1998 OLDSMOBILE INTRIGUE service

Towing Your Vehicle
Try to have a GM dealer or a professional towing
service tow your vehicle. See “Roadside Assistance’’
in the Index.
If your vehicle has been changed
or modified since it
was factory-new by adding aftermarket items like fog
lamps, aero skirting,
or special tires and wheels, these
instructions and illustrations may not be correct.
Before you do anything, turn
on the hazard
warning flashers.
When
you call, tell the towing service:
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That your vehicle cannot be towed from the front
or rear with sling-type equipment.
That your vehicle has front-wheel drive.
The make, model and year of your vehicle.
Whether you can still move the shift lever.
If there was an accident, what was damaged.
When the towing service arrives, let the tow operator
know that this manual contains detailed towing
instructions and illustrations. The operator may want
to
see them.
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I To help avoid injury to you or others:
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Never let passengers ride in a vehicle that is
being towed.
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.
Always secure the vehicle on each side with
separate safety chains when towing it.
Never use J-hooks. Use T-hooks instead.
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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.
Always use
T-hooks inserted in the T-hook slots. Never use
J-hooks. They will damage drivetrain and
suspension components.
When your vehicle is being towed, have the ignition key
turned to the OFF position. The steering wheel should
be clamped in a straight-ahead position, with a clamping
device designed for towing service.
Do not use the
vehicle’s steering column lock for this. For front towing,
the transaxle should be in
PARK (P) and the parking
brake released. For rear towing, the transaxle should be
in
NEUTRAL (N) and the parking brake engaged.
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 transaxle will be
damaged. If these limitations must be exceeded, then the
drive wheels have to be supported on
a dolly.
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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:
Climb a long hill on a hot day.
Stop after high-speed driving.
Idle for long periods in traffic.
Tow a trailer.
If you get the overheat warning with no sign
of steam,
try this for a minute or
so:
1. Turn off your air conditioner.
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 (@)
or DRIVE (D).
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, you can idle the engine
for two
or three minutes while you’re parked, to see
if the warning stops. But then,
if you still have the
warning,
turn ofSthe engine and get everyone out of
the vehicle until it cools down.
You may decide not to lift the hood but to get service
help right away.
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The coolant level should be at or above the GOLD mark
on the overflow hose in the coolant recovery reservoir.
To check the coolant level, remove the cap on the
coolant recovery reservoir.
Make sure to check that the
coolant level
is up to the COLD fill level on the hose
attached
to the cap.
If it isn’t, you my have a leak in the radiator hoses,
heater hoses, radiator, water pump or somewhere else
in the COO& system.
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.
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Engine damage if you keep running your engine
without coolant isn’t covered
by your warranty.
If there seems to be no leak, with the engine on, check to
see
if the electric engine cooling fans are running. If the
engine is overheating, both
fans should be running. If
they aren’t, your vehicle needs service.
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Section 6 Service and Appearance Care
Here you will find information about the care of your vehicle. This section begins with service and fuel information,
and then it shows how
to check important fluid and lubricant levels. There is also technical information about your
vehicle, and a part devoted to its appearance care.
6-2 Service
6-3 Fuel
6-5 Fuels in Foreign Countries
6-5 Filling Your Tank
6-
8 Filling a Portable Fuel Container
6-
8 Checking Things Under the Hood
6-1 1 Engine Oil
6-
16 Air Cleaner
6-18 Automatic Transaxle Fluid
6-2
1 Engine Coolant
6-25 Power Steering Fluid
6-26 Windshield Washer Fluid
6- 27 Brakes
6-30 Battery
6-38 Windshield Wiper Blade Replacement
6-3
1 Bulb Replacement
6-39 Tires 6-47
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6-49
6-50
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6-53
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6-55
6-55
6-56
6-62
6-63
6-64 Appearance
Care
Cleaning the Inside of Your Vehicle
Care of Safety Belts
Cleaning Glass Surfaces
Cleaning the Outside of Your Vehicle
Cleaning Aluminum Wheels
Sheet Metal Damage
Finish Damage
Underbody Maintenance Chemical Paint Spotting
Appearance Care Materials Chart
Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
Service Parts Identification Label
Electrical System
Replacement Bulbs Capacities and Specifications
Normal Maintenance Replacement
Parts
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Service
Your retailer knows your vehicle best and wants you to
be happy with it. We hope you’ll
go to your retailer for
all your service needs. You’ll get genuine GM parts and
GM-trained and supported service people.
We hope you’ll want to keep your GM vehicle all GM.
Genuine GM parts have one
of these marks:
A 1
Genuine
Parts
Doing Your Own Service Work
If you want to do some of your own service work, you’ll
want to use the proper Oldsmobile Service Manual.
It
tells you much more about how to service your vehicle
than this manual can.
To order the proper service
manual, see “Service and Owner Publications” in the
Index.
Your vehicle has an air bag system. Before attempting
to
do your own service work, see “Servicing Your Air
Bag-Equipped Vehicle” in the Index.
You should keep a record with all parts receipts and list
the mileage and the date of any service work you
perform. See “Maintenance Record’’ in the Index.
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You can be injured and your vehicle could be
damaged
if you try to do service work on a
vehicle without knowing enough about it.
Be sure you have sufficient knowledge,
experience, the proper replacement parts
and tools before you attempt any vehicle
maintenance task.
Be sure to use the proper nuts, bolts and
other fasteners. “English” and “metric”
fasteners can be easily confused.
If you use
the wrong fasteners, parts can later break
or fall
off. You could be hurt.
Adding Equipment to the Outside of
Your Vehicle
Things YOU might add to the outside of your vehicle can
affect
the airflow around it. This may cause wind noise
and affect windshield washer performance. Check with
your retailer before adding equipment to the outside of
your vehicle.
Fuel
Use regular unleaded gasoline rated at 87 octane or
higher. At a minimum, it should meet specifications
ASTM
D4814 in the United States and CGSB 3.5-M93
in Canada. Improved gasoline specifications have been
developed by the American Automobile Manufacturers
Association (MA) for better vehicle performance
and engine protection. Gasolines meeting the AAMA
specification could provide improved driveability and
emission control system protection compared to
other gasolines.
Be sure the posted octane is at least
87. If the octane is
less than
87, you may get a heavy knocking noise when
you drive.
If it’s bad enough, it can damage your engine.
If you’re using fuel rated at
87 octane or higher and you
hear heavy knocking, your engine needs service. But
don’t worry if you hear a little pinging noise when
you’re accelerating
or driving up a hill. That’s normal,
and you don’t have to buy a higher octane fuel to get rid
of pinging. It’s the heavy, constant knock that means
you have a problem.
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If your vehicle is certified to meet California Emission
Standards (indicated on the underhood emission control
label),
it is designed to operate on fuels that meet
California specifications. If such fuels are not available
in states adopting California emissions standards, your
vehicle will operate satisfactorily on fuels meeting
federal specifications, but emission control system
performance may be affected.
The malfunction indicator
lamp on your instrument panel may turn on and/or your
vehicle may fail a smog-check test. If this occurs, return
to your authorized Oldsmobile retailer for diagnosis to
determine the cause of failure. In the event it
is
determined that the cause of the condition is the type of
fuels used, repairs may not be covered by your warranty.
Some gasolines that are not reformulated for low
emissions contain an octane-enhancing additive called
methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT);
ask your service station operator whether or not his fuel
contains MMT. General Motors does not recommend the
use of such gasolines. If fuels containing MMT are used,
spark plug life may be reduced and your emission
control system performance may be affected. The
malfunction indicator lamp on your instrument panel
may turn on. If this occurs, return to your authorized
Oldsmobile retailer for service.
To provide cleaner air, all gasolines in the United States
are now required to contain additives that will help
prevent deposits from forming in your engine and fuel
system, allowing your emission control system to
function properly. Therefore, you should not have to add
anything to the fuel. In addition, gasolines containing
oxygenates, such as ethers and ethanol, and
reformulated gasolines may be available in your area to help clean the air. General Motors recommends that you
use these gasolines if they comply with the
specifications described earlier.
NOTICE:
Your vehicle was not designed for fuel that
contains methanol. Don’t use it. It can corrode
metal parts in your fuel system and
also damage
plastic and rubber parts. That damage wouldn’t
be covered under your warranty.
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