1994 GMC SIERRA transmission

Parking Your Vehicle
(Manual Transmission Models
Only)
Before you get out of your vehicle, put your manual transmission in “R”
(Reverse), turn off the engine, and firmly apply the parking brake.
If you have four-wheel drive, be sure your transfer case is in a drive gear.
Your vehicle could roll
if it isn’t.
If
you are parking on a hill, or if your pulling a trailer, see “Parking on
Hills” or “Towing a Trailer” in the Index.
Parking Over Things That Burn
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Engine Exhaust Running Your Engine While You’re Parked
(Automatic Transmission)
It’s better not to park with the engine running. But if you ever have to, here
are some things
to know.
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When your headlights or parking lights are on, rotate the dial to the right of
your headlight switch up
to brighten, or down to dim, your transfer case
indicator light.
2H (2-Wheel High): This setting is for driving in most street and highway
situations. Your front axle is not engaged
in two-wheel drive.
4H (4-Wheel High): This setting engages your front axle to help drive your
vehicle. Use
4H when you need extra traction, such as on wet or icy roads,
or in most off-road situations.
N (Neutral): Shift to this setting only when your vehicle needs to be towed
or when using a power take-off.
4L (4-Wheel Low): This setting also engages your front axle to give you
extra power, but should be used only for off-road driving.
You can shift from
2H to 4H or from 4H to 2H while the vehicle is moving.
Your front axle will engage faster if you take your foot off of the accelerator
for a few seconds after you shift.
In extremely cold weather it may be
necessary to stop or slow the vehicle to shift
out of 2H.
To shift into or out of 4L or “N” (Neutral):
Slow the vehicle to a roll, about 1-3 mph (2-5 kdh) and shift your
transmission into neutral.
0 Shift the transfer case shift lever in one continuous motion.
Don’t pause
in “N” (Neutral) as you shift the transfer case into 4L, or your
gears could clash.
Remember that driving
in 4H or 4L may reduce fuel economy. Also, driving
in four-wheel drive on dry pavement could cause your tires to wear fdster
and make your transfer case harder to shift.
Front Axle Locking Feature
The front axle locks and unlocks automatically when you shift the transfer
case. Some delay
for the axle to lock or unlock is normal. If the outside
temperature is very hot, or the vehicle has been used under hard driving
conditions, there may be
a slight delay for the axle to unlock.
Whenever you are
in four wheel drive, the rear wheel anti-lock brake
system does not operate. The regular brake system operates normally. When
you shift back into two-wheel drive, the anti-lock brake system will
operate.
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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.
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Shift Indicator Light
The orange SHIFT
Indicator light, if you
have one,
is located
near the upper left
corner of the
instrument cluster.
This light, with the word
SHIFT and the upshift arrow, is used on some
models with manual transmissions. Depending on your particular model,
your vehicle may
not have this light. The SHIFT indicator light will help
you get the best fuel economy. See “Shift Light” or “Shift Speeds-
Vehicles Without Shift Light”
in this section for more information.
Headlight High Beam Indicator Light
light is located near
the middle left edge of
the instrument cluster.
The high beam indicator
is on whenever you use your high beam headlights.
For more details about high beams, see “Headlight High-Low Beam”
earlier
in this section.
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Q: What should I do if my vehicle stalls, or is about to stall, and I
can’t make
it up the hill?
A:
0
a
a
a
If this happens, there are some things you should do, and there are
some things you must not do. First, here’s what you
slzould do:
Push the brake pedal to stop the vehicle and keep
it from rolling
backwards.
Also, apply the parking brake.
If your engine is still running, shift the transmission into reverse,
release the parking brake, and slowly back down
the hill in reverse.
If your engine has stopped running,
you’ll need to restart it. With the
brake pedal depressed and the parking brake still applied, shift the
transmission to
“P’ (Park) (or, shift to “N” (Neutral) if your vehicle has
a manual transmission) and restart the engine. Then, shift to reverse,
release the parking brake, and slowly back down the
hill as straight as
possible
in reverse.
As you are backing down the hill, put your left hand on the steering
wheel at the
12 o’clock position. This way, you’ll be able to tell if your
wheels are straight and maneuver as you back down. It’s best that you
back down the
hill with your wheels straight rather than in the left or
right direction. Turning the wheel too far to the left or right will
increase the possibility of
a rollover.
Here are some things
you mist nof do if you stall, or are about to stall,
when going up a
hill.
Never attempt to prevent a stall by shifting into “N” (Neutral) (or
depressing the clutch, if you have a manual transmission) to “rev-up”
the engine and regain forward momentum. This won’t work. Your
vehicle will roll backwards very quickly and you could go out of
control.
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Instead, apply the regular brake to stop the vehicle. Then apply the parking
brake. Shift into reverse, release the parking brake, and slowly back straight
down.
Never attempt to turn around if you are about to stall when going up a
hill. If the hill is steep enough to stall your vehicle, it’s steep enough to
cause
you to roll over if you turn around. If you can’t make it up the
hill, you must back straight down
the hill.
Q: Suppose, after stalling, I try to back down the hill and decide I just
can’t
do it. What should I do?
A: Set the parking brake, put your transmission in “P” (Park) (or the
manual transmission
in first gear) , and turn off the engine. Leave the
vehicle and
go get some help. Exit on the uphill side and stay clear of
the path the vehicle would take if it rolled downhill. Do not shift the
transfer case to
“N” (Neutral) when you leave the vehicle. Leave it in
some gear.
Driving Downhill
When off-roading takes you downhill, you’ll want to consider a number of
things:
Are there hidden surface obstacles? Ruts‘? Logs? Boulders?
What’s at the bottom of the hill? Is there a hidden creek bank or even a
river bottom with large rocks?
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If you decide you can go down a hill safely, then try to keep your vehicle
headed straight down, and use
a low gear. This way, engine drag can help
your brakes and they won’t have to do all the work. Descend slowly,
keeping your vehicle under control at
all times.
A CAUTION:
Heavy braking when going down a hill can cause your brakes to
overheat and fade. This could cause loss of control and a ser\
ious
accident. Apply the brakes lightly when descending a hill
and
use a low gear to keep vehicle speed under control.
Q: Are there some things I should not do when driving down a hill?
A: Yes! These are important because if you ignore them you could lose
control and have
a serious accident.
When driving downhill, avoid turns that take you across the incline of
the hill. A hill that’s not too steep to drive down may be too steep to
drive across. You could roll over if you don’t drive straight down.
0 Never go downhill with the transmission in “N” (Neutral) , or with the
clutch pedal depressed in a manual shift . This is called
“free-wheeling.” Your brakes will have to do
all the work and could
overheat and fade.
Avoid braking so hard that you lock the front wheels when going
downhill.
If your front wheels are locked, you can’t steer your vehicle.
If your wheels lock up during downhill braking, you
may feel the
vehicle starting
to slide sideways. To regain your direction, just ease off
the brakes and steer to keep the front of the vehicle pointing straight
downhill.
0: Am I likely to stall when going downhill?
A: It’s much more likely to happen going uphill. But if it happens going
downhill, here’s what to do.
0 Stop your vehicle by applying the regular brakes. Apply the parking
brake.
Shift to ‘bP’ (Park) (or to Neutral with the lnanual transmission) and,
while still braking, restart the engine.
0 Shift back to a low gear, release the parking brake, and drive straight
down.
0 If the engine won’t start, get out and get hclp.
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