1997 GMC SAVANA Owners Manual

If you drive regularly in steep country, or if you’re
planning to visit there, here are some tips that can make
your trips safer and more enjoyable.
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Keep your vehicle in good shape. Check all fluid
levels and also the brakes, tires, cooling system and
transmission. These parts can work hard on
mountain roads.
Know how to go down hills. The most important
thing to know is this: let your engine do some
of the
slowing down. Shift to a lower gear when you go
down a steep or long hill.
I A CAUTION:
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If you don’t shift down, your brakes could get
so hot that they wouldn’t work well. You would
then have poor braking or even none going
down
a hill. You could crash. Shift down to let
your engine assist your brakes on
a steep
downhill slope.
A CAUTION:
Coasting downhill in NEUTRAL (N) or with the
ignition
off is dangerous. Your brakes will have to
do all the work
of slowing down. They could get
so hot that they wouldn’t work well. You would
then have poor braking or even none going down
a hill. You could crash. Always have your engine
running and your vehicle in gear when you
go downhill.
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Know how to go uphill. You may want to shift down
to
a lower gear. The lower gears help cool your engine
and transmission, and you can climb the hill better.
Stay in your own lane when driving on two-lane
roads in hills or mountains. Don’t swing wide or cut
across the center of the road. Drive at speeds that let
you stay in your own lane.
As you go over the top of a hill, be alert. There could be
something in your lane, like a stalled car or an accident.
You may
see highway signs on mountains that warn of
special problems. Examples
are long grades, passing or
no-passing zones,
a falling rocks area or winding
roads. Be alert to these and take appropriate action.
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Winter Driving
Here are some tips for winter driving:
Have your vehicle in good shape for winter.
You may want to put winter emergency supplies in
your vehicle.
Include an ice scraper, a small brush or broom, a supply
of windshield washer fluid, a rag, some winter outer
clothing, a small shovel, a flashlight, a red cloth and
reflective warning triangles. And, if you will be driving
under severe conditions, include a small bag
of sand, a
piece of old carpet or a couple of burlap bags to help
provide traction. Be sure
you properly secure these
:ms in your vehicle.
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. 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; O’C) and freezing rain begins to fall.
Try
to avoid driving on wet ice until salt and sand crews
can get there.
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Whatever the condition -- smooth ice, packed, blowing
or loose snow
-- drive with caution.
Accelerate gently. Try not to break the fragile traction.
If you accelerate too fast, the drive wheels will spin and
polish the surface under the tires even more.
Your anti-lock brakes improve your vehicle’s stability
when you make a hard stop on a slippery road. Even
though you have an anti-lock braking system, you’ll
want to begin stopping sooner than you would on dry
pavement. See “Anti-Lock‘’
in the Index.
Allow greater following distance on any slippery road.
Watch for slippery spots. The road might be fine
until you hit a spot that’s covered with ice.
On an
otherwise clear road, ice patches may appear in
shaded areas where the sun
can’t reach: around
clumps of trees, behind buildings or under bridges.
Sometimes the surface
of a curve or an overpass may
remain icy when the surrounding roads are clear.
If
you see a patch of ice ahead of you, brake before you
are on
it. Try not to brake while you’re actually on
the ice, and avoid sudden steering maneuvers.
If You’re Caught in a Blizzard
If you are stopped by heavy snow, you could be in a
serious situation. You should probably stay with your
vehicle unless you know for sure that
you are near help
and you can hike through the snow. Here are some
things to
do to summon help and keep yourself and your
passengers safe:
Turn on your hazard flashers.
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Tie a red cloth to your vehicle to alert police that
you’ve been stopped by the snow.
Put on extra clothing or wrap a blanket around you.
If you have no blankets or extra clothing, make body
insulators from newspapers, burlap bags, rags, floor
mats
-- anything you can wrap around yourself or
tuck under your clothing to keep warm.
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You can run the engine to keep warm, but be careful.
Snow can trap exhaust gases under your vehicle.
This can cause deadly
CO (carbon monoxide) gas
to get inside. CO could overcome you and kill
you. You can’t see
it or smell it, so you might not
know it is in your vehicle. Clear away snow from
around the base of your vehicle, especially any
that
is blocking your exhaust pipe. And check
around again from time to time to be sure snow
doesn’t collect there.
Open a window just
a little on the side of the
vehicle that’s away from the wind. This will help
keep
CO out.
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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 (or batteries) charged.
You will
need a well-charged battery (or batteries) to restart the
vehicle, and possibly for signaling later on with your
headlamps. Let the heater run for awhile. If you have a
diesel engine you may have to
run it at a higher speed
to get enough heat.
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
COLD TIRE PRESSURE
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The Certificatioflire label is found on the rear edge
of the driver’s door. The label shows the size of your
original tires and the inflation pressures needed to obtain
the gross weight capacity of your vehicle. This is called
GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating). The GVWR
includes the weight
of the vehicle, all occupants, fuel
and cargo.
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The CertificationRire label also tells you the maximum
weights for the front and rear axles, called
Gross Axle
Weight Rating (GAWR).
To find out the actual loads on
your front and rear axles, you need to
go to a weigh
station and weigh your vehicle. Your dealer can help
you with this. Be sure to spread out your load equally on
both sides of
the centerline.
Never exceed the
GVWR for your vehicle, or the
GAWR for either the front or rear axle.
And, if you do have a heavy load, you should spread
it out.
F --
Do not load your vehicle any heavier than the
GVWR, or either the maximum front or rear
GAWR.
If you do, parts on your vehicle can
break, or it can change the
way your vehicle
handles. These could cause you to lose control.
Also, overloading can shorten the life of
your vehicle.
/11 CAU’I 13N:
Things you put inside your vehicle can strike
and injure people in a sudden stop or turn, or
in a crash.
Put things in the cargo area of your vehicle.
Try to spread the weight evenly.
Never stack heavier things, like suitcases,
inside the vehicle
so that some of them are
above the tops of the seats.
Don’t leave an unsecured child restraint in
your vehicle.
When you carry something inside the
vehicle, secure it whenever you can.
Don’t leave a seat folded down unless you
need to.
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Towing a Trailer
If you don’t use the correct equipment and drive
properly, you can lose control when you pull
a
trailer. For example, if the trailer is too heavy, the
brakes
may not work well -- or even at all. You
and your passengers could be seriously injured.
Pull
a trailer only if you have followed all the
steps in this section. Ask your
GM dealer for
advice and information about towing
a trailer
with your vehicle.
NOTICE:
Pulling a trailer improperly can damage your
vehicle and result in costly repairs not covered by
your warranty.
To pull a trailer correctly, follow
the advice in this part, and see your
GM dealer
for important information about towing
a trailer
with your vehicle.
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Your vehicle can tow a trailer. To identify what the
vehicle trailering capacity is for your vehicle, you
should read the information
in “Weight of the Trailer”
that appears later in this section. But trailering is
different than just driving your vehicle
by itself.
Trailering means changes in handling, durability and
fuel economy. Successful, safe trailering takes correct
equipment, and
it has to be used properly.
That’s the reason for this section. In it are many
time-tested, important trailering tips and safety rules.
Many of these are important for your safety and that
of
your passengers. So please read this section carefully
before you pull a trailer.
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If You Do Decide To Pull A Trailer
If you do, here are some important points:
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There are many different laws, including speed limit
restrictions, having to do with trailering. Make sure
your
rig will be legal, not only where you live but
also where you’ll be driving.
A good source for this
information can be state or provincial police.
Consider using a sway control if your trailer will
weigh
4,000 lbs. (1 800 kg) or less. You should
always use a sway control if your trailer will weigh
more than
4,000 lbs. (1 800 kg). You can ask a hitch
dealer about sway controls.
Don’t tow a trailer at all during the first
500 miles
(800 km) your new vehicle is driven. Your engine,
axle or other parts could be damaged.
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Then, during the first 500 miles (800 km) that you
tow a trailer, don’t drive over 50 mph (80 ktn/h) and
don’t make starts at full throttle. This helps your
engine and other parts
of your vehicle wear in at the
heavier loads.
You should use
DRIVE (D) (or, as you need to,
a lower gear) when towing a trailer. Operating your
vehicle in DRIVE
(D) when towing a trailer will
minimize heat buildup and extend the life of
your transmission.
Three important considerations have to do with weight:
0 the weight of the trailer,
0 the weight of the trailer tongue
and the weight on your vehicle’s tires.
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