1995 PONTIAC FIREBIRD stop start

Brake System Warning Light
Your Pontiac’s hydraulic
B RAKE two parts. If one part isn’t
brake system is divided into
working, the other part can
still work and stop you. For
good braking, though, you
need both parts working
If the warning light comes on, there could be a brake
problem. Have your brake system inspected right away.
This light should come on briefly 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, or if the
anti-lock brake system warning light is flashing, have
the vehicle towed for service. (See “Anti-Lock Brake
System Warning Light” and “Towing Your Car” in the
Index.)
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.
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Anti-Lock Brake System Warning Light
ABS
INOP
With the anti-lock brake system, this light will come on when
you
start your engine and it will stay on for three seconds.
That’s normal.
If the light doesn’t come on, have it fixed so it
will be ready
to warn you if there is a problem.
If the light flashes when you’re driving, you don’t have
anti-lock brakes and there could be a problem with your
regular brakes. 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.
Have the vehicle towed for service. (See “Towing Your
Car” in the Index.)
If the anti-lock brake system warning light stays on
longer than normal after you’ve started your engine, turn
the ignition off. Or, if the light comes on and stays on
when you’re driving, stop as soon as possible and
tum
the ignition off. Then start the engine again to reset the
system.
If the light still stays on, or comes on again
while you’re driving, your Pontiac needs service.
If the
light
is on but not flashing and the regular brake system
warning light isn’t
on, you still have brakes, but you
don’t have anti-lock brakes.
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Low Traction Light Engine Coolant Temperature Gage
LOW
TRAC
When your anti-lock system is adjusting brake pressure to
help avoid a braking skid, the
LOW TRAC light will
appear
on your instrument cluster. If you have the traction
control system,
this light will also come on when the
system is limiting wheel spin. Slippery road conditions
may
exist if this light comes on, so adjust your driving
accordingly. The light will stay on for a few seconds after
the
anti-lock system stops adjusting brake pressure or the
traction control system stops limiting wheel spin.
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.
In “Problems on the Road,”this manual shows what to
do. See “Engine Overheating” in the Index.
The LOW TRAC 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 anti-lock brake system or traction control
system
is active.
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before any problem is apparent, which may prevent more serious damage to your vehicle. The system is also
designed to assist your service technician in correctly
diagnosing any malfunction.
The SERVICE ENGINE SOON light should come on,
as
a check to show you it is working, when the ignition
is on and the engine is not running. This light will also
come on during a malfunction in one or two ways:
Light on steady - - indicates a system malfunction
has been detected. Drive the vehicle to the dealer for
service at your first opportunity.
Light Flashing - - indicates a misfire has been
detected which may damage the emission control
system. The damage may be reduced'by lowering the
vehicle speed, reducing the amount of cargo being
hauled or trailered, avoiding hard acceleration, or by
avoiding steep uphill grades.
If these actions are
effective, the light will stop flashing and remain on
steady. Drive the vehicle to a dealer for service.
If
the light continues to flash, stop the vehicle. Wait for
a steady light to come on, then drive the vehicle to
the nearest dealer for service.
These following conditions also may cause the
SERVICE ENGINE
SOON light to come on.
Low Fuel/Out of Fuel - - As the vehicle starts to run out
of fuel the SERVICE ENGINE SOON light may come
on as a result of
an engine misfire. Filling your gasoline
tank should correct this condition. Make sure to install
the gas cap fully. It will require a few driving trips to
turn the light
off.
Poor Quality Fuel - - Be sure to fuel your vehicle with
quality fuel. Your engine may not run efficiently on poor
fuel. Poor fuel may cause stalling, hesitation or misfire.
These conditions may go away when the engine is
warmed-up. However, poor quality fuel may cause the
SERVICE ENGINE SOON light to come
on.
Have a dealer check the vehicle. If no problems are
found, you may want to change to another brand of fuel.
Driving Through Standing Water -- Driving your
vehicle through puddles
of deep standing -w.a&r may
result in a temporary misfire condition. This condition
will usually correct itself- shortly after the electrical
system dries out.
It will require a few driving trips to
turn the light off.
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For NEXT to work properly, your tape must have at
least three seconds of silence between each selection.
The radio will not play during this operation.
FWD (Forward): Press this button to rapidly advance
to another part of the tape. Press PROG or FWD again
to stop it. The radio will play during this operation.
REV (Reverse): Press this button to rapidly rewind the
tape. Press PROG or
REV again to stop it. The radio
will play during this operation.
To Play the Next Selection
The radio will not play during this operation.
PROG (Program): Press this button to switch from one
side of the tape to the other or to stop the tape from
searching.
Noise Reduction
00 Press this button to reduce background noise. This
symbol will appear in the display.
Dolby@ B Noise Reduction manufactured under license
from Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation. Dolby
and the
00 symbol are trademarks of Dolby
Laboratories Licensing Corporation.
To Stop the Tape Player
Turn the power off or turn the ignition key off. The
cassette stays in the player and will resume playing
at the point where it stopped.
Press A” to stop playing the cassette and switch
to the radio. Press TAPE-PLAY to restart the cassette
at the point where it stopped.
Press EJECT to remove the cassette or stop the
cassette and switch to radio. EJECT will work with
the ignition or radio
off. Press EJECT to load a
cassette when the radio is
off.
NOTE: This radio has a “broken tape” feature that will
eject broken or misfed tapes. Because of
this feature,
CD changers that plug into the tape deck will not work
in this system.
Diagnostic Tape Error Indicator
When the cassette player detects a problem with the
cassette tape either just after it is loaded or while it is
playing,
it will attempt to work around the epor. If the
tape player cannot continue to play the cassette, it will
eject it and switch to the radio mode.
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RECALL: Press this button to see what track is playing.
Press
it again within five seconds to see how long it has
been playing.
The track number also appears when the disc is inserted.
PREV (Previous): Press this button or SEEK to hear
the current track again.
If you press and hold this button, or press it more than
once, the disc
will return to previous tracks.
NEXT Press this button or SEEK A to hear the
next track now (instead
of waiting until the present track
is finished).
If you press and hold this button or press it more than
once, the disc will advance further.
REV (Reverse): Press and hold this button to rapidly
return
to a passage. Release it to play the passage. The
radio will play during this operation and the display will
show elapsed time.
FWD (Forward): Press and hold this button to quickly
advance within a track. Release it to resume playing.
The radio will play during this operation.
RDM (Random): Press this button to hear a random
selection
of tracks. Press it again to turn off random
Play.
To Stop the Disc Player
Turn the power off or turn the ignition key off. The
disc stays in the player and will resume playing at
the point where it stopped.
0 Press A" to stop playing the disc and switch to
radio. Press CD/PLAY to restart the disc at the point,
where it stopped.
Press EJECT to eject the disc or stop the disc and
switch to radio. EJECT will work with the ignition
or radio
off. Press EJECT to load a disc when the
audio system is off.
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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 Pontiac has an advanced electronic braking system
that will help prevent a braking skid.
INOP
This light on the
instrument panel will
come on briefly when
you start your vehicle.
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
moves a little while this is going on. This is the ABS
system testing itself. 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.
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Do not get too close to the vehicle you want to pass
while you’re awaiting
an opportunity. For one thing,
following too closely reduces your area of vision,
especially if you’re following a larger vehicle.
Also,
you won’t have adequate space if the vehicle ahead
suddenly slows or stops. Keep back a reasonable
distance.
When it looks like a chance to pass is coming up,
start to accelerate but stay in the right lane and don’t
get too close. Time your move
so you will be
increasing speed as the time comes to move into the
other lane.
If the way is clear to pass, you will have a
“running start” that more than makes up for the
distance you would lose by dropping back. And
if
something happens to cause you to cancel your pass,
you need only slow down and drop back again and
wait for another opportunity.
If other cars are lined up to pass a slow vehicle, wait
your turn. But take care that someone isn’t trying to
pass you as you pull out to pass the slow vehicle. Remember
to glance over your shoulder and check
the blind spot.
Check your mirrors, glance over your shoulder, and
start your left lane change signal before moving out
of the right lane to pass. When you are far enough
ahead of the passed vehicle to see its front in your
inside mirror, activate your right lane change signal
and move back into the right lane. (Remember that
your right outside mirror is convex. The vehicle you
just passed may seem to be farther away from you
than it really is.)
Try not to pass more than one vehicle at a time on
two-lane roads. Reconsider before passing the next
vehicle.
Don’t overtake a slowly moving vehicle too rapidly.
Even though the brake lights are not flashing, it may
be slowing down or starting to turn.
If you’re being passed, make it easy for the
following driver to get ahead of you. Perhaps you
can ease a little
to the right.
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