1997 BUICK PARK AVENUE traction control

Loss of Control
Let’s review what driving experts say about what
happens when the three control systems (brakes, steering
and acceleration) don’t have enough friction where the
tires meet the road to do what the driver has asked.
In any emergency, don’t give up. Keep trying to steer and
constantly seek an escape route or area of less danger.
Skidding
In a skid, a driver can lose control of the vehicle.
Defensive drivers avoid most skids by taking reasonable care suited to existing conditions, and by not
“overdriving” those conditions. But skids are
always possible.
The three types of sluds correspond to your Buick’s
three control systems. In the braking skid, your wheels
aren’t rolling. In
the steering or cornering skid, too
much speed or steering in a curve causes tires to slip and
lose cornering force. And in the acceleration skid, too
much throttle causes the driving wheels to spin.
A cornering skid is best handled by easing your foot off
the accelerator pedal.
If you have the traction control system, remember: It
helps avoid only the acceleration skid. If you
do not have traction control, or if the system is
off, then an acceleration skid is also best handled by
easing your foot off the accelerator pedal.
If your vehicle starts to slide, ease your foot off the
accelerator pedal and quickly steer the way you want the
vehicle to go. If you start steering quickly enough, your
vehicle may straighten out. Always be ready for a
second skid if it occurs.
Of course, traction is reduced when water, snow, ice,
gravel or other material is on the road. For safety, you’ll
want to slow down and adjust your driving to these
conditions. It is important to slow down
on slippery
surfaces because stopping distance will be longer and
vehicle control more limited.
While driving on a surface with reduced traction, try
your best to avoid sudden steering, acceleration or
braking (including engine braking by shifting to a lower
gear). Any sudden changes could cause the tires to slide.
You may not realize the surface is slippery until your
vehicle is skidding. Learn to recognize warning
clues
-- such as enough water, ice or packed snow on
the road to make a “mirrored surface”
-- and slow
down when you have any doubt.
Remember: Any anti-lock brake system
(ABS) helps
avoid only the braking
shd.
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Driving on Snow or Ice
Most of the time, those places where your tires meet the
road probably have
good traction.
However,
if there is snow or ice between your tires and
the road, you can have a very slippery situation. You’ll
have a lot less traction or “grip” and will need to be
very careful.
............ ...I ........ _ ................
.-- --
.............. ..- ........... < .... I .......... ’.rJ>‘.;
What’s the worst time for this? “Wet ice.” Very cold
snow or ice can be slick and hard to drive on. But wet
ice can be even more trouble because it may offer the
least traction of all. You can get wet ice when it’s about
freezing
(32°F; 0” C) and freezing rain begins to fall.
Try to avoid driving on wet ice until salt and sand crews
can get there.
Whatever the condition
-- smooth ice, packed, blowing
or loose snow
-- drive with caution.
If you have traction control, keep the system on. It will
improve your ability to accelerate when driving on a
slippery road. Even
though your vehicle has a traction
control system, you’ll want to slow down and adjust
your driving to the road conditions. See “Traction
Control System’’ in the Index.
If you don’t have the traction control system, accelerate
gently. Try not to break the fragile traction.
If you
accelerate too fast, the drive wheels will spin and polish
I the surface under the tires even more.
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1 NOTICE:
Spinning your wheels can destroy parts of your
vehicle as well
as the tires. If you spin the wheels
too fast while shifting your transaxle back and
forth, you can destroy your transaxle.
For information about using tire chains on your vehicle,
see “Tire Chains” in the Index.
Rocking Your Vehicle To Get It Out
First, turn your steering wheel left and right. That will
clear the area around your front wheels. If your vehicle
has traction control, you should turn the system off. (See
“Traction Control System” in the Index.) Then shift
back and forth between REVERSE (R) and a forward
gear, spinning the wheels as little as possible. Release
the accelerator pedal while you shift, and press lightly
on the accelerator pedal when the transaxle is in gear. If
that doesn’t get you out after a few tries, you may need
to be towed out.
If you do need to be towed out, see
“Towing Your Vehicle” in the Index.
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0 The tire has a puncture, cut or other damage that
can’t be repaired well because of the size or location
of the damage.
Buying New Tires
To find out what kind and size of tires you need, look at
the Tire-Loading Information label.
The tires installed on your vehicle when it was new had
a Tire Performance Criteria Specification (TPC Spec)
number on each tire’s sidewall. When you get new tires,
get ones with that same TPC Spec number. That way
your vehicle will continue to have tires that are designed
to give proper endurance, handling, speed rating,
traction, ride and other things during normal service on
your vehicle. If your tires have an all-season tread
design, the TPC number will be followed by an
“MS”
(for mud and snow). If you
ever replace your tires with those not having
a
TPC Spec number, make sure they are the same size,
load range, speed rating and construction type (bias,
bias-belted or radial) as your original tires.
-
/i CAU; ;ON:
Mixing tires could cause you to lose control while
driving.
If you mix tires of different sizes or types
(radial and bias-belted tires), the vehicle may not
handle properly, and
you could have a crash.
Using tires of different sizes may also cause
damage to your vehicle. Be sure to use the same
size and type tires on all wheels.
It’s all right to drive with your compact spare,
though. It was developed for use on your vehicle.
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Uniform Tire Quality Grading
The following information relates to the system
developed by the United States National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, which grades tires by
treadwear, traction and temperature performance. (This applies only to vehicles sold in the United States.) The
grades are molded on the sidewalls of most passenger
car tires. The Uniform Tire Quality Grading system does
not apply to deep tread, winter-type snow tires,
space-saver or temporary use spare tires, tires with
nominal rim diameters of
10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 cm),
or to some limited-production tires.
While the tires available on General Motors passenger
cars and light trucks may vary with respect to these
grades, they must also conform to Federal safety
requirements and additional General Motors Tire
Performance Criteria (TPC) standards.
Treadwear
The treadwear grade is a comparative rating based on
the wear rate of the tire when tested under controlled
conditions on a specified government test course. For
example, a tire graded 150 would wear one and a half
(1 1/2) times as well on the government course as a tire
graded
100. The relative performance of tires depends
upon the actual conditions of their use, however, and
may depart significantly from the norm due to variations
in driving habits, service practices and differences in
road characteristics and climate.
Traction -- A, B, C
The traction grades, from highest to lowest, are A, B,
and C, and they represent the tire’s ability to stop on wet
pavement as measured under controlled conditions
on
specified government test surfaces of asphalt and
concrete.
A tire marked C may have poor traction
performance.
Warning: The traction grade assigned to this tire
is based
on braking (straight ahead) traction tests and does not
include cornering (turning) traction.
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Lights Air Bag Readiness
....................... 1.21. 2.74
Anti-Lock Brake System Warning
............ 2.76. 4.7
Battery Warning
.............................. 2-74
Brake System Warning
......................... 2-75
Engine Oil Pressure Light
...................... 2-80
Interior
..................................... 2-46
Safety Belt Reminder
...................... 1.9, 2.73
ServiceEngine Soon
.......................... 2-78
Service Vehicle Soon
.......................... 2-81
Traction Control System Warning
............ 2.76. 4.9
Loading Your Vehicle
........................... 4-30
Locks Cylinders
................................... 7-40
Door
........................................ 2-4
FuelDoor
.................................... 6- 7
Ignition Transaxle Lock Check
.................. 7-42
Key Lock Cylinder Service
..................... 7-40
Lockout Protection
............................. 2-8
Memory Door
............................ 2.5. 2.90
PowerDoor
.................................. 2-5
Rear Door Security
............................. 2-7
Trunk Release ................................ 2- 14
Window
.................................... 2-33
Lubricants and Fluids
............................ 7-44
Lubrication Service. Body
........................ 7-40
Lumbar Controls
................................ 1-2
Magnasteer
................................ 4. 10
Maintenance. Normal Replacement Parts
............ 6-78 Maintenance
Kecord
............................ 7-46
Maintenance Schedule
............................ 7-1
Long Tripmighway Definition
................... 7-6
Long Tripmighway Intervals
..................... 7-6
Owner Checks and Services
..................... 7-39
Periodic Maintenance Inspections
................ 7-43
Recommended Fluids and Lubricants
............. 7-44
Scheduled Maintenance Services
.................. 7-4
Short Trip/City Definition
....................... 7-5
Short Trip/City Intervals
........................ 7-5
Maintenance. Underbody
......................... 6-64
Maintenance When Trailer Towing
................. 4-38
Malfunction Indicator Lamp
...................... 2-78
Maxifuse@/Relay Center
......................... 6-67
Memory Door Locks
........................ 2-5. 2-90
Memory Seat and Mirrors
......................... 1-3
Memory Seat Recall
............................. 2-92
Methanol
...................................... 6-5
Mirrors Convex Outside
.............................. 2-55
Electrochromic Daymight Rearview
.............. 2-50
Electrochromic Daymight Rearview with Compass
. . 2-51
Heated Outside
............................... 2-55
Illuminated Visor Vanity
....................... 2-62
Inside Manual Daymight Rearview
.............. 2-50
Memory
..................................... 1-3
Power Remote Control
......................... 2-54
MMT ......................................... 6-4
MountainRoads
................................ 4-24
Multifunction Lever
............................. 2-34
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!
Tires (Continued)
Traction
.................................... 6-53
Treadwear
................................... 6-53
Uniform Quality Grading
....................... 6-53
Wear Indicators
.............................. 6-5 1
Wheel Replacement ........................... 6-54
When It’s Time for New
....................... 6-5 1
Top Strap
..................................... 1-36
Torque. Wheel Nut
......................... 5-29. 6-76
Towing a Trailer
................................ 4-32
Towing Your Vehicle
............................. 5-7
Traction
Control System
................................ 4-9
Control System Warning Light
.............. 2.76. 4.9
Brakes
..................................... 4-36
Driving on Grades
............................ 4-38
Drivingwith
................................. 4-36
Hitches
..................................... 4-35
Maintenance When Towing
..................... 4-38
Parkingonfills
.............................. 4-38
Safety Chains
................................ 4-36
Tongueweight
............................... 4-34
Total Weight on Tires
.......................... 4-35
Towing
..................................... 4-32
Turnsignals
................................. 4-37
Weight
..................................... 4-34
Transaxle Fluid. Automatic
....................... 6-21
Transmitters. Matching to Your Vehicle
............. 2- 12
TorqueLock
................................... 2-30
Trailer Transmitters.
Remote Keyless Entry
................. 2-8
Transportation. Courtesy
.......................... 8-6
Trip Odometer
................................. 2-72
Trunk Accesspanel
................................ 2-61
LockRelease
................................ 2-14
Lockout. Remote Release
...................... 2-14
Release. Remote
.............................. 2-14
Security Override
............................. 2-14
TrunkLamp
................................... 2-49
Trunk Mounted CD Changer
...................... 3-27
TTY Users
..................................... 8-4
Turn Signal and Lane Change Indicator
............. 2-35
Turn Signal On Chime
........................... 2-36
Turn SignaVMultifunction Lever
................... 2-34
Turn Signals When Towing a Trailer
................ 4-37
Twilight Sentinel
............................... 2-46
Underbody Flushing Service
..................... 7-42
Underbody Maintenance
......................... 6-64
Universal Transmitter
............................ 2-64
Vehicle Control
...................................... 4-6
Dimensions
................................. 6-78
Identification Number
......................... 6-66
Loading
.................................... 4-30
Storage
..................................... 6-34
Damage Warnings
.............................. ix
9-12
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