1997 GMC SIERRA Owners Manual

I A CAUTION:
To help avoid injury to you or others:
0 Never let passengers ride in a vehicle that is
Never tow faster than safe or posted speeds.
Never tow with damaged parts not
fully secured.
Never get under your vehicle after it has
been lifted by the tow truck.
0 Always use separate safety chains on each
side when towing a vehicle.
For pickups (except cab chassis models),
use T-hooks on front of vehicle, J-hooks
on rear.
front and rear
of vehicle.
being
towed.
For cab chassis models, use J-hooks on
I [ CAUTION:
t
A vehicle can fall from a car carrier if it isn’t
adequately secured. This can cause a collision,
serious personal injury and vehicle damage. The
vehicle should be tightly secured with chains or
steel cables before
it is transported.
Don’t use substitutes (ropes, leather straps,
canvas webbing, etc.) that can be cut by sharp
edges underneath the towed vehicle.
Don’t have your vehicle towed
on the drive wheels
unless
you must. If the vehicle must be towed on the
drive wheels, be sure
to follow the speed and distance
restrictions later
in this section or your transmission will
be damaged.
If these limitations must be exceeded, then
the drive wheels have
to be supported on a dolly.
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Front Towing 4. Put an automatic transmission in PARK (P) or
manual transmission in FIRST
(1).
5. Put the transfer case in NEUTRAL (N).
6. When the vehicle is hooked up, release the
7. Maximum speed 55 mph (88 kmh), distance
If your vehicle is a two-wheel drive or a four-wheel
drive with an electric shift transfer case,
use the
following directions: parking brake.
unlimited.
1.
2.
3.
If your vehicle is four-wheel drive with a manual transfer case, use the following directions:
1. Turn the ignition key to the OFF position.
2. Engage the parking brake.
3. Clamp the steering wheel in a straight-ahead position
with a clamping device designed for towing service.
(Do not use the vehicle’s steering column lock for this.)
4.
5.
6.
7.
Turn the ignition key to the OFF position.
Engage the parking brake.
Clamp the steering wheel in a straight-ahead
position with
a clamping device designed for
towing service.
(Do not use the vehicle’s steering
column lock
for this.)
Put an automatic transmission
in NEUTRAL (N) or
manual transmission in FIRST (1).
Put the transfer case
in 2HIGH (2HI).
When
the vehicle is hooked up, release the
parking brake.
Maximum speed
35 mph (55 km/h), maximum
distance
50 miles (80 km).
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Rear Towing
I NOTICE:
If your vehicle is equipped with a manual or
electric shift transfer
case, a towing dolly must be
used under the front wheels or vehicldpowertrain
damage
will occur.
NOTICE:
Towing pickup models from the rear while loaded
with heavy cargo may cause the frame side rails
to flex sufficiently
to allow the pickup box to
contact the cab and could cause damage to the
cab and/or box.
Engine Overheating (Gasoline Engine)
You will find a coolant temperature gage on your
vehicle’s instrument panel.
If your vehicle has a diesel engine, see “Engine
Overheating” in the Diesel Engine Supplement.
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I
If Steam Is Coming From Your Engine
I A CAUTION:
Steam from an overheated engine can burn you
badly, even if you just open the hood. Stay away
from the engine
if you see or hear steam coming
from it. Just turn it
off and get everyone away
from the vehicle until it cools down. Wait until
there is no sign of steam or coolant before you
open the hood.
CAUTION: (Continued) tin
If you
keep driving when your engine is
overheated, the liquids in it can catch fire. You or
others could be badly burned. Stop your engine if
it overheats, and get out of the vehicle until the
engine is cool.
I NOTICE:
If your engine catches fire because you keep
driving with no coolant, your vehicle can be
badly damaged. The costly repairs would not be
covered by your warranty.
If No Steam Is Coming From Your Engine
If you get the overheat warning but see or hear no
steam, the problem may not be
too serious. Sometimes
the engine can get a little too hot when
you:
0 Climb a long hill on a hot day.
0 Stop after high-speed driving.
0 Idle for long periods in traffic.
0 Tow a trailer. See “Driving on Grades” in the Index.
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If you get the overheat warning with no sign of steam,
try this for a minute or
so:
1. If you have an air conditioner, turn it off.
2. Turn on your heater to full hot at the highest fan
speed and open the window
as necessary.
3. If you’re in a traffic jam, shift to NEUTRAL (N);
otherwise, shift to the highest gear while
driving
-- AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE (@)
for automatic transmissions.
If you no longer have
the overheat warning, you can
drive. Just
to be safe, drive slower for about 10 minutes.
If the warning doesn’t come back
on, you can
drive normally.
If the warning continues, pull over, stop, and park your
vehicle right away.
If there’s still no sign of steam, push the accelerator until
the engine speed is about twice as fast as normal idle
speed. Bring the engine speed back to normal idle speed
after two or three minutes. Now see if the warning stops.
But then, if
you still have the warning, turn oflthe
engine and get everyone out
of the vehicle until it
cools down.
Cooling System -- Gasoline Engines
When you decide it’s safe to lift the hood, here’s what
you’ll see:
A. Coolant Recovery Tank
B. Radiator Pressure Cap
C. Engine Fan(s)
You may decide
not to lift the hood but to get service
help right away.
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I A CAUTION:
If your vehicle has air conditioning, the auxiliary
electric fan under the hood can start
up even
when the engine is not running and can injure
you. Keep hands, clothing and tools away from
any underhood electric fan.
If the coolant inside the coolant recovery tank is boiling,
don’t do anything else until it
cools down. The
coolant level should be at or above
the COLD mark.
If it isn’t, you may have a leak in the radiator hoses,
heater hoses, radiator, water pump or somewhere else
in
the cooling system.
I
Heater and radiator hoses, and other engine
parts, can be very hot. Don’t touch them.
If you
do, you can be burned.
Don’t run the engine if there is
a leak. If you run
the engine, it could lose all coolant. That could
cause an engine fire, and you could be burned.
Get any leak fixed before you drive the vehicle.
I NOTICE:
Engine damage from running your engine
without coolant isn’t covered
by your warranty.
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If there seems to be no leak, start the engine again. See
if the fan speed increases when idle speed is doubled by
pushing
the accelerator pedal down. If it doesn’t, your
vehicle needs service. Turn off the engine.
How to Add Coolant to the Coolant
Recovery
Tank -- Gasoline Engines
If you haven’t found a problem yet, but the coolant level
isn’t at or above the COLD mark, add a
50/50 mixture of
clean water (preferably distilled) and DEX-COOL@
(silicate-free) antifreeze at the coolant recovery tank. (See
“Engine Coolant’’
in the Index for more information.)
I
Adding only plain water to your cooling system
can be dangerous. Plain water, or some other
liquid like alcohol, can boil before the proper
coolant mix
will. Your vehicle’s coolant warning
system is set for the proper coolant mix.
CAUTION: (Continued) With plain water
or the wrong mix, your engine
could get too hot but you wouldn’t get the
overheat warning. Your engine could catch fire
and you or others could be burned. Use a
50/50
mix of clean water and DEX-COOL@coolant.
I NOTICE:
r
~~
In cold weather, water can freeze and crack the
engine, radiator, heater core and other parts.
Use the recommended coolant and the proper
coolant mix.
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I A CAUTION:
You can be burned if you spill coolant on hot
engine parts. Coolant contains ethylene glycol
and
it will burn if the engine parts are hot
enough. Don’t spill coolant on
a hot engine.
When the coolant in the coolant recovery tank is at or
above the
COLD mark, start your vehicle.
If the overheat warning continues, there’s one more
thing you can try. You can
add the proper coolant mix
directly to
the radiator, but be sure the cooling system
cool before
you do it.
is
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