1994 GMC SIERRA brake

Using Cruise Control on Hills
How well your Cruise Control will work on hills depends upon your speed,
load, and the steepness of the hills. When going up steep hills, you may
have to step
on the accelerator pedal to maintain your speed. When going
downhill, you may have to brake or shift to a lower gear to keep your speed
down.
Of course, applying the brake takes you out of Cruise Control. Many
drivers find this to be too much trouble and don’t use Cruise Control on
steep hills.
To Get Out of Cruise Control
There are two ways to turn off the Cruise Control:
0 Step lightly on
the brake pedal or
push the clutch
pedal, if you have
a manual
transmission
OR;
0 move the Cruise switch to
OFF.
To Erase Speed Memory
When you turn off the Cruise Control or the ignition, your Cruise Control
set speed memory is erased.
2-48
1
ProCarManuals.com

Headlights-On Reminder
A buzzer will sound when your headlights are turned on and your ignition is
in
OFF, LOCK or ACC. If you need to use your headlights when the
ignition switch is in
OFE LOCK or ACC, the buzzer can be turned off by
turning the interior light switch dial all the way
off.
Daytime Running Lights (DRL) Indicator Light
(Canada On/y)
If your vehicle was
first sold, when new,
in Canada, you will
have this light on the
instrument panel.
It goes on whenever
the Daytime Running
Lights are on.
Daytime Running Lights (Canada On/y)
The Canadian Federal Government has decided that “Daytime Running
Lights” (DRL)
are a useful feature, in that DRL can make your vehicle more
visible to pedestrians and other drivers during daylight hours. DRL are
required on new vehicles sold in Canada.
The high beam headlights will come on at reduced brightness in daylight
when:
The ignition is on,
The headlight switch is off, and
The parking brake is released.
When you turn on your headlights, the DRL will switch
off and the exterior
lights will come on. When you turn
off the headlights, the exterior lights
will go out and the high beams will change to the reduced brightness of
DRL again. The
DRL indicator light on the instrument panel will go on
whenever the DRL are on. This light means that only the DRL are on. When
you turn on your exterior lights, this light will go out.
Of course, you may still turn on the headlights any time
you need to.
To idle your vehicle with the DRL
off, set the parking brake. The DRL will
stay
off until you release the parking brake.
ProCarManuals.com

lnstument Panel
1 23 456 7093 10 3 1
17 1.6
15 14
13 12
I. Side Window Defogger Vents
2. Light Controls
3. Air Vents
4. Multifunction Lever
5. Tilt Lever
6. Instrument Cluster
7. Gearshift Lever
8. Audio System
9. Comfort Control System
11
10. Glove Box
1 1. Audio System
12. Ashtray
13. Rear Window Defogger Switch
14. Air Vent Handles
15. Cargo Lamp Switch or Dome
Light Override Switch
16. Fuse Panel
17. Parking Brake Release Handle
lnstrument Cluster
Your instrument cluster is designed to let you know at a glance how your
vehicle is running. You’ll know
how fast you’re going, about how much
fuel you have and many other things you’ll need
to know to drive safely and
economically.
Tachometer Cluster
If you have the tachometer cluster, it looks different but will tell you
everything the standard cluster does, with
the addition of displaying your
engine’s revolutions per minute (rpm).
2-67
ProCarManuals.com

Gages can indicate when there may be or is a problem with one of your
vehicle’s functions. Often gages and warning lights work together to let
you
know when there’s a problem with your vehicle.
When one of the warning lights comes on and stays on when you are
driving,
or when one of the gages shows there may be a problem, check the
section that tells you what to do about
it. Please follow the manual’s advice.
Waiting
to do repairs can be costly - and even dangerous. So please get to
know your warning lights and gages. They’re
a big help.
Brake System Warning Light
The red brake system
warning light is
located at the bottom
right corner
of the
instrument cluster
Your vehicle’s hydraulic brake system
is divided into two parts. If one part
isn’t working, the other part can still work and stop you. For good braking,
though, you need both parts working well.
Your vehicle also has rear-wheel anti-lock brakes.
If the warning light
comes on, there could be
a brake problem with either your regular or
rear-wheel anti-lock brakes, or both. Have your brake system inspected
right away.
This 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.
If the light comes on while you are driving, pull off the road and stop
carefully.
You may notice that the pedal is 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.)
2-70
ProCarManuals.com

A CAUTION:
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.
Water in Fuel Light
The red Water in Fuel
light,
if you have one,
is located near the
middle right edge of
the instrument cluster,
just below the turn
signal and lane change
indicator.
This light will come on to warn you
if there is water in the diesel fuel
system. For more information on how this light works, see “Diesel Fuel
Requirements and Fuel System”
in the Index.
2-71
ProCarManuals.com

Defensive Driving
The best advice anyone can give about driving is: Drive defensively.
Please start with a very important safety device
in your Vehicle: 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
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:
0 How much alcohol is in the drink.
The drinker’s body weight.
0 The amount of food that is consumed before and during drinking.
0 The length of time it has taken the drinker to consume the alcohol.
4-2
ProCarManuals.com

Control of a Vehicle
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 to ask more of
those control systems than the tires and road can provide. That means you
can lose control of
your vehicle.
Braking
Braking action involves perceptiorz time and renction time.
First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal. That’spemptiorz time.
Then you have to bring up your foot and do it. That’s reaction time.
Average reaction time is about 3/4 of a second. But that’s only an average. It
might be less
with one driver and as long as two 01- 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 34 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.
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.
4-5
ProCarManuals.com

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.
Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS)
Your vehicle has an advanced electronic braking system that can help you
keep it under control.
When you start your vehicle and begin to drive away, you may hear
a
momentary motor or clicking noise. The ABS motor comes on momentarily
when
the vehicle reaches 8 mph (I 2 km/h). And you may even notice that
your brake pedal moves a little while this is going on. This
is the ABS
system testing itself.
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 the rear wheels are slowing down.
IT one of the rear
wheels is about to stop rolling, the computer will work
the brakes at the rear
wheels.
It is programmed to make the most of available tire and road
conditions.
4-6
ProCarManuals.com