1996 BUICK PARK AVENUE light

Driving too fast through large water puddles or even
going through some car washes
can ,cause problems, too.
The water may affect your brakes. Try to avoid puddles.
But if you can’t,
try to slow down before you hit them.
I A CAUTION:
Wet brakes can cause accidents. They won’t work
well in a quick stop and may cause pulling to 0n.e
side.
You could lose control of the vehicle.
After driving through a large puddle of water
or
a car wash, apply your brake pedal lightly until
q your brakes work normally.
4-17
ProCarManuals.com

Hydroplaning
Hydroplaning is dangerous. So much water can build up
under your tires that they can actually ride on the water.
This can happen if the road is wet enough and you’re
going fast enough. When your vehicle is hydroplaning,
it has little or no contact with the road.
Hydroplaning doesn’t happen often. But
it can if your
tires haven’t much tread
or if the pressure in one or
more is low. It can happen if a lot
of water is standing on
the road. If you can see reflections from trees, telephone
poles or other vehicles, and raindrops “dimple” the
water’s surface, there could be hydroplaning.
Hydroplaning usually happens at higher speeds. There
just isn’t a hard and fast rule about hydroplaning. The
best advice is to slow down when it is raining.
0
0
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 water, drive
through them very slowly.
Some Other Rainy Weather Tips
Turn on your low-beam headlamps -- not just
your parking lamps
-- to help make you more visible
to others.
Besides slowing down, allow some extra following
distance. And be especially careful when
you pass
another vehicle. Allow yourself more clear room
ahead, and be prepared to have your view restricted
by road spray.
Have good tires with proper tread depth. (See
“Tires”
in the Index.)
0
ProCarManuals.com

City Driving
One of the biggest problems with city streets is the
amount of traffic
on them. You’ll want to watch out for
what the other drivers are doing and pay attention to
traffic signals. Here
are ways
to increase your safety in city driving:
Know the best way to get to where you are
going. Get a city map and plan your trip into an
unknown part of the city just as you would for a
cross-country trip.
Try to use the freeways that rim and crisscross most
large cities. You’ll save time and energy. (See the
next part, “Freeway Driving.”)
Treat a green light as a warning signal. A traffic
light is there because the corner is busy enough to
need it. When a light turns green, and just before
you
start to move, check both ways for vehicles that have
not cleared the intersection or may be running the
red light.
ProCarManuals.com

y Driving
Mile for mile, freeways (also called thruways, parkways,
expressways, turnpikes or superhighways) are the safest
of all roads. But they have their own special rules.
The most important advice on freeway driving
is: Keep
up with traffic and keep to the right. Drive at the same
speed most
of the other drivers are driving. Too-fast or
too-slow driving breaks a smooth traffic flow. Treat the
left lane on a freeway as a passing lane.
4-1,
At the entrance, there is usually a ramp that leads to the
freeway. If you have
a clear view of the freeway as you
drive along the entrance ramp,
you should begin to
check traffic. Try to determine where you expect to
blend with the flow. Try to merge into the gap at close to
the prevailing speed. Switch on your turn signal, check
your mirrors and glance over your shoulder as often as
necessary. Try to blend smoothly with the traffic flow.
Once you are on the freeway, adjust your speed
to the
posted limit or to the prevailing rate
if it’s slower. Stay
in the right lane unless you want to pass.
Before changing lanes, check your mirrors. Then use
your turn signal.
Just before you leave the lane, glance quickly over your
shoulder to make sure there isn’t another vehicle in your
“blind” spot.
Once you are moving
on the freeway, make certain you
allow a reasonable following distance. Expect to move
slightly slower at night.
When you want to leave the freeway, move
to the proper
lane well in advance.
If you miss your exit, do not,
under any circumstances, stop and back
up. Drive on to
the next exit.
The exit ramp can be curved, sometimes quite sharply.
ProCarManuals.com

Winter Driving
Here are some tips for winter driving:
@ Have your Buick in good shape for winter,
You may’warlt to put winter emergency supplies in
your
trunk.
Include an ice scraper, a small brush or broom, a supply
of windshield washer fluid, a rag, some winter outer
clothing, a small shovel, a flashlight, a red cloth and a
couple
of reflective warning triangles. And, if you will
be driving under severe conditions, include a small bag
of sand, a piece
of old carpet or a couple of burlap bags
to help provide traction. Be sure you properly secure
these items
in your vehicle.
4-24
_.
ProCarManuals.com

Run your engine only as long as you must. This saves
fuel. When you run the engine, make it go a little faster
than just idle. That is, push the accelerator slightly. This
uses less fuel for the heat that you get and it keeps the
battery charged. You will need a well-charged battery to
restart the vehicle, and possibly for signaling later on
with your headlamps. Let the heater run for awhile.
Then, shut the engine off and close the window almost
all the way to preserve the heat. Start the engine again
and repeat this only when you feel really uncomfortable
from the cold. But do it as little as possible. Preserve the
fuel as long as you can. To help keep warm, you can get
out of the vehicle and do some fairly vigorous exercises
every half hour or
so until help comes.
Loading Your Vehicle
ym OCCUPANTS
VEHICLE CAP. WT.
TIRE-LOADING INFORMATION
7
FRT. CTR. RR. TOTAL LBS. KG
MAX. LOADING & GVWR
SAME AS VEHICLE
CAPACITY WEIGHT XXX COLD TIRE
TIRE
SIZE SPEED PRESSURE
RTG PSI/KPa
FRT.
RR.
SPA.
IF TIRES ARE HOT, ADD 4PSIi28KPa
SEE OWNER'S MANUAL FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
- ~ ~ __
Two labels on your vehicle show how much weight it
may properly carry. The Tire Loading Information label
found on the rear edge
of the driver's door tells you the
proper size, speed rating and recommended inflation
pressures for the tires on your vehicle. It also gives you
important information about the number
of people that
can be in your vehicle and the total weight that you can
carry. This weight is called the Vehicle Capacity Weight
and includes the weight of all occupants, cargo and all
nonfactory-installed options.
4-28
ProCarManuals.com

Tbrn Signals When Towing a Trailer
The arrows on your instrument panel will flash
whenever you signal a turn or lane change. Properly
hooked up, the trailer lamps will also flash, telling other
drivers you’re about
to turn, change lanes or stop.
When towing a trailer, the arrows on your instrument
panel will flash for turns even if the bulbs on the trailer
are burned out. Thus, you may think drivers behind you
are seeing your signal when they are not. It’s important
to check occasionally to be sure the trailer bulbs are still
working.
Your vehicle
has bulb warning lights. When you plug a
trailer lighting system into your vehicle’s lighting
system, its bulb warning lights may not let you know if
one of your lamps goes out.
So, when you have a trailer
lighting system plugged in, be sure
to check your
vehicle and trailer lamps from time to time to be sure
they’re all working. Once you disconnect the trailer
lamps, the bulb warning lights again can tell you if one
of your vehicle lamps
is out.
Driving On Grades
Reduce speed and shift to a lower gear before you start
down a long or steep downgrade.
If you don’t shift
down, you might have to use your brakes
so much that
they would get hot and no longer work well.
On a long uphill grade,
shift down to THIRD (3) and
reduce your speed to around
45 mph (70 km/h) to reduce
the possibility of engine and transaxle overheating.
Parking on Hills
You really should not park your vehicle, with a trailer
attached, on a hill.
If something goes wrong, your rig
could start to move. People can be injured, and both
your vehicle and the trailer can
be damaged.
But if you ever have to park your rig on a hill, here’s
how
to do it:
1. Apply your regular brakes, but don’t shift into
PARK (P) yet.
2. Have someone place chocks under the trailer wheels.
3. When the wheel chocks are in place, release the
regular brakes until the chocks absorb the load.
4. Reapply the regular brakes. Then apply your parking
5. Release the regular brakes.
brake, and the shift
to PARK
(P).
4-36
ProCarManuals.com

..
A CAUTION:
Using a match near a battery can cause battery
gas to explode. People have been hurt doing this,
and some have been blinded. Use
a flashlight if
you need more light. .
Be sure the battery has enough water. You don’t
need to
add water to the Delco Freedom@ battery
installed in every new
GM vehicle. But if a
battery has filler caps,. be sure the rightamount
offluid is there.
If it is low, add water to take care
of that first. If you don’t, explosive gas could
be present.
Battery fluid contains acid that can burn you.
Don’t get it on you.
If you accidentally get it in
your eyes or on your skin, flush the place with
water and get medical help immediately.
I
6. Check that the jumper cables don’t have loose or
missing insulation. If they do, you could get a shock
and the vehicles could. be damaged.
Before you connect the cables, here are some basic
, . ’
things you should know. Positive (+) will ‘go to
positive (+) and negative (-) will go to negative (-)
or a metal .engine part. Don’t connect positive (+) to
negative
(-) or you’ll get a short that would damage
the battery and maybe other
parts, too.
,.
.,
I
Fans or other moving engine parts ean injure you
badly. Keep your hands away from moving parts
once the engines are running.
I
I. 5-4
ProCarManuals.com