake before
you can shift from
.‘P’’ (Park) when the ignition is in the
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NOTICE:
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Never raise or lower the top while the vehicle is moving, or drive with any
part of the top unfastened or partially removed. The
wind could get under it
and cause damage.
Do
not take your vehicle through an automatic car wash. It could damage
your convertible top.
Don’t try
to lower or raise the convertible top or tap or beat on the plastic
windows if your vehicle is out in cold weather,
4 1 OF (5°C) or below. The
cold can cause cracks and other damage
to the windows and to the top as it
is being lowered or raised.
Don’t lower the top
if it is damp or wet. After the top is down, the trapped
water
can cause stains, mildew and damage to the inside of your car. Be
sure
to dry off the top before you lower it.
Don’t lower the convertible top
if the rear flap or side windows are dirty.
Dirt could scratch the side windows.
The convertible top isn’t designed to carry weight. Never
let anyone sit on
the top, and don’t put anything on top
of it when it is up, or it could be
damaged. The
parts of your convertible top are:
1. Top Bow Latch
2. Front Top Bow
3. Horizontal Roof Support
4. Rear Top Bow
5. Strap
6. Strut
7. Clamp
8. Center Pillar
9. Roof Rail
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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 Geo: Buckle 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 mistakes.
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.
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:
0 Judgment
0 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 ifa
person plans to drive‘? Ideally, no one
should drink alcohol and then drive.
But
if one does, then what’s “too much”‘? It
:an 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 j 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.
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According to the American Medical
Association,
a 180-pound (82 kg) person
who drinks three 12-ounce (355 ml)
bottles
of beer in an hour will end up with
a BAC of about 0.06 percent. The person
would reach the same BAC by drinking
three 4-ounce (120 ml) glasses of wine or
three mixed drinks if each had
1 - 1/2
ounces (45 ml)
of a liquor like whiskey,
gin or vodka.
It’s
the amount of alcohol that counts. For
example,
if the same person drank three
double martinis
(3 ounces or 90 ml of
liquor each) within an hour, the person‘s
BAC would be close
to 0.12 percent. A
person who consumes food just before
or
during drinking will have a slightly lower
BAC level.
DRINKING THAT Will
IN THE TIME SHOWN
RESULT IN A BAC OF .05%
1 HOURS
’ HOURS
HOUR
100 120 la0 160 160 200 220 240
BODY WEIGHT IN POUNDS
The law in most U.S. states sets the legal
limit at
a BAC of 0.10 percent. In Canada
the limit is 0.08 percent, and
in some
other countries it’s lower than that. The
BAC will be over 0.10 percent after three
to six drinks (in one hour). Of course, as
we’ve seen.
it depends on how much
alcohol is
in the drinks, and how quickly
the person drinks them. But it’s very important
to keep
in mind
that
the ability to drive is affected well
below a RAC of
0.10 percent. Research
shows that the driving skills
of many
people are impaired at a BAC
approaching 0.05 percent, and that the
effects are worse at night.
All drivers are
impaired at BAC levels above 0.05
percent. Statistics show that the chance
of
being in an accident increases sharply for
drivers who have a BAC
of 0.05 percent
or above.
A driver with a BAC level of
0.06 percent (three beers in one hour for a
180-pound or 82 kg person) has doubled
his
or her chance of having an accident.
At a BAC level of 0.10 percent, the
chance of that driver having an accident
is
six times greater; at a level of 0.15
percent, the chances are twenty-five times
greater! And, the body takes about
an
hour to rid itself of the alcohol in one
drink. No amount of coffee or number of
cold showers will speed that up.
‘‘I’ll be careful” isn’t the right answer.
What
if there’s an emergency, a need to
take sudden action, as when
a child darts
into the street? A person with
a higher
BAC might not be able
to react quickly
enough
to avoid the collision.
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Your Driving and the
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likelihood the vehicle will tumble end
over end.
But when you drive across
an
incline. the much more narrow
track width
(the distance between the
left and right whecls) may not prevent
the vehicle from tilting and rolling
over.
Also, driving across an incline
puts more weight on the downhill
wheels. This could cause a downhill
slide or a rollover.
Surfkce conditions can be
a problem
when you drive across
il hill. Loose
gravel, muddy spots. or even wet
grass can cause your tires
to slip
sideways, downhill.
If the vehicle
slips sideways.
it can hit something
that
will trip it (a rock, a rut, etc.) and
roll over.
Hidden obstacles can make the
steepness
of the incline even worse. If
you drive across a rock with the uphill wheels, or
if the downhill wheels drop
into
a rut or depression. your vehicle
can
tilt even more.
For reasons like these, you need
to decide
carefully whether
to try to drive across an
incline. Just because the trail goes across
the incline doesn’t mean
you have to
drive it. The last vehicle to iry it might
have rolled over.
Road
Drivihg across an incline that’s too
steep
will make your vehicle roll
over. You could be seriously injured
or killed. If you have any doubt about
the steepness
of the incline, don’t
drive across it. Find another route
instead.
Q: What if I’m driving across an
incline that’s not too steep, but I hit
some loose gravel and start to slide
downhill. What should
I do‘?
A: If you feel your vehicle starting to
slide sideways, turn downhill. This
should help straighten out the vehicle
and prevent the side slipping. However
a much better way to prevent this is to
get
out and “walk the come” so you
know what the surface is like bcforc
you drive it.
Stalling on an Incline
If your vehicle stalls when you’re
crossing an incline, be sure
you (and your
passengers) get out
on the uphill side,
even
if the door there is harder to open. If
you get
out on the downhill side and the
vehicle starts to roll over,
you’ll be right
in its path.
If
you have to walk down the slope, stay
out of the path the vehicle will take if
it
does roll over.
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Towing a Trailer
NOTICE:
Pulling a trailer improperly can dam-
age your vehicle and result in costly
repairs not covered by your warranty,
To pull a trailer correctly, follow the
advice in this section, and see your
Geo dealer for important information
about towing a trailer with your
vehicle. Your
vehicle can tow a trailer. 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, transmission, 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.
If You Do Decide to Pull a Trailer
If you do, here are some important points.
There are many different laws having
to do with trailering. Make sure your
rig will be legal, not only where you
live but also where you’ll be driving.
A good source for this information
can be state or provincial police.
Consider using a sway control. You
can ask a hitch dealer about sway
controls.
Don’t tow a trailer at all during the
first
500 miles (800 km) your new
vehicle is driven. Your engine, axle or
other parts could be damaged.
Then, during the first
500 miles (800
km) that you tow a trailer, don’t drive
over
50 mph (80 km/h) and don’t
make starts at
full throttle. This helps
your engine and other parts
of your
vehicle wear in at the heavier loads.
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Your Driving and the Road
Three important considerations have to do
with weight:
Weight of the Trailer
How heavy can a trailer safely be?
It should never weigh more than 1,000
pounds (450 kg), But even that can be too
heavy.
It depends
on how you plan to use your
rig. For example, speed, altitude, road
grades, outside temperature and how
much your vehicle is used to pull a trailer
are all important. And, it can also depend
on any special equipment that you have
on your vehicle.
You can ask your dealer for our trailering
information or advice, or you can
write us
at:
Customer Assistance Department
Chevrolet/Geo
P.O.
Box 7047
Troy, MI 48007-7047
In Canada, write to:
General Motors of Canada Limited
Customer Assistance Center
1908 Colonel Sam Drive
Oshawa, Ontario L1H 8P7
A B
Weight of the Trailer Tongue
The tongue load (A) of any trailer is an
important weight to measure because it
affects the total or
gross weight of your
vehicle. The gross vehicle weight (GVW
includes the curb weight of the vehicle,
any cargo you may carry in it, and the
people who will be riding in the vehicle.
And if you will tow a trailer, you must
add the tongue load to the GVW because
your vehicle will be carrying that weight,
too. See “Loading Your Vehicle” in the
Index for more information about your
vehicle’s maximum load capacity.
If you’re using a “dead-weight” hitch, the
trailer tongue
(A) should weigh 10% of
the total loaded trailer weight
(B). If you
have a “weight-distributing” hitch, the :railer tongue
(A) should weigh 12% of
;he
total loaded trailer weight (B).
After you’ve loaded your trailer, weigh
the trailer and then the tongue, separately,
to see if the weights are proper. If they
uen’t, you may be able to get them right
simply by moving some items around
in
the trailer.
Total Weight on Your Vehicle’s Tires
Be sure your vehicle’s tires are inflated to
the limit for cold tires. You’ll find these
numbers
on the Certification label at the
rear edge of the driver’s door
or see “Tire
Loading” in the Index. Then be sure you
don’t
go over the GVW limit for your
vehicle.
Hitches
It’s important to have the correct hitch
equipment. Crosswinds, large trucks
going by, and rough roads are a few
reasons why you’ll need the right hitch.
Here are some rules to follow:
0 If you use a step bumper hitch, and
your trailer tongue has a V-shaped
foot, your bumper could be damaged
in sharp turns. Check the distance
from the front edge
of the foot to the
middle
of the hitch ball socket. If the
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0
distance is less than 12 inches, take
the foot off the trailer tongue.
Will you have to make any holes
in
the body of your vehicle when you
install a trailer hitch?
If you do, then
be sure
to seal the holes later when
you remove the hitch. If you don't
seal them, deadly carbon monoxide
(CO) from your exhaust can get into
your vehicle (see "Carbon Monoxide"
in the Index). Dirt and water can, too.
Safety Chains
You should always attach chains between
your vehicle and your trailer. Cross the
safety chains under the tongue of the
trailer
so that the tongue will not drop to
the road if
it becomes separated from the
hitch. Instructions about safety chains
may be provided by the hitch
manufacturer
or by the trailer
manufacturer. Follow the manufacturer's
recommendation
for attaching safety
chains. Always leave just enough slack
so
you can turn with pour rig. And, never
allow safety chains
to drag on the ground.
Trailer Brakes
If your trailer weighs more than 1,000
pounds (450 kg) loaded, then it needs its
own brakes -and they must be adequate.
Be sure
to read and follow the instructions
for the trailer brakes so you'll be able to
install, ad-just and maintain them properly.
Don't tap into your vehicle's brake
system
if the trailer's brake system
will use more than 0.02 cubic inch
(0.3 cc) of fluid from your vehicle's
master cylinder.
If it does. both
systems won't work well. You could
even lose your brakes.
Will the trailer brake parts take
3,000
psi (20 650 kPa) of pressure? If not,
the trailer brake system must not be
used
with your vehicle.
If everything checks out this far. then
make the brake fluid tap at the port on
the master cylinder that sends fluid
to
the rear brakes. But don't use copper
tubing for
this. If you do, it will bend
and finally break off. Use steel brake
tubing.
Driving with a Trailer
Towing a trailer requires a certain amount
of experience. Before setting out for the
open road, you'll want
to get to know
your rig. Acquaint yourself
with the feel
of handling and braking with the added
weight
of the trailer. And always keep in
mind that the vehicle you are driving is
now a good deal longer and not nearly so
responsive as your vehicle is by itself.
Before you start, check the trailer hitch
and platform. safety chains, electrical
contwxtor. lights, tires and mirror
adjustment. If the trailer has electric
brakes, start your vehicle and trailer
moving and then apply the trailer brake
controller by hand to be sure the brakes
are working. This lets you check your
electrical connection
at the same time.
During your trip, check occasionally to be
sure that the load is secure. and that the
lights and any trailer brakes are
still
working.
Following Distance
Stay at least twice as far behind the
vehicle ahead as
you would when driving
your vehicle without
a trailer. This can
help you avoid situations that require
heavy braking and sudden turns.
Passing
You'll need more passing distance up
ahead when you're towing a tnliler. And.
because you're
B good deal longer, you'll
need to go much farther beyond the
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