1998 BUICK REGAL Owners Manual

Have you recently cnanged brands of fuel?
If
so, be sure to fuel your vehicle with quality fuel (see
“Fuel” in the Index). Poor fuel quality will cause your
engine not to run as efficiently as designed. You may
notice this as stalling after start-up, stalling when you
put the vehicle into gear, misfiring, hesitation on
acceleration or stumbling on acceleration. (These
conditions may go away once the engine is warmed up.)
This will be detected by the system and cause the light
to turn on.
If you experience one or more of these conditions,
change the fuel brand
you use. It will require at least one
full tank of the proper fuel
to turn the light off.
If none of the above steps have made the light turn off,
have your dealer or qualified service center check the
vehicle. Your dealer has the proper test equipment and
diagnostic tools to fix any mechanical
or electrical
problems that may have developed.
Qil Warning Light
If you have a problem with
your oil, this light may stay
on after you start your
engine, or come on when
you are driving.
This indicates that oil is not going through your engine
quickly enough to keep it lubricated. The engine could
be low on oil or could have some other oil problem.
Have it fixed right away.
The oil light could also come on
in the following
situations:
0
0 The light will come on briefly when you turn on the
ignition to show you that it is working properly.
(If it doesn’t come on with the ignition on,
you may
have a problem with the fuse or bulb. Have it fixed
right away.)
Sometimes when the engine is idling at a stop, the
light may blink on and off. This
is normal.
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Low Oil Level Light
Don’t keep driving if the oil pressL-d is low. If
you do, your engine can become so hot that it
catches fire. You or others could be burned.
Check your
oil as soon as possible and have your
vehicle serviced.
I NOTICE:
Damage to your engine from neglected oil
problems can be costly and
is not covered by
your warranty.
LOW
OIL
Your engine is equipped
with an oil level monitoring
system. When the ignition
key
is turned on, the
LOW
OIL light will come
on briefly.
If the light does not come on briefly, have it fixed
so it
will be ready to warn you if there’s a problem.
If the light stays on, stop the vehicle on a level surface
and turn the engine
off. Check the oil level using the
engine oil dipstick. (See “Engine Oil” in the Index.) If
the light does not flash, have the
low oil level sensor
system repaired
so it will be ready to warn you if there’s
a problem.
The oil
level monitoring system only checks oil level
during the brief period between key on and engine
crank. It does not monitor engine oil level when the
engine is running. Additionally, an oil level check is
only performed if the engine has been turned off for a
considerable period of time, allowing the oil normally in
circulation
to drain back into the oil pan.
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Change Oil Soon Light
Your CHANGE OIL SOON
light should come on as a
CHANGE OIL
SOON
bulb check when you start
the engine.
Security Light
SECURITY
This light will come on
when you turn the key
to
START and stay on until the
vehicle starts.
If this light stays on for about
20 seconds after you turn
on the ignition, have the oil changed.
When to change your oil also depends on driving habits
and conditions because
they directly affect engine speed,
coolant temperature and vehicle speed. Because of this,
the CHANGE OIL
SOON light may come on as early as
2,000 miles (3,200 km) or less for harsh conditions.
Also see “Maintenance Schedule” in the Index for
further instructions on when
to change your oil.
To reset the CHANGE OIL SOON light, see “CHANGE
OIL SOON Light, How to Reset” in the Index. Also, see
“Oil Life Monitor”
in the Index. It
will also flash if your ignition key is too dirty or wet
for the PASS-Key I1 system to read the resistor pellet.
See “Pass-Key
11” in the Index.
If the resistor pellet is damaged or missing, the light will
come
on.
If you’re ever driving and the SECURITY light comes
on, you will be able to restart your engine
if you turn it
off. Your PASS-Key I1 system, however, is not working
properly and must be serviced by your dealer. Your
vehicle is not protected by the PASS-Key I1 system.
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Cruise Light
CRUISE
The CRUISE light comes
on whenever you set your
cruise control. See “Cruise
Control” in the Index.
Service Vehicle Soon Light
SERVICE VEHICLE
SOON
Performance Shift Light (If Equipped)
PERF
SHIFT
The PERF SHIFT light
comes on when you press
the performance shift button
to indicate that your vehicle
1 is in performance shifting
mode. See “Performance
Shifting” in the Index. This
light will come on
if
you have certain
non-emission related
vehicle problems.
These problems may not be obvious and may affect
vehicle performance or durability. Consult a qualified
dealership for necessary repairs to maintain top vehicle
performance. The light will come on briefly when your
ignition is turned on to show that it is working properly.
Low Washer Fluid Warning Light
LOW WASH
This light will come on
when your windshield
washers
are working and the
fluid container is low.
The light will also come
on briefly when your ignition is
turned on
to show that it is working properly.
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Door/Trunk Ajar Warning Light
This light will come on if
your trunk or any door is
DOOR/TRUNK
not completely closed.
Fuel Gage
1 /2
Your fuel gage tells you
about how much fuel you
have left when the ignition
is on. When the indicator
nears
EMPTY (E), you still
have a little fuel left, but
you should get more soon.
Here are some things owners ask about. All these
situations are normal and do not show a problem with
your fuel gage:
0 At the service station, the pump shuts off before the
gage reads
FULL (F).
0 It takes a little more or less fuel to fill up than the
gage indicated.
For example, the gage may have
indicated the tank was half full, but it actually took a
little more or less than half the tank’s capacity to
fill it.
0 The gage moves a little when you turn a corner or
speed up.
Low Fuel Light
If your fuel is low, a circular
light
on your instrument
anel cluster will come on
Rl and stay on and a chime will JJ! UNLEADED sound periodically until you
0
It will also come on for a few seconds when you first
turn on the ignition as a check to show you it’s working.
If it doesn’t come
on then, have it fixed.
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Driver Information Center (Option)
- PSI kPa
INST- - -MPG %
AVGnm D 1
OIL u "b! L/100 km
LIFERANGE SC BOOST
3.8L L67 Supercharged Engine
INST- - -MPG %
OIL ),I umb! L/100 km
AVG in nl )'I(
LIFERANGE
3.8L L36 Engine
Your Driver Information Center, (DIC) located below
the tachometer on the instrument panel cluster, gives
you important safety and maintenance facts. When
you
turn the ignition on, the entire center lights up for just a
few seconds.
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Control Buttons
I
RESET
The driver information center has three buttons that
control its functions.
EM, RESET AND MODE: The EnglishMetric, reset
and mode buttons
for the driver information center are
located
to the left of the steering wheel, just below the
instrument panel cluster.
EM: Press this button to change the display from
English to metric units
or metric to English.
RESET Press this button for one second to reset the
mode displayed
MODE: Press this button to change the mode
being displayed.
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Modes
AVG ECON: Shows your average fuel economy since
you last reset this mode. Average fuel economy is
viewed as a long term approximation of your overall
driving and driving conditions. To learn the average fuel
economy from a new starting point, press the RESET
button while
the average fuel economy is displayed in
the
DIC.
INSTANTANEOUS FUEL ECONOMY Shows your
current fuel economy. Instantaneous fuel economy
varies with your driving conditions, such as
acceleration, braking and the grade of the road being
traveled. The instantaneous fuel economy display cannot
be reset, therefore the reset button has no effect while in
this mode.
OIL LIFE MONITOR: Shows an estimate of the oil’s
remaining useful life. When
the oil life index is less than
lo%, the CHANGE OIL SOON light will come on.
When you have the oil changed according to the
maintenance schedule (see “Maintenance Schedule” in
the Index), you will have to reset the oil life monitor.
To
do this, press and hold the RESET button for more than
five seconds while the oil life monitor is being displayed
on the DIC. The oil life will change
to 100%.
RANGE: Shows the approximate distance you can
drive without refueling. This
is based on the amount of
fuel in the tank and on the fuel economy of the most
recent
25 miles (40 km). Pressing RESET while in this
mode will have no effect.
BOOST GAGE: If you have the supercharged engine,
this gage will show
the amount of boost your engine is
receiving. Pressing RESET while in this mode will have
no effect.
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