1997 BUICK REGAL brake light

Anti-Lock Brake System Active Light
LOW TRAC
When your anti-lock system
is adjusting brake pressure
to help avoid a braking skid,
the anti-lock brake system
active light
will come on.
J
Slippery road conditions may exist if this light comes
on,
so adjust your driving accordingly. The light will
stay on for
a few seconds after the system stops
adjusting brake pressure.
The anti-lock brake system active light also comes on
briefly when you turn the ignition key to
RUN. If the
light doesn’t come on then, have
it fixed so it will be
there to tell you when the system is active.
Enhanced Traction System Warning Light
(If Equipped)
TRAC
OFF
The Enhanced Traction System warning light may come
on for the following reasons:
If you turn the system off by pressing the ETS
button, the warning light will come on and stay on.
To turn the system back on, press the button again.
The warning light should go off. (See “Enhanced
Traction System’’
in the Index for more information.)
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Traction Control System Warning Light
(If Equipped: 3800 Supercharged
Engine Only)
TRAC
OFF
The traction control system warning light may come on
for the following reasons:
If you turn the system off by pressing the traction
control button, the warning light will come on and
stay on.
To turn the system back on, press the button
again. The warning light should go off. (See
“Traction Control System” in the Index for
more information.)
If there’s a brake system problem that is specifically
related to traction control, the traction control system
will turn
off and the warning light will come on. If
your brakes begin to overheat, the traction control
system will turn off and the warning light will come
on until your brakes cool down.
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Traction Control System Active Light
(If Equipped: 3800 Supercharged
Engine Only)
LOW TRAC
When your traction control
system
is limiting wheel
spin, this light will come on.
Slippery road conditions
may exist if the traction
control system active light
comes on,
so adjust your
driving accordingly.
Low Traction Light
LOW TRAC
When your anti-lock system
is adjusting brake pressure to
help avoid a braking skid,
this light will come on.
(Also see “Anti-Lock Brake
System Active Light” earlier
in this section.)
If
you have the Enhanced Traction System or the Traction
Control System, this light will also come on when the
system is limiting wheel spin. See “Enhanced Traction
System” or “Traction Control System” in the Index.
Slippery road conditions may exist if the low traction
light comes on,
so adjust your driving accordingly. The
light will stay on for a few seconds after the anti-lock
system stops adjusting brake pressure or the Enhanced
Traction System stops limiting wheel spin.
The LOW TRAC light also comes on briefly when
you
turn the ignition key to RUN. If the light doesn’t come
on then, have
it fixed so it will be there to tell you when
the anti-lock brake system or Enhanced Traction System
is active.
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Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people drive in
spurts
-- heavy acceleration followed by heavy
braking
-- rather than keeping pace with traffic. This is a
mistake. Your brakes may not have time to cool between
hard stops, Your brakes will wear
out much faster if you
do a lot of heavy braking. If you keep pace with the
traffic and allow realistic following distances, you will
eliminate
a lot of unnecessary braking. That means
better braking and longer brake life.
If your engine ever stops while you’re driving, brake
normally but don’t pump your brakes.
If you do, the
pedal may get harder to push down. If your engine
stops, you will still have some power brake assist. But
you will use it when you brake. Once the power assist is
used up, it may take longer
to stop and the brake pedal
will be harder to push.
Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS)
Your vehicle has anti-lock brakes (ABS). ABS is an
advanced electronic braking system that will help
prevent a braking skid.
When you start your engine, or when you begin to drive
away, your anti-lock brake system will check itself. You
may hear
a momentary motor or clicking noise while
this test is going on, and you may even notice that your
brake pedal moves a little. This is normal.
ANTI -
LOCK
If there’s a problem with the
anti-lock brake system, this
warning light will stay on or
flash. See “Anti-Lock
Brake System Warning
Light” in the Index.
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Remember: Anti-lock doesn’t change the time you need
to get your foot up
to the brake pedal or always decrease
stopping distance. If you get too close to the vehicle in
front
of you, you won’t have time to apply your brakes
if that vehicle suddenly slows or stops. Always leave
enough room up ahead
to stop, even though you have
anti-lock brakes.
-‘sing Anti-Lock
uon’t pump the brakes. Just hold the brake pedal
down and let anti-lock work for you. You may feel the
system working, or you may notice some noise, but this
is normal.
LOW TRAC
When your anti-lock system
is adjusting brake pressure
to help avoid
a braking skid,
this light will come on. See
“Anti-Lock Brake System
Active Light” in the Index.
Traction Control System
(With
3800 Supercharged Engine)
Your vehicle has a traction control system that limits wheel
spin. This is especially useful
in slippery road conditions.
The system operates only if it senses that one or both
of
the front wheels are spinning or beginning to lose traction.
When this happens,
the system works the front brakes and
reduces engine power to limit wheel spin.
LOW TRAC
This light will come on
when your traction control
system is limiting wheel
spin. See “Traction Control
System Active Light” in
the Index.
You may feel or hear the system working, but this is normal.
If your vehicle is in cruise control when the traction
control system begins to limit wheel spin, the cruise
control will automatically disengage. When road
conditions allow you to safely use it again, you may
reengage the cruise control. (See “Cruise Control”
in the Index.)
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Enhanced Traction System (Option: Not
Available with
3800 Supercharged Engine)
Your vehicle may have Enhanced Traction System
(ETS) that limits wheel spin. This is especially useful in
slippery road conditions, The system operates only if it
senses that one or both of the front wheels are spinning
or beginning to lose traction. When
this happens, the
system reduces engine power and may also upshift the
transaxle to limit wheel spin.
LOW TRAC
This light will come on
when
your Enhanced
Traction System is limiting
wheel spin. See “Enhanced
Traction System Active
Light” in the Index. You
may feel or hear the system
working, but this is normal.
The Enhanced Traction System operates in all transaxle
shift lever positions. But the system can upshift the
transaxle only as high as the shift lever position you’ve
chosen,
so you should use the lower gears only when
necessary. See “Automatic Transaxle” in the Index.
TRAC
OFF
When the system is on and
the parking brake is
fully
released, this warning light
will come on to
let you
know if there’s a problem
with the system.
See “Enhanced Traction System Warning Light”
in the
Index. When this warning light
is on, the system will not
limit wheel spin. Adjust your driving accordingly.
To limit wheel spin, especially in slippery road
conditions, you should always leave the Enhanced
Traction System on. But
you can turn the system off if
you ever need to. (You should turn the system off if your
vehicle ever gets stuck
in sand, mud, ice or snow. See
“Rocking Your Vehicle”
in the Index.)
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To turn the system on or
off, press the
TRACTION
button on the black panel
located directly behind
your automatic transaxle
shift lever.
When you turn the system off, the Enhanced Traction
System warning light will come on and stay on.
If the
Enhanced Traction System is limiting wheel spin when
you press the button to turn the system off, the warning
light will come on
-- but the system won’t turn off right
away. It will wait until there’s no longer a current need
to limit wheel spin.
You can turn the system back on at any time by pressing
the button again. The Enhanced Traction System
warning light should go off.
Braking in Emergencies
With anti-lock, you can steer and brake at the same
time. In many emergencies, steering can help you more
than even the very best braking.
Steering
Power Steering
If you lose power steering assist because the engine
stops or the system is not functioning,
you can steer but
it will take much more effort.
Magnasteer TM
This steering system provides lighter steering effort for
parking and when driving at low speeds. Steering effort
will increase at higher speeds for improved road feel.
Steering Tips
Driving on Curves
It’s important to take curves at a reasonable speed.
A lot of the “driver lost control” accidents mentioned on
the news happen on curves. Here’s why:
Experienced driver or beginner, each of us is subject to
the same laws of physics when driving on curves. The
traction
of the tires against the road surface makes it
possible for the vehicle
to change its path when you turn
the front wheels. If there’s no traction, inertia will keep
the vehicle going in
the same direction. If you’ve ever
tried
to steer a vehicle on wet ice, you’ll understand this.
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I . . . . . . . . . . .
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.
Wet brakes can cause accidents. They won’t work
as well in a quick stop and may cause pulling
to
one side. You could lose control of the vehicle.
I After driving through a large puddle of water or
a car wash, apply your brake pedal lightly until
your brakes work normally.
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