1996 PONTIAC FIREBIRD Owners Manual

9. Shut the engine off and replace the pressure cap. Be
sure the arrows on the cap line up like this.
10. Then fill the coolant recovery tank to the proper
level.
For a complete
drain, flush and refill, see your Pontiac
dealer or a Pontiac Firebird Service Manual. To
purchase a service manual, see “Service and Owner
Publications”
in the Index.
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If a Tire Goes Flat
It’s unusual for a tire to “blow out” while you’re driving,
especially
if you maintain your tires properly. If air goes
out of a tire, it’s much more likely to leak out slowly.
But if you should ever have a “blowout,” here are a few
tips about what to expect and what to do:
If a front tire fails, the flat tire will create a drag that
pulls the vehicle toward that side. Take your foot
off the
accelerator pedal and grip the steering wheel
firmly.
Steer to maintain lane position, and then gently bralie to
a stop well out
of the traffic lane.
A rear blowout, particularly on a curve, acts much like a
skid and may
require the same correction you’d use in a
skid. In any rear blowout, remove your foot from the
accelerator pedal. Get the vehicle under control by
steering the way you want the vehicle to
go. It may be
very bumpy and noisy, but you can still steer. Gently
brake to a stop
-- well off the road if possible.,
If a tire goes flat, the next part shows how to use your
jacking equipment to change a flat tire safely.
Changing a Flat Tire
If a tire goes flat, avoid further tire and wheel damage
by driving slowly
to a level place. Turn on your hazard
warning flashers.
I
A CAUTILN:
Changing a tire can cause an injury. The vehicle
can slip off the jack and roll over
you or other
people. You and they could be
badly injured.
Find
a level place to change your tire. To help
prevent the vehicle from moving:
1. Set the parking brake firmly.
2. Put an automatic transmission shift
lever in
PARK (P), or shift a manual
transmission to
FIRST (1) or
REVERSE (a).
3. Turn off the engine.
To be even more certain the vehicle won’t move,
you can put blocks
at the front and rear of the
tire farthest away from the one being changed.
That would be the tire on the other side of the
vehicle,
at the opposite end.
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Removing the Spare Tire and Tools
The equipment you’ll need is in the right (passenger)
rear area behind the trim panel.
First you must remove the close-out panel. See
“Close-Out Panel” in the Index.
On convertible models, you must also remove the
convertible top protection panel. It’s at
the upper back
the trunk. Turn the two screw
knobs under the trunk
edge a quarter turn left (counterclockwise) to remove
the panel.
The following steps will tell you how to use the jack and
change
a tire.
i
of
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Find the plastic screw heads in the trim panel over the
spare tire. (See “Compact Spare’ Tire” later in this
section for more information about the compact spare.)
Use
a coin or a key to turn the screw heads until the
slots point front and back. Gently lift the trim panel and
move
it out of the way.
If you have speakers in the trim panel, you may have to
disconnect the wire form the speaker. The speaker wire
may be long enough to remove the trim panel without
disconnecting the wire.
Tu remove the jack and wheel wrench, loosen and
remove the bolt and remove the plastic cover.
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Remove the wing nut and adapter and pull out the spare. The tools you’ll be using include the jack (A) and wheel
wrench
(B).
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The jack has a bolt at the end. Attach the wheel wrench
to the jack bolt.
Turn the wheel wrench to the right to raise the lift
head a little.
If your wheel has a bolt-on center cap, loosen the plastic
caps using the wheel wrench.
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Each wheel has one locknut in place of the standard
wheel nut.
A special wheel lock key (removal tool) and
instructions are located in the center console. Attach
the wheel lock key to the socket
of the wheel wrench.
Remove the locking wheel nut by turning
counterclockwise.
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Removing the Flat Tire and Installing the
Spare Tire
1. Using the wheel wrench, loosen all the wheel nuts.
Don’t remove them yet.
2. Position the jack under the vehicle. There is a notch
in the vehicle’s rocker flange on the coupe model.
Raise the jack head until it fits
firmly into the notch
nearest the flat tire.
On convertible models, place the jack in a similar
location.
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