1998 CHEVROLET PRIZM stop start

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine NOTICE:
If you keep driving your vehicle with this light
on, after
a while, your emission controls may not
~ work as well, your fuel economy may not be as
good and your engine may not run as smoothly.
This could lead to costly repairs that may not be
covered
by your warranty.
This light should come on, as a check to show you it is
working, when the ignition is on and the engine
is not
running. If the light doesn’t come on, have it repaired.
This light will also come on during a malfunction in
one of two ways:
Light Flashing -- A misfire condition has been
detected.
A misfire increases vehicle emissions and
may damage the emission control system on your
vehicle. Dealer or qualified service center diagnosis
and service may be required.
@ Light On Steady -- An emission control system
malfunction has been detected on your vehicle.
Dealer or qualified service center diagnosis and
service may be required.
If the Light Is Flashing
The following may prevent more serious damage to
your vehicle:
0 Reducing vehicle speed.
Avoiding hard accelerations.
0 Avoiding steep uphill grades.
0 If you are towing a trailer, reduce the amount of
cargo being hauled as soon as it is possible.
If the light stops flashing and remains on steady, see “If
the Light Is
On Steady” following.
If the light continues to flash, when it is
safe to do so,
stop the vehicle. Find a safe place to park your vehicle.
Turn the key off, wait at least
10 seconds and restart the
engine. If the light remains on steady, see “If the Light
Is On Steady” following. If the light is still flashing,
follow the previous steps, and drive the vehicle to your
dealer or qualified service center for service.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Engine Oil Pressure 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 there is not enough oil pressure
to keep your engine properly lubricated and cool.
The engine could be low on
oil, or have some other
oil related problem. Have it fixed right away.
The oil light could also come on in three
other situations.
When the ignition is on but the engine is not running,
the light will come on as a test to show you it is
working, but the light will go out when you turn the
ignition to STMT.
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.
If you make a hard stop, the light may come on for a
moment. This
is normal.
Don’t keep driving if the oil pressure 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.
NOTICE:
Damage to your engine from neglected oil
problems can be costly and is not covered
by
your warranty.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine RAND (2): Press this button to hear the tracks in
random, rather than sequential, order. Press RAND
or
RPT again to turn off random play.
RPT (5): Press this button once to hear a selection over
again. The current track will continue to repeat. Press
RPT, AM-FM, RAND, or the
TRACK (SEEK) right or
left arrow to
turn off repeated play.
RECALL: Press this button to see which track is
playing. Press
RECALL again, within five seconds,
to see how long it has been playing (elapsed time).
The track number also appears when the disc is
inserted or you change the volume.
AM*FM: Press this button to play the radio when a disc
is playing. The disc will
stop but remain in the player.
CD: With a disc loaded in the player and the radio
playing, press this button once to play
the compact disc.
EJECT: Press this button to remove the disc. The radio
will play. The disc will start at the first track when you
reinsert
it.
Understanding Radio Reception
AM
The range for most AM stations is greater than for FM,
especially at night. The longer range, however, can
cause stations to interfere with each other. AM can pick
up noise from things like storms and power lines. Try
reducing the treble
to reduce this noise if you ever get it.
FM Stereo
FM stereo will give you the best sound, but FM signals
will reach only about
10 to 40 miles (16 to 65 km). Tall
buildings or hills can interfere with FM signals, causing
the sound to come and go.
Tips About Your Audio System
Hearing damage from loud noise is almost undetectable
until it is too late. Your hearing can adapt to higher
volumes of sound. Sound that seems normal can be
loud and harmful to your hearing. Take precautions by
adjusting the volume control on your radio
to a safe
sound level before your hearing adapts to it.
3-14

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.
Anti-Lock Brakes (Option)
Your vehicle may have anti-lock brakes (ABS). ABS is
an advanced electronic braking system that will help
prevent a braking slud.
ABS
If your vehicle has anti-lock
brakes, this warning light
on
the instrument panel will
come on briefly when you
start your vehicle.
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 or pulses a little. This is normal.
If there’s a problem with
the anti-lock brake system, the
anti-lock brake system warning light will stay
on or
flash. See “Anti-Lock Brake System Warning Light” in
the Index.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 0 Do not get too close to the vehicle you want to
pass while you’re awaiting an opportunity. For one
thing, following too closely reduces your area of
vision, especially if you’re following a larger
vehicle. Also, you won’t have adequate space if
the vehicle ahead suddenly slows or stops. Keep
back
a reasonable distance.
0 When it looks like a chance to pass is coming up,
start to accelerate but stay in the right lane and
don’t get too close. Time your move
so you will be
increasing speed as the time comes to move into
the other lane.
If the way is clear to pass, you will
have a “running start” that more than makes up for
the distance you would lose by dropping back. And
if something happens
to cause you to cancel your
pass, you need only slow down and
drop back again
and wait for another opportunity.
If other cars are lined up to pass a slow vehicle, wait
your turn. But take care that someone isn’t trying to
pass you as you pull out to pass the slow vehicle.
Remember to glance over your shoulder and check
the blind spot.
0 Check your mirrors, glance over your shoulder, and
start your left lane change signal before moving out
of the right lane to pass. When you are far enough
0
0
0
ahead of the passed vehicle to see its front in your
inside mirror, activate your right lane change signal
and move back into the right lane. (Remember that
your right outside mirror is convex. The vehicle
you
just passed may seem to be farther away from you
than it really is.)
Try not to pass more than one vehicle at a time
on two-lane roads. Reconsider before passing the
next vehicle.
Don’t overtake a slowly moving vehicle too rapidly.
Even though the brake lamps are not flashing, it
may be slowing down
or starting to turn.
If you’re being passed, make it easy for the
following driver to get ahead of
you. Perhaps you
can ease a little to the right.
Loss of Control
Let’s review what driving experts say about what
happens when the three control systems (brakes, steering and acceleration) don’t have enough friction where the
tires meet the road to do what the driver has asked.
In any emergency, don’t give up. Keep trying to
steer and constantly seek an escape route or area of
less danger.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Skidding
In a skid, a driver can lose control of the vehicle.
Defensive drivers avoid most skids by taking
reasonable care suited to existing conditions, and by
not “overdriving” those conditions. But skids are
always possible.
The three types of skids correspond to your vehicle’s
three control systems. In the braking skid, your wheels
aren’t rolling. In the steering or cornering skid, too
much speed or steering in a curve causes tires to slip and
lose cornering force. And in the acceleration skid, too
much throttle causes the driving wheels to spin.
A cornering skid and an acceleration skid are best
handled
by easing your foot off the accelerator pedal.
If your vehicle starts to slide, ease your foot off the
accelerator pedal and quickly steer the way you want the
vehicle
to go. If you start steering quickly enough, your
vehicle may straighten out. Always be ready for a
second skid
if it occurs.
Of course, traction is reduced when water, snow, ice,
gravel or other material is on the road. For safety, you’ll
want to slow down and adjust your driving to these conditions.
It is important to slow down on slippery
surfaces because stopping distance
will be longer and
vehicle control more limited.
While driving on a surface with reduced traction,
try
your best to avoid sudden steering, acceleration or
braking (including engine braking by shifting to a
lower gear). Any sudden changes could cause the tires
to slide.
You may not realize the surface is slippery until
your vehicle is skidding. Learn to recognize warning
clues
-- such as enough water, ice or packed snow on
the road to make a “mirrored surface”
-- and slow down
when you have any doubt.
If you have the anti-lock braking system, remember: It
helps avoid only the braking skid. If
you do not have
anti-lock, then in a braking skid (where the wheels are
no longer rolling), release enough pressure on the brakes
to get the wheels rolling again. This restores steering
control.
Push the brake pedal down steadily when you
have to stop suddenly.
As long as the wheels are rolling,
you will have steering control.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine You can be temporarily blinded by approaching
headlamps. It can take a second
or two, or even several
seconds, for your eyes to readjust to the dark. When
you are faced with severe glare (as from
a driver who
doesn’t lower the high beams, or a vehicle with
misaimed headlamps), slow down a little. Avoid
staring directly into the approaching headlamps.
Keep your windshield and all the glass on your vehicle
clean
-- inside and out. Glare at night is made much
worse by dirt on the glass. Even the inside of the glass
can build up a film caused by dust. Dirty glass makes
lights dazzle and flash more than clean glass would,
making the pupils
of your eyes contract repeatedly.
Remember that your headlamps light up far less of a
roadway when you are in
a turn or curve. Keep your
eyes moving; that way, it’s easier to pick out dimly
lighted objects. Just as your headlamps should be
checked regularly for proper aim,
so should your eyes
be examined regularly. Some drivers suffer from night
blindness
-- the inability to see in dim light -- and
aren’t even aware of it.
Driving in Rain and on Wet Roads
Rain and wet roads can mean driving trouble. On a wet
road, you can’t stop, accelerate
or turn as well because
your tire-to-road traction isn’t as good as on dry roads.
And,
if your tires don’t have much tread left, you’ll get
even less traction. It’s always wise to
go slower and be
cautious if rain starts to fall while you are driving. The
surface may get wet suddenly when your reflexes are
tuned for driving on dry pavement.
4-16

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine The heavier the rain, the harder it is to see. Even if your
windshield wiper blades are in good shape, a heavy rain
can make it harder to
see road signs and traffic signals,
pavement markings, the edge of the road and even
people walking.
It’s wise to keep your windshield wiping equipment in
good shape and keep your windshield washer tank filled
with washer fluid. Replace your windshield wiper
inserts when they show signs
of streaking or missing
areas
on the windshield, or when strips of rubber start to
separate from the inserts. Driving too fast through large water puddles
or even
going through some
car washes can cause problems, too.
The water may affect your brakes. Try to avoid puddles.
But if you can’t, try to slow down before you hit them.
Wet brakes can cause accidents. They won’t work
as well in a quick stop and may cause pulling to
one side. You could lose control of the vehicle.
After driving through a large puddle of water or
a car wash, apply your brake pedal lightly until
your brakes work normally.
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