1999 CADILLAC ELDORADO service

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4-37 When You Are Ready to Leave After
Parking on a Hill
1. Apply your regular brakes and hold the pedal down
while you:

Start your engine;

Shift into a gear; and

Be sure the parking brake has released.
2. Let up on the brake pedal.
3. Drive slowly until the trailer is clear of the chocks.
4. Stop and have someone pick up and store the chocks.
Maintenance When Trailer Towing
Your vehicle will need service more often when you're
pulling a trailer. See the Maintenance Schedule booklet
for more on this. Things that are especially important in
trailer operation are automatic transaxle fluid (don't
overfill), engine oil, drive belt, cooling system and brake
system. If you're trailering, it's a good idea to review
this information before you start your trip.
Check periodically to see that all hitch nuts and bolts
are tight.
Engine Cooling When Trailer Towing
Your cooling system may temporarily overheat during
severe operating conditions. See ªEngine Overheatingº
in the Index.

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5-8
10. Attach the cable at least
18 inches (46 cm) away
from the dead battery,
but not near engine parts
that move. The electrical
connection is just as
good there, but the
chance of sparks getting
back to the battery is
much less.
11. Now start the vehicle with the good battery and run
the engine for awhile.
12. Try to start the vehicle with the dead battery.
If it won't start after a few tries, it probably
needs service.
13. Remove the cables in reverse order to prevent
electrical shorting. Take care that they don't touch
each other or any other metal.
A. Heavy Metal Engine Part
B. Good Battery
C. Dead Battery

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Towing Your Vehicle
CAUTION:
To help avoid serious personal injury to you
or others:

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.

Use only the correct hooks.
NOTICE:
Use the proper towing equipment to avoid
damage to the bumper, fascia or fog lamp areas
of the vehicle.
With current trends in automotive styles and design, it is
essential that the correct towing equipment is used to
tow a vehicle. Your vehicle can be towed with wheel
-lift
or car
-carrier equipment.
Consult your dealer or a professional towing service if
you need to have your vehicle towed. See ªRoadside
Assistanceº in the Index.

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5-12
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. See ªOverheated
Engine Protection Operating Modeº in the Index.
If No Steam Is Coming From Your Engine
If you get an engine 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. If your air conditioner is on, turn it off.
2. Dial temperature control to the highest heat setting
and open the windows, as necessary.
3. If you're in a traffic jam, shift to NEUTRAL (N);
otherwise, shift to the highest gear while
driving
-- OVERDRIVE (
) or THIRD (3).
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, idle the engine for three
minutes while you're parked. If you still have the
warning, turn off the engine and get everyone out of the
vehicle until it cools down. Also, see ªOverheated
Engine Protection Operating Modeº listed previously in
this section.
You may decide not to lift the hood but to get service
help right away.

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5-14
A low coolant level should be indicated by a CHECK
COOLANT LEVEL message on the Driver Information
Center. If it is, you may have a leak in the radiator
hoses, heater hoses, radiator, water pump or somewhere
else in the cooling system.
CAUTION:
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.
NOTICE:
Engine damage from running your engine
without coolant isn't covered by your warranty.
See ªOverheated Engine Protection Operating
Modeº in the Index.
NOTICE:
When adding coolant, it is important that you use
only DEX
-COOL
(silicate-free) coolant.
If coolant other than DEX-COOL is added to the
system, premature engine, heater core or
radiator corrosion may result. In addition, the
engine coolant will require change sooner
-- at
30,000 miles (50 000 km) or 24 months,
whichever occurs first. Damage caused by the
use of coolant other than DEX
-COOL
is not
covered by your new vehicle 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.

6-
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6-1
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
-11 Engine Oil
6
-16 Engine Air Cleaner/Filter
6
-19 Automatic Transaxle Fluid
6
-23 Engine Coolant
6
-27 Windshield Washer Fluid
6
-29 Brakes
6
-32 Battery
6
-33 Bulb Replacement
6
-39 Windshield Wiper Blade Replacement
6
-40 Tires
6
-48 Appearance Care
6
-48 Cleaning the Inside of Your Vehicle
6
-50 Care of Safety Belts6
-50 Cleaning Glass Surfaces
6
-50 Cleaning the Outside of the Windshield and
Wiper Blades
6
-50 Weatherstrips
6
-51 Cleaning the Outside of Your Vehicle
6
-52 Cleaning Aluminum or Chrome-Plated
Wheels (If Equipped)
6
-52 Cleaning Tires
6
-52 Sheet Metal Damage
6
-53 Underbody Maintenance
6
-53 Chemical Paint Spotting
6
-54 GM Vehicle Care/Appearance Materials
6
-55 Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
6
-55 Electrical System
6
-64 Replacement Bulbs
6
-65 Capacities and Specifications
6
-65 Air Conditioning Refrigerants
6
-66 Normal Maintenance Replacement Parts

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6-2
Service
Your dealer knows your vehicle best and wants you to
be happy with it. We hope you'll go to your dealer 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:
Doing Your Own Service Work
If you want to do some of your own service work, you'll
want to use the proper service manual. It tells you much
more about how to service your vehicle than this manual
can. To order the proper service manual, see ªService
and Owner Publicationsº in the Index.
Your vehicle has an air bag system. Before attempting to
do your own service work, see ªServicing Your Air
Bag
-Equipped Vehicleº 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 ªMaintenance Recordº in the Maintenance
Schedule booklet.

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CAUTION:
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. ªEnglishº and ªmetricº
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 dealer before adding equipment to the outside of
your vehicle.
Fuel
Use premium unleaded gasoline rated at 91 octane or
higher for best performance. You may use middle grade
or regular unleaded gasolines, but your vehicle may not
accelerate as well.
It is recommended that the gasoline meet specifications
which have been developed by the American
Automobile Manufacturers Association (AAMA) and
endorsed by the Canadian Motor Vehicle Manufacturers
Association for better vehicle performance and engine
protection. Gasolines meeting the AAMA specification
could provide improved driveability and emission
control system performance compared to other
gasolines. For more information, write to: American
Automobile Manufacturer's Association, 7430 Second
Ave, Suite 300, Detroit MI 48202.
Be sure the posted octane for premium is at least 91 (at
least 89 for middle grade and 87 for regular). 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 the recommended 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.