1996 BUICK PARK AVENUE Owners Manual

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The 1996 Buick Park Avenue Owner’s Manual
Seats and Restraint Systems ............................................................. 1-1
Features and Controls .................................................................. 2-1
Comfort Controls and Audio Systems ..................................................... 3-1
This section tells you how to use your seats and safety belts properly. It also explains “SRS” system.
This section explains how to start and operate your Buick.
This section tells you how to adjust the ventilation and comfort controls and how to operate your
audio system.
Here you’ll find helpful information and tips about the road and how to drive under different conditions.
YourDrivingandtheRoad .............................................................. 4-1
ProblemsontheRoad .................................................................. 5-1
This section tells you what to do if you have a problem while driving, such as a flat tire or
overheated engine, etc.
Here the manual tells you how to keep your Buick’ running properly
and looking good.
This section tells you when to perform vehicle maintenance and what fluids and lubricants to use.
ServiceandAppearanceCare ............................................................ 6-1
Maintenanceschedule .................................................................. 7-1
Customer Assistance Information ........................................................ 8-1
This section tells you how to contact Buick for assistance and how to get service publications. It also
gives you information
on “Reporting Safety Defects” on page 8-7.
Index ........................................................................\
........ 9-1
Here’s an alphabetical listing of almost every subject in this manual. You can use it to quickly find
something you want
to read.
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GENERAL MOTORS, GM and the GM Emblem,
BUICK, the BUCK Emblem and the name
PARK
AVENUE are registered trademarks of General Motors
Corporation.
This manual includes the latest information at the time
it
was printed. We reserve the right to make changes in the
product after that time without further notice. For
vehicles first sold in Canada, substitute the name
“General Motors
of Canada Limited” for Buick Motor
Division whenever it appears in this manual.
Please keep this manual in your Buick,
so it will be there
if you ever need it when you’re on the road. If you sell
the vehicle, please leave this manual in it
so the new
owner can use
it.
We support voluntary
technician certification.
WE SUPPORT
VOLUNTARY TECHNICIAN
CERTIFICATION THROUGH
National Institute for
AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE EXCELLENCE
For Canadian Owners Who Prefer a
French Language Manual:
Aux proprietaires canadiens: Vous pouvez vous
procurer un exemplaire de ce guide en franqais chez
votre concessionaire
ou au:
DGN Marketing Services Ltd.
1500 Bonhill Rd.
Mississauga, Ontario
L5T 1C7
Litho in
U.S.A. @Copyright General Motors Corporation 1995
Part No. 2563945 1 B First Edition All Rights Reserved
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Walter Maur and Thomas Buick
Buick’s chief engineer, Walter L. Marr (left), and
Thomas D. Buick, son of founder David Dunbar Buick,
drove the first Flint Buick in a successful Flint-Detroit
round trip in July 1904.
David Buick was building gasoline engines by 1899,
and Marr, his engineer, apparently built the first auto to
be called a Buick in 1900. However, Buick traditionally
dates its beginnings to 1903. That was the year the
company was reorganized, refinanced and moved from
Detroit to Flint. Buick has always been a product
innovator. Buick engineers developed the “valve-in-head” engine, a
light, powerful and reliable
engine which would eventually influence the entire
automotive industry.
William C. Durant was instrumental in promoting
Buicks across the country using his Durant-Dort
Carriage
Co. outlets and salespeople as the nucleus or a
giant distribution system. He knew the Buick as a
“self-seller.”
If automobiles could be this good, he
thought, maybe
it was time to switch from the horse and
buggy business to automobiles.
1.
At the 1905 New York
Auto Show, Durant took
orders for 1,000 Buicks
before the company had
built
40. On Buick’s
success, Durant created
a
holding company,
September 16, 1908. He
called it General Motors.
William C. (Billy) Duvant
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Durant also created a racing team that won 500 racing
trophies in 1909 and 19
10, including successes at
Indianapolis two years before the Indy
500 began.
The success of Buick engines was visible not only on
the race track, but in endurance tests across the country
and around the world. Buick was the only car to
complete a 1,000-mile Chicago-to-New York race in
1906. And
a Buick was the first car to travel across
South America, driven from Buenos Aires, Argentina,
over the Andes to Santiago, Chile in 1914.
I9II Model 21 Touring Car on Buick’s Test Hill
Buick drew plenty of attention because it could climb
hills and run through mud like
no other car. Buick’s
endurance and reliability were world famous.
During World War I, Buick built Liberty aircraft engines
as well as Red Cross ambulances so successfully that
one Buick ambulance was awarded the Croix de Guerre
by the French government.
As a builder of premier automobiles, Buick was hard hit
by the Great Depression. However, new General
Manager Harlow
H. Curtice created popular new models
including the Special and the Roadmaster. Buick sales
soon flourished.
I :
First Buick Factory
V
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In World War 11, Buick built aircraft engines, tanks and
other military hardware. This post-war period brought
great styling and engineering changes which resulted in
increased sales. The torque converter automatic
transmission, Dynaflow, was introduced in the 1948
Roadmaster. Buick’s famous “portholes” came along
in 1949.
1949 Roadmaster
vi
A high-compression V-8 engine was introduced in 1953.
And Buick’s famous vertical pillar “toothy” grille,
(introduced in
1942)’ became more massive in the
post-war
era.
I953 Skylark
Motor Trend magazine named the 1962 Buick Special
“Car
of the Year.” The first production V-6 engine was
used
in the Special.
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