1997 PONTIAC GRAND AM Owners Manual

Winter Driving U
Here are some tips for winter driving:
0 Have your Pontiac in good shape for winter.
YOU may want to put winter emergency supplies in
your
trunk.
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 a
couple
of 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 items in your vehicle.
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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. 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 O 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 the Enhanced Traction System, keep the
system on. It will improve your ability
to accelerate
when driving on a slippery road. Even though your
vehicle has this system, you’ll want
to slow down and
adjust your driving to the road conditions. See
“Enhanced Traction System’’ in the Index.
If you don’t have the Enhanced Traction System,
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.
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Your anti-lock brakes improve your vehicle’s stability
when you make a hard stop on a slippery road. Even
though you have the 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.
A CAUTION:
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.
You can run the engine to keep warm, but be careful.
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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 charged. You will need a well-charged battery to
restart the vehicle, and possibly for signaling later on
with your headlamps. Let the heater run for awhile.
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.
Recreational Vehicle Towing
There may be times when you want to tow your Pontiac
behind another vehicle for use at your destination. Be
sure to use the proper towing equipment designed for
recreational towing. Follow the instructions for the
towing equipment.
Towing Your Vehicle from the Front
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Follow these steps:
1. Put the front wheels on a dolly.
NOTICE:
Do not tow your vehicle with the front wheels in
contact with the
ground, or the automatic
transaxle could be damaged.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Set the parking brake.
Open the fuse panel on the driver’s side of the
instrument panel. Remove the fuse labeled
PRNDL.
This will keep your battery from draining
while towing.
Turn the ignition key to
OFF to unlock the steering
wheel. See “Ignition Positions” in the Index.
Clamp the steering wheel
in a straight-ahead position,
with a clamping device designed for towing.
Release the parking brake.
Towing Your Vehicle from the Front
(Manual Transaxle Only)
If your vehicle has a manual transaxle, you may tow
your vehicle with all four wheels on the ground.
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Follow these steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Set the parking brake.
Open the fuse panel on the driver's side
of the
instrument panel. Remove the fuse labeled PRNDL.
This will keep your battery from draining
while towing.
Turn the ignition key to
OFF to unlock the
steering wheel.
Shift your manual transaxle to NEUTRAL (N).
Release the parking brake.
I NOTICE:
Make sure that the towing speed does not exceed
55 mph (90 km/h), or your vehicle could be
badly damaged.
Towing your Vehicle from the Rear
cID 8
n
NOTICE:
Do not tow your vehicle from the rear. Your
vehicle could be badly damaged'and the costly
repairs would not be covered by your warranty.
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Loading Your Vehicle
TIRE-LOADING INFORMATION VEHICLE CAP. WT.
FRT, CTR.
RR. TOTAL LBS.
MAX. LOADING & GVWR SAME AS VEHICLE
CAPACITY WEIGHT
XXX COLD TIRE
TIRE SIZE SPEED PRESSURE
RTG PSliKPa
FRT.
RR.
SPA. IF TIRES ARE
HOT, ADD 4PS1/28KPa
SEE OWNER‘S MANUAL FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
Two labels on your vehicle show how much weight it
may properly carry. The Tire-Loading Information label
found on the driver’s door tells you the proper size,
speed rating and recommended inflation pressures for
the tires on your vehicle. It also gives you important
information about the number
of people that can be in
your vehicle and the total weight that you can carry.
This weight is called the Vehicle Capacity Weight and
includes the weight of all occupants, cargo and all
nonfactory-installed options.
f
MFD BY GENERAL MOTORS CORP
DATE GVWR
GAWR FRT GAWR RR
THIS VEHICLE CONFORMS TO ALL APPLI-
CABLE U.S. FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE
SAFETY, BUMPER, AND THEFT PREVENTION
STANDARDS
IN EFFECT ON THE DATE OF
MANUFACTURE SHOWN ABOVE.
The other label is the Certification label, found on the
rear edge of the driver’s door. It tells
you the GVWR
(Gross Vehicle Weight Rating). The GVWR includes the
weight of the vehicle, all occupants, fuel and cargo.
Never exceed the GVWR for your vehicle,
or the Gross
Axle Weight Rating (GAWR) for either the front or
rear axle.
And,
if you do have a heavy load, you should spread it
out. Don’t carry more than
132 lbs. (60 kg) in
your
trunk.
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