1997 CHEVROLET CAMARO brake

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Voltmeter
You can read battery
voltage on your voltmeter.
If it reads less than 11 volts
or more than 16 volts while
your engine is running, and
it stays there, you may have
a problem with the
electrical charging system.
Have it checked right away. Driving with the voltmeter
reading in
a warning zone could drain your battery.
If you idle your engine for a while, the voltmeter reading
might move into the low voltage zone (indicated by red dots).
If the reading stays in the low voltage zone while you are
driving, you may have a problem with the electrical charging
system. Have it checked. While
the voltmeter reads in the
low voltage zone, your battery may not be able to power
certain electrical accessories, like
ABS. (If this happens,
your
ABS INOP light will come on. See “Anti-Lock
Brake System Warning Light” in
this section.)
If you must drive a short distance with the voltmeter
reading in a warning zone, turn
off all your accessories,
including your air conditioning system and audio system.
Brake System Warning Light
Your Chevrolet’s hydraulic brake system is divided into
two parts. If
one part isn’t working, the other part can
still work and stop you. For good braking, though, you
need both parts working well.
If the warning light comes on, there could be a brake
problem or the brake fluid level could be low. Have your
brake system inspected right away.
BRAKE
This light should come on
briefly when you turn the
ignition key to
RUN. If it
doesn’t come on then,
have it fixed
so it will be
ready to warn you if
there’s a problem.
If the light comes on while you are driving, pull
off the
road and stop carefully. You may notice that the pedal
is
harder to push. Or, the pedal may go closer to the floor.
It may take longer to stop. If the light is still on, or if the
anti-lock brake system warning light is flashing, have the
vehicle towed for service. (See “Anti-Lock Brake System
Warning Light” and “Towing Your Vehicle” in the Index.)\

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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Your brake system may not be working properly
if the brake system warning light is on. Driving
with the brake system warning light on can lead
to an accident.
If the light is still on or if the
anti-lock brake system warning light is flashing
after you’ve pulled off the road and stopped
carefully, have the vehicle towed for service.
Anti-Lock Brake System Warning Light
ABS
INOP
With the anti-lock brake
system, this light will come
on when you start your
engine and it will stay
on for three seconds.
That’s normal.
When the ignition is on, the brake system warning light
will also come on when you
set your parking brake. The
light will stay
on if your parking brake doesn’t release
fully. If it stays on after your parking brake is
fully
released, it means you have a brake problem. If
the light flashes when you’re driving, you don’t have
anti-lock brakes and there could be
a problem with your
regular brakes. Pull
off the road and stop carefully. You
may notice that the pedal is harder to push. Or, the pedal
may go closer to
the floor. It may take longer to stop.
Have
the vehicle towed for service. (See “Towing Your
Vehicle”
in the Index.)
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Your regular brake system may not be working
properly if the anti-lock brake system warning
light is flashing. Driving with the anti-lock
brake system warning light flashing can lead
to an accident. After you’ve pulled off the road
and stopped carefully, have the vehicle towed
for service.
If the anti-lock brake system warning light stays on
longer than normal after you’ve started your engine, turn
the ignition off. Or, if the light comes
on and stays on
when you’re driving, stop as soon as possible and turn
the ignition
off. Then start the engine again to reset the
system. If the light still stays on, or comes
on again
while you’re driving, your Chevrolet needs service. If
the light is on but not flashing and the regular brake
system warning light isn’t on, you still have brakes, but
you don’t have anti-lock brakes.
The anti-lock brake system warning light should come
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
ready to warn you if there is a problem.
ASR (Acceleration Slip Regulation) System
Warning Light
(If Equipped)
ASR
OFF
This warning light should
come
on briefly as you start
the engine. If the warning
light doesn’t come on then,
have it fixed so it will be
ready to warn you if there’s
a problem.
If it stays
on, or comes on when you’re driving, there
may be a problem with your ASR system and your
vehicle may need service. When this warning light is
on, the system will not limit wheel spin. Adjust your
driving accordingly.
If your brakes begin
to overheat, the brake portion of the
ASR system will shut down, but the throttle and engine
spark control will continue
to work. The warning light
will not come
on when this happens.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine The ASR system warning light may come on for the
following reasons:
If you turn the system off by pressing the switch
located on the instrument panel, the warning light
will come on and stay on and the light
on the switch
will go
out. To turn the system back on, press the
button again. The warning light should go off. (See
“ASR System” in the Index for more information.)
If the temperature of the throttle control begins to rise,
the system will turn off and the warning light will
come
on until the system cools down. The system
does this to prevent damage from overheating.
If the
ASR system warning light comes on and stays on
for an extended period of time when the system is
turned on, your vehicle needs service.
Low Traction Light
When your anti-lock system
is adjusting brake pressure
to help avoid a braking skid,
this light will come on.
LOW
TRAC
If you have the ASR system, this light will also come on
when the system is limiting wheel spin. 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
ASR system stops
limiting wheel spin.
The low traction 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
ASR system is active.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Defensive Driving
The best advice anyone can give about driving is:
Drive defensively.
Please start with a very important safety device
in your
Chevrolet: Buckle up. (See “Safety Belts” in the Index.)
Defensive driving really means “be ready for anything.”
On city streets, rural roads or freeways, it means
“always expect the unexpected.” Assume that pedestrians
or other
drivers are going to be
careless and make mistakes. Anticipate what they might
do.
Be ready for their mistakes.
Rear-end collisions
are about the most preventable of
accidents. Yet they are common. Allow enough following
distance. It’s the best defensive driving maneuver, in
both
city and rural driving. You never know when the vehicle in
front of
you is going to brake or turn suddenly.
Drunken Driving
Death and injury associated with drinking and driving is a
national tragedy.
It’s the number one contributor to the
highway death toll, claiming thousands
of victims every year.
Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drive
a vehicle:
Judgment
Muscular Coordination
Vision
Attentiveness.
Police records show that almost half of all motor
vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol.
In most cases,
these deaths are the result of someone who was drinking
and driving. In recent years, some
17,000 annual motor
vehicle-related deaths have been associated with the use
of alcohol, with more than
300,000 people injured.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine A CAUTION:
I
Drinking and then driving is very dangerous.
Your reflexes, perceptions, attentiveness and
judgment can be affected by even a small amount
of alcohol. You can have a serious
-- or even
fatal
-- collision if you drive after drinking.
Please don’t drink and drive
or ride with a driver
who has been drinking. Ride home in a cab; or
if you’re with a group, designate a driver who
will not drink.
Control of a Vehicle
You have three systems that make your vehicle go where
you want it to go. They are the brakes, the steering and
the accelerator. All three systems have to do their work
at the places where the tires meet the road. Sometimes, as when
you’re driving on snow or ice, it’s
easy to ask more
of those control systems than the tires
and road can provide. That means you can lose control
of your vehicle.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Braking
Braking action involves perception time and
reaction time.
First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal.
That’s
perception time. Then you have to bring up
your foot and do it. That’s
reaction time.
Average reaction time is about 314 of a second. But
that’s only an average.
It might be less with one
driver and as long
as two or three seconds or more with
another. Age, physical condition, alertness, coordination
and eyesight all play a part.
So do alcohol, drugs and
frustration. But even in
3/4 of a second, a vehicle
moving at
60 mph ( 100 km/h) travels 66 feet (20 m).
That could be a lot
of distance in an emergency, so
keeping enough space between your vehicle and
others
is important.
And, of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly
with the surface
of the road (whether it’s pavement or
gravel); the condition of the road (wet, dry, icy); tire
tread; the condition of your brakes; the weight of the
vehicle and the amount
of brake force applied. 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.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.
ABS
INOP
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.
Here’s how anti-lock works. Let’s say the road is wet.
You’re driving safely. Suddenly an animal jumps out in
front of you.
You slam on the brakes. Here’s what happens with ABS.
A computer senses that wheels are slowing down. If one
of the wheels is about to stop rolling, the computer will
separately work the brakes at each front wheel and at the
rear wheels.
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