1995 PONTIAC FIREBIRD light

Driving Through Deep Standing
Water
,*
NOTICE:
If you drive too quickly through deep puddles or
standing water, water can come in through your
engine’s air intake and badly damage your
engine. Never drive through water that is slightly
lower than the underbody
of your vehicle. If you
can’t avoid deep puddles or standing waiter, drive
through them very slowly.
Performance Mode Switch
This switch lets you change from a normal driving mode
to a performance mode. When you start the engine, the
switch will be in normal mode. For general driving
conditions, use
the normal mode. It will remain in
normal unless you select the PERFORM feature.
For a firmer shift and increased performance, you may
choose the
PERFORM mode. The light in the center of
the switch will light
up when selected. The switch will
then remain in performance mode until the engine
is
shut off, when it will go back to normal mode.
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Skip Shift Light (5.7L LTl Engine)
When this light comes on, you can only shift from
FIRST (1) to FOURTH (4) gear instead
of FIRST (1) to
SECOND (2) gear. This helps you to get the best
possible fuel economy.
This light will come on under these conditions:
0 The engine coolant temperature is greater than
170°F (77"C),
0 You are going 15-20 mph (24-32.'km/h), and
0 You are at 35% throttle or less.
When this light is on, the gear shift lever will let you
shift from
FIRST (1) to FOURTH (4) gears only. Once
you are in FOURTH (4) gear, you can press the clutch
again and shift into another gear.
Follow the shift speeds in this chart when the SKIP
SHIFT light is on.
Computer Aided Manual Transmission Shift Speeds:
1st to 4th 15 mph (24 km/h)
4th to 5th 25 mph (40 km/h)*
5th to 6th 40 mph (64 km/h)**
Each time you come to a stop, the engine's Electronic
Control Module (ECM) determines when to activate the
SKIP SHIFT upshift system. Use SECOND (2) gear
only when you accelerate very quickly from
a stop. You
can then follow the
full gear shift pattern.
"30 mph (48 km/h) when accelerating to highway
speeds.
**45 mph (72 krn/h) when accelerating to highway
speeds.
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Limited-Slip Rear Axle
If you have this feature, your rear axle can give you
additional traction on snow, mud, ice, sand or gravel. It
works like a standard axle most
of the time, but when
one of the rear wheels has no traction and the other does,
the limited-slip feature
will allow the wheel with
traction to move the vehicle.
Parking Brake
The parking brake uses the brakes on the rear wheels.
To set the parking brake:
Hold the brake pedal down and pull up on the parking
brake lever.
If the ignition is on, the brake system
warning light
will come on.
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A green arrow on the instrument panel will flash in the
direction of the turn or lane change.
To signal a lane change, just raise or lower the lever
until the green arrow starts to flash. Hold it there until
you complete your lane change. The lever will return by
itself when you release it.
As you signal a turn or a lane change, if the arrows don’t
flash but just stay on, a signal bulb may be burned out
and other drivers won’t see your turn signal.
If a bulb is burned out, replace it to help avoid an
accident. If the green arrows don’t go on at all when you
signal a turn, check the fuse (see“Fuses” in the Index).
Headlamp High/Low Beam
To change the headlamps from low beam to high or high
to low,
pull the turn signal lever all the way toward you.
Then release
it. When the high beams are on, this blue
light on the instrument panel also
will be on.
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Windshield Wipers
1
You control the windshield wipers by turning the band
with the wiper symbol on it.
For a single wiping cycle, turn the band to MIST. Hold
it there until the wipers start, then let
go. The wipers will
stop after one cycle.
If you want more cycles, hold the
band on MIST longer.
You can set the wiper speed for a long or short delay
between wipes. This can be very useful in light rain
or
snow. Turn the band to choose the delay time. The
closer to
LO, the shorter the delay.
For steady wiping at low speed, turn the band away
from you to the
LO position. For high speed wiping,
turn the band' further, to'H1. To stop the wipers, move
the band to
OFF.
Damaged wiper blades may prevent you from seeing
well enough to drive safely. To avoid damage, be sure to
I
clear ice and snow from the wipers blades before using *
them. If they're frozen to the windshield, carefully
loosen or thaw them. If your blades do become
damaged, get new blades or blade inserts.
Heavy snow or ice can overload your wipers. A circuit
breaker will stop them until the motor cools. Clear away
snow or ice to prevent an overload.
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To Reduce Speed While Using Cruise
Control
There are two ways to reduce your speed while using
cruise control:
1. Push the button at the end of the lever until you
reach the lower speed you want, then release it.
2. To slow down in very small amounts, push the
button for less than half a second. Each time you do
this, you’ll go about
1 mph (1.6 km/h) slower.
Passing Another Vehicle While Using
Cruise Control
Use the accelerator pedal to increase your speed. When
you take your foot
off the pedal, your vehicle will slow
down to the cruise control speed you set earlier.
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 several ways to turn off the cruise control:
1. Step lightly on the brake pedal or clutch pedal, if you
have a manual transmission; or
2. Move the cruise switch to OW.
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To Erase Speed Memory
When you turn off the cruise control or the ignition,
your cniise control set speed memory
is erased.
Main Lamp Control
L-’
-7
The main lamp control is a knob that works these lamps:
Headlamps
Taillamps
0 Parking lamps
License lamps
Sidemarker lamps
Instrument panel lights
’ I ’ This setting turns on your headlamps afid dther
operating lamps.
Pg This setting turns on your parking lamps without
your headlamps.
Turn the
knob to OFF to turn off the lamps.
-‘pJ-
Brightness Control
)t/.I This switch controls the brightness af YOU
instrument panel lights. Turn the switch to brighten or
dim the lights. If you turn the switch all the way up your
courtesy lamps will come on.
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Daytime Running Lamps (Canada)
Daytime Running Lamps (DRL) make it easier to see
the front
of your vehicle during the day. DIU can be
helpful when it’s raining and in the short periods after
dawn and before sunset. Several countries, including
Canada, require DRL.
A light sensor on top of the instrument panel makes the
DRL work,
so be sure it isn’t covered.
The DRL system.wil1 make your front turn signal lamps
come on when:
The ignition is on
0 The headlamp switch is off, and
The parking brake is released.
When the DRL are on, only your front turn signal lamps
will be on. The taillamps, sidemarker and other lamps
won’t be on. Your instrument panel won’t
be lit up either.
When it’s dark enough outside, your front turn signal
lamps will go out and your headlamps will come on.
The other lamps that come on with your headlamps will
also come on.
When it’s bright enough outside, the regular lamps will
go off, and your front turn signal lamps come on.
As with any vehicle, you should turn on the regular
headlamp system any time you need it.
Lamps On Reminder
If you turn the ignition OFF and leave the lamps on, you
will hear a chime when you open the driver’s door.
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