1995 OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE brake

Low Traction Light (Option)
If your vehicle has the
traction control system,
there will be a
LOW
TRACTION light on
the instrument panel.
LOW
TRACTION
When your anti-lock system is adjusting brake pressure
to help avoid a braking
skid, or when your traction
control system is limiting wheel spin, the
LOW TRACTION light will come on. Slippery road
conditions may exist if this light comes on,
so adjust
your driving accordingly. The light will come
on and
stay on for four seconds when your anti-lock system
adjusts brake pressure for 'less than four seconds or
when your traction control system limits wheel spin
for
less than four seconds. Otherwise, the light will go out
as soon as the anti-lock system stops adjusting brake
pressure or the traction control system stops limiting
wheel spin. The
LOW TRACTION
light also comes on briefly, as a
bulb check, when the engine is started. If the light
doesn't come on then, have it fixed
so it will be there to
tell you when the system is active.
Engine Coolant Temperature Gage
In
260
This gage shows the engine coolant temperature. If the
gage pointer moves into the red area, your engine is too
hot! It means that your engine coolant has overheated. If
you have been operating your vehicle under normal
driving conditions, you should pull
off the road, stop
your vehicle and turn
off the engine as soon as possible.
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Fuel Gage
1
Your fuel gage tells you about how much fuel you have
left (when the ignition
is on). When the gage first
indicates
EMPTY (E), you still have a little fuel left, but
you should get more soon. Here
are four things that some owners ask about.
None
of these show a problem with your fuel gage:
0
0
0
0
At the service station, the gas pump shuts off before
the gage reads
FULL (F).
It takes a little more or less fuel to fill up than the
gage indicated. For example, the gage may have
indicated the tank was half full, but it actually took a
little more or less than half the tank’s capacity to fill
the tank.
The gage moves a little when you turn a comer,
brake
or speed up.
The gage doesn’t go back to
EMPTY (E) when you
turn off the ignition.
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I Section 4 Your Driving and the Road
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.
Defensive Driving
The best advice anyone can give about driving is: Drive
defensively.
Please start with a very important safety device in your
Oldsmobile: 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.
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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 perception time and reaction
time.
First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal.
That’s
perception 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 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.
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.
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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.
Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS)
Your Oldsmobile has an advanced electronic bralung
system that will help prevent a braking skid.
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When you start your vehicle, or when you begin to drive
away, you may hear
a momentary motor or clicking
noise. And
you may even notice that your brake pedal I
moves a little while this is going on. This is the ABS
system testing itself. (You may also hear a clicking noise
if you leave the ignition in the
RUN position for about
four seconds before starting the vehicle.) 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.
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A computer senses that wheels are slowing down. If one
of the wheels is about to stop rolling, the computer will
separately work the brakes at each front wheel and at the
rear wheels.
The anti-lock system can change
the brake pressure
faster than any driver could. The computer
is
programmed to make the most of available tire and road
conditions.
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.
If your vehicle has the traction control system, the
LOW TRACTION light will come on when your
anti-lock system
is adjusting brake pressure to help
avoid a braking skid. See “Low Traction Light” in
the Index.
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Traction Control System
(Option:
3800 V6 Engine)
Your vehicle may have a traction control system that
limits wheel spin. This is especially useful in slippery
road conditions. The system operates only if it senses
that one or both of the front wheels are spinning or
beginning to lose traction.
When this happens, the system works the front brakes
and reduces engine power to limit wheel spin.
The LOW TRACTION light will come on when your
traction control system is limiting wheel spin. See
“Low Traction Light” in the Index. You may feel the
system working, or you may notice some noise, but this
is normal.
If your vehicle is in cruise control when the traction
control system begins to limit wheel spin, the cruise
control will automatically disengage. When road
conditions allow you
to safely use it again, you may
re-engage the cruise control. (See “Cruise Control” in
the Index.)
TCS
The TCS warning light will come on to let you know if
there’s a problem with your traction control system.
See “Traction Control System Warning Light’’ in the
Index. When this warning light is on, the system will not
limit wheel spin. Adjust your driving accordingly.
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