1996 PONTIAC PONTIAC heater

Engine Coolant Heater (Option)
In very cold weather, 0" F
(- 18 O C) or colder, the
engine coolant heater can
help. You'll get easier
starting and better fuel
economy during
engine warm-up.
A I
I A CAUTION: I
Plugging the cord into an ungrounded outlet
could cause an electrical shock. Also, the wrong
kind
of extension cord could overheat and cause
a fire. You could be seriously injured. Plug the
cord into a properly grounded three-prong 110-volt AC outlet.
If the cord won't reach, use a
heavy-duty three-prong extension cord rated for
I at least 15 amps.
4. After you've used the coolant heater, be sure to store
Usually, the coolant heater should be plugged in a the cord as it was before to keep it away from
minimum of four hours prior to starting your vehicle. moving engine parts. If you don't, it could
' - be damaged. To Use the- Coolant Heater
How long should you keep the coolant heater plugged
1. Turn off the engine.
in? The answer depends on the outside temperature, the
2. Open the hood and unwrap the electrical cord. kind of oil you have, and some other things. Instead of
.. - .. ' . ':. 1 :\'. . . .. .
~ ~
3. Plug it into a normal, grounded 110-volt AC outlet. trying to list
everything here, we ask that you contact
your Pontiac dealer in tlie area where you'll be parking
your vehicle. The dealer can give you-the best advice for
that particular area,
ProCarManuals.com

Interior Lamps
Instrument Panel Brightness Control
You cm brighten or dim the instrument panel lights by
moving the
PANEL dial. If you turn the dial all the way
up, your courtesy or interior lamps will come on.
Courtesy Lamps
When any door is opened, several lamps come on. lltllese
lamps are courtesy lamps. They make it easy for you
to
enter and leave your vehicle. You can also tun these
lamps on by moving the
PANEL dial all the way up.
Some of the lamps have switches
so you can turn them
on, even when the doors are closed. These lamps are
reading lamps. To avoid dtaining your battery, be sure to
turn
off all reading lamps when leaving your vehicle.
Sustained Interior Illumination
Your courtesy lamps will come on and stay on for a set
time whenever
you:
Open a door.
Press UNLOCK on the Remote Lock Control
transmitter (if equipped).
transmitter (if equipped).
Press DOOR on the Remote Lock, Control
If you open a door, the lamps will stay on while it’s open
and then turn off automatically about 18 seconds after
you close
it. If you don”t open a door, the lamps will
turn
off after about 18 seconds, unless you pressed
UNLOCK on the Remote Lock Control transmitter.
If
you pressed UNLOCK and don’t open a door, the lamps
will turn
off after about 55 seconds.
Sustained interior illumination includes a feature called
theater
dimming. With theater dimming, the lamps
don’t just
turn off at the end of the delay time. Instead,
they slowly
dim during the delay time until they go out.
The delay tirne is cancelled if you turn the ignition key to
the
RUN or START position, so the lamps will go out
right away.
When the ignition is
on, sustained interior illumination is
inactive, which means the courtesy lamps won’t come on.
2-34
ProCarManuals.com

light will come on). The system will bring in outside air
and cool it. To turn off the air conditioning, press the
NC button again.(the indicator light will go off).
On cool but sunny days, the sun may warm your upper
body, but your lower body may not be warm enough.
Turn the control knob to the
BI-LEVEL position, with
the temperature knob set for comfort and press the
A/C
button once (the indicator light will come on). The
system will bring in outside air and direct it to your
upper body, while sending slightly warmed air to
your
lower body. You may notice this temperature difference
more at some times than others.
To turn off the air
conditioning, press the
A/C button again (the indicator
light will go
off).
Heating
On cold days, use FLOOR with the temperature knob all
the way in the red area. The system will bring in outside
air, heat it and send it to the floor ducts.
If your vehicle has an engine coolant heater, you can use
it to help your system provide warm air faster when it’s
cold outside
(0°F (-18°C) or lower). An engine coolant
heater warms the coolant your engine and heating
system use to provide heat. See “Engine Coolant
Heater” in
the Index.
Ventilation System
Adjust the direction of airflow by moving the louvered vents.
Your vehicle’s flow-through ventilation system supplies outside air into the vehicle when
it is moving. Outside
air will also enter the vehicle when the air conditioning
fan is running.
For mild outside temperatures when little heating or
cooling is needed,
use VENT to direct outside air
through your vehicle.
3-3
ProCarManuals.com

Ventilation Tips Rear Window Defogger
Keep the hood and front air inlet free of ice, snow or
any other obstruction,
such as leaves. The heater and The
rear window defogger
idehtm will work far better, reducing the chance of uses a warming grid to
fogging the'inside of your windows. remove
fog
from the rear
window. Press the button to
When you enter a vehicle in cold weather, adjust the turn
the defogger on. It will
mode knob
to FLOOR and the fan to the highest turn itself off after about
speed for a few moments before driving
off. This 10 minutes.
helps clear the intake ducts of snow and moisture
and reduces the chance
of fogging the inside of
your windows.
Keep the air path under the front seats clear of
objects. This helps air to circulate throughout
your vehicle.
Defogging and Defrosting
Your system has two settings for clearing the front and
side windows.
To defrost the windows quickly, use
DEFROST with the temperature knob all the way in the
red
area. To warm passengers while keeping the
windows clean,
use DEFOG.
I
If you turn it on again, the defogger will only run for
abo,ut five minutes before turning off. You can also
turn it off by turning off the ignition or pressing the
button agah
,
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
TI!RE-LBADING INFORMATION
VEHICLE
CAP. WT.
FRT, CTR. RR TOTAL LBS.
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 4PW28KPa
SEE OWNER'S MANUAL FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION k
Two labels on your vehicle show how much weight it
may properly
carry, The Tire-Loading Information label
is
on the inside of the trunk lid. The label tells you the
proper size, speed rating and recommended inflation
pressures for the tires on your vehicle. It also gives you
important
irmformation about the numb'er of people that
can be
in your vehicle and the total weight you can
carry.
This weight is called' the vehicle capacity weight
and includes the weight
of all occupants, cargo and all
nonfactory-installed options.
ProCarManuals.com

If No Steam Is Coming From Your Engine
If you get the overheat warning but see or hear no
steam, the problem may not be too serious. Sometimes
the engine can get a little too hot when you:
Climb a long hill on a hot day.
Stop after high-speed driving.
Idle for long periods in traffic.
Tow a trailer.
If you get the overheat warning with no sign of steam,
try this for a minute or
so:
1. Turn off your air conditioner.
2. Turn on your heater to full hot at the highest fan
3. If you’re in a traffic jam, shift to NEUTRAL (N);
speed and open the window as necessary.
otherwise, shift to the highest gear while
driving
-- DRIVE (D) or THIRD (3).
If you no longer have the overheat warning, you can
drive. Just to be safe, drive slower for about
10 minutes.
If the warning doesn’t come back on, you can
drive normally.
If the warning continues, pull over, stop, and park your
vehicle right away.
If there’s still no sign of stem, you can idle the engine
for two or three minutes while you’re parked, to see
if
the warning stops. But then, if you still have the
warning, turn oJffthe engine
and get everyone out of
the vehicle until it cools down.
You may decide not to lift
the hood but to get service
help right away.
5-13
ProCarManuals.com

An electric fan under the hood can start up even
when
the engine is not running and can injure
you. Keep hands, clothing and tools away from
any underhood electric fan.
If the coolant inside the coolant recovery tank is boiling,
don’t do anything else until
it cools down.
The coolant level should be
at or above the COLD
mark on a cold engine. The coolant level should be
at or above the HOT mark on a hot engine. If it isn’t,
you may have a leak
in the radiator hoses, heater
hoses, radiator, water pump or somewhere else in
the cooling system.
5-15
ProCarManuals.com

A CAUTION:
I
Heater and radiator hoses, and other engine
parts,
can be very hot. Don’t touch them. If you
do, you can
be burned.
Don’t run the engine
if there is a leak. If you run
the engine,
it could lose all coolant. That could
cause
an engine fie, and you could be burned.
Get
any ‘leak fixed before you drive the, vehicle.
I NOTICE:
I
Engine damage from running your engine
without coolant isn’t covered by your warranty.
I
If there seems to be no leak, with the engine on, check to
see if the electric engine fan@) are running. If the engine
is overheating, both fan(s) should be running. If they
aren’t, your vehicle needs service.
How to Add Coolant to the Coolant
Recovery Tank
If you haven’t found a problem yet, but the coolant level
isn’t at the COLD mark, add a 50/50 mixture of ckm
water (preferably distilled) and DEX-COOL”
(orange-colored, silicate-free) antifreeze at the coolant
recovery
tank. (See “Engine Coolant” in the Index for
more information.)
Adding only plain water to your cooling system
can be
dangerous. Plain water, or some other
liquid Eke alcohol, can boil before the proper
coolant
mix will. Your vehicle’s coolant warning
system
is set for the proper coolant mix. With
plain water or the wrong mix, your engine could
get too hot but you wouldn’t get the overheat
warning.
Your engine ‘could catch fire and you or
others could be burned. Use a
50/50 mix Q€ clean
water and
DEX-COOL antifreeze.
5-16
,LC !
ProCarManuals.com