1997 BUICK CENTURY Owners Manual

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The 1997 Buick Century Owner’s Manual
1-1
2- 1
3-1
4-1
5-1
6-1
Seats and Restraint Systems
This section tells you how to use your seats and safety belts\
properly. It also explains the “air bag” system.
Features and Controls
This section explains how to start and operate your Buick.
Comfort Controls and Audio Systems
This section tells you how to adjust the ventilation and comfo\
rt controls and how to operate your audio system.
Your Driving and the Road
Here you’ll find helpful information and tips about the road\
and how to drive under different conditions.
Problems on the Road
This section tells what to do if you have a problem while driving,\
such as a flat tire or overheated engine, etc.
Service and Appearance Care
Here the manual tells you how to keep your Buick running prop\
erly and looking good.
7-1 Maintenance Schedule
This section tells you when to perform vehicle maintenance and what \
fluids and lubricants to use.
8- 1
9-1
Customer Assistance Information
This section tells you how to contact Buick for assistance and how \
to get service and owner publications.
It also gives you information on “Reporting Safety Defects”\

on page 8-8.
Index
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, the GM Emblem, BUICK,
the BUICK Emblem and the name CENTURY 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 THROUGH
National Institute for AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE EXCELLENCE
We support voluntary
technician certification.
For Canadian Owners Who Prefer a
French Language Manual:
Aux propri6taires canadiens: Vous pouvez vous
procurer
un exemplaire de ce guide en fraqais 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 1996
Part
No. 10292361 B First Edition All Rights Reserved
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Walter Marr 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 of 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.
William C. (Billy) Durant
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.
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Durant also created a racing team that won 500 racing
trophies in 1909 and 1910, 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 19 14.
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.
First Bctick Factocy
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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.
I949 Roadtnaster
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.
... . .
I 953 Sky lark
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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