1999 Odyssey Online Reference Owner's Manual
Use these links (and links throughout this manual) to navigate through\
this reference.
For a printed owner's manual, click on authorized manuals or go to www.h\
elminc.com.
Contents
Introduction ........................................................................\
................................................................. i
A Few Words About Safety........................................................................\
.........................................ii
Your Vehicle at a Glanc e........................................................................\
............................................ .2
Driver and Passenger Safety ........................................................................\
......................................5
Proper use and care of your vehicle's seat belts, and Supplemental Restr\
aint System.
Instruments and Control s........................................................................\
.........................................55
Instrume nt panel indicator and gauge, and how to use dashboard and steering colu\
mn controls.
Comfort and Convenience Features ........................................................................\
......................129
How to operate the climate control system, the audio system, and other c\
onvenience features.
Before Driving........................................................................\
..........................................................181
What gasoline to use, how to break -in your new vehicle, and how to load luggage and other cargo.
Driving ........................................................................\
......................................................................195
The proper way to start the engine, shift the transmission, and park, pl\
us towing a trailer.
Maintenance........................................................................\
.............................................................219
The Maintenance Schedule shows you when you need to take you r vehicle to the dealer.
Appearance Car e........................................................................\
..................................................... .277
Tips on cleaning and protecting your vehicle. Things to look for if your\
vehicle ever needs body repairs.
Taking Care of the Unexpecte d........................................................................\
..............................285
This section covers several problems motorists sometimes experience, an d how to handle them.
Technical Informatio n........................................................................\
.............................................313
ID numbers, dimensions, capacities, and technical information.
Warranty and Customer Relations (U.S. and Canad a
)...............................................................
.327
A summary of the warranties covering your new Acura, and how to contact \
us.
Authorized Manu als (U.S. only)........................................................................\
..............................333
How to order manuals and other technical literature.
Index........................................................................\
.............................................................................. I
Service Information Summary
A summary of information you need when you pull up to the fuel pump.
Owner's Identification Form
ProCarManuals.com
Your Vehicle's Safety Features
Airbags
Your vehicle has a Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) with frontal
airbags to help protect the driver and
a front seat passenger.
This system also includes an indicator light on the instrument
panel to alert you to a possible
problem with the system. The most important things you need
to know about your airbags are:
Airbags do not replace seat belts.
The seat belts are the occupants' primary protection in all types ofcollisions. The airbags supplement
the seat belts by providing extra protection for the head and chest
of each front seat occupant in a
moderate to severe frontal
collision.
Airbags offer no protection in side
impacts, rear impacts, rollovers,
or minor collisions. Airbags are
designed to deploy only during a
moderate to severe frontal
collision.
Airbags can pose serious hazards.
To do their job, airbags must inflate with tremendous force and
speed. So while airbags save lives,
they can cause serious injuries to
adults and larger children who are not wearing seat belts, are not
wearing them properly, are sitting
too close to the airbag, or are not sitting in a proper position. Infants
and small children are at an even
greater risk of injury or death.
What you should do: Always wear
your seat belt properly, and sit upright and as far back as possible
from the steering wheel or
dashboard.
Driver and Passenger SafetyProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t
Your Vehicle's Safety Features
Seats & Seat-Backs
Your vehicle's seats are designed to keep you in a comfortable, upright
position so you can take full
advantage of the protection offered
by seat belts and the energyabsorbing materials in the seats.
How you adjust your seats and seat-
backs can also affect your safety. For example, sitting too close to the
steering wheel or dashboard
increases the risk of you or your
passenger being injured by striking
the inside of the vehicle, or by an
inflating airbag.
Reclining a seat-back too far reduces
the seat belt's effectiveness and increases the chance that the seat's
occupant will slide under the seat
belt in a crash and be seriously
injured.
What you should do: Move the front
seats as far back as possible, and
keep adjustable seat-backs in an
upright position whenever the
vehicle is moving.
Head Restraints
Head restraints can help protect you
from whiplash and other injuries. For
maximum protection, the back of
your head should rest against the center of the head restraint. Door Locks
Keeping your doors locked reduces
the chance of being thrown out of
the vehicle during a crash. It also
helps prevent occupants from
accidentally opening a door and
falling out, and outsiders from
unexpectedly opening your doors.
Driver and Passenger SafetyProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t
Your Vehicle's Safety Features
Pre-Drive Safety Checklist
To make sure you and your passengers get the maximum
protection from your vehicle's safety
features, check the following each
time before you drive away: All adults, and children who have
outgrown child safety seats, are
wearing their seat belts and wearing them properly (see page 15).
Any infant or small child is
properly restrained in a child seat
in a back seat (see page 22). Front seat occupants are sitting
upright and as far back as possible
from the steering wheel and dashboard (see page 12 ). Seat-backs are upright (see page
13). Head restraints are properly
adjusted (see page 14).
All doors and the tailgate are
closed and locked (see page 12 ). All cargo is properly stored or
secured (see page 191).
The rest of this section gives more detailed information about how you
can maximize your safety.
Remember, however, that no safety
system can prevent all injuries or
deaths that can occur in severe
crashes, even when seat belts are
properly worn and the airbags deploy.
Driver and Passenger SafetyProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t
Protecting Adults
A front passenger should also adjust the seat-back to an upright position,
but as far from the dashboard as
possible. A passenger who sits tooclose to the dashboard could be
injured if the airbag inflates.
Reclining a seat-back so that theshoulder part of the belt no longer
rests against the occupant's chest
reduces the protective capability of
the belt. It also increases the chance of sliding under the belt in a crash
and being seriously injured. The
farther a seat-back is reclined, the
greater the risk of injury.
See page 101 for how to adjust seat-
backs.
4.Adjust the Head Restraints
Before driving, make sure everyone
with an adjustable head restraint has properly positioned the head
restraint. The restraint should be
positioned so the back of theoccupant's head rests against the
center of the restraint. A taller
person should adjust the restraint as
high as possible.
Driver and Passenger Safety
Reclining the seat-back too far
can result in serious injury or
death in a crash.
Adjust the seat-back to an upright position and sit well
back in the seat.ProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t
Protecting Adults
Advice for Pregnant Women
Because protecting the mother is the
best way to protect her unborn child, a pregnant woman should always
wear a seat belt whenever she drives or rides in a vehicle.
Remember to keep the lap portion of
the belt as low as possible across
your hips. Pregnant women should also sit
upright arid as far back as possible from the steering wheel ordashboard. This will reduce the risk
of injuries to both the mother and
her unborn child that can be caused
by a crash or an inflating airbag.
Each time you have a check-up, ask
your doctor if it's okay for you to drive. Additional Safety Precautions Never let passengers ride in the
cargo area or on top of a folded-
down back seat. All passengers
must sit in locked, upright seats
and be properly restrained by seat
belts.
Passengers should not stand up or
change seats while the vehicle is
moving. A passenger who is not
wearing a seat belt during a crash or emergency stop can be thrown
against the inside of the vehicle,
against other occupants, or out of
the vehicle.
Two people should never use the
same seat belt. If they do, they
could be very seriously injured in a
crash.
Driver and Passenger SafetyProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t
Protecting Adults
Do not put any accessories on seat
belts. Devices intended to improve
occupant comfort or reposition the
shoulder part of a seat belt, can
severely compromise the
protective capability of seat belts and increase the chance of serious
injury in a crash. Do not place hard or sharp objects
between yourself and an airbag.
Carrying hard or sharp objects on
your lap, or driving with a pipe or other sharp object in your mouth,
can result in injuries if your
airbags inflate.
Keep your hands and arms away
from the airbag covers. If your
hands or arms are close to the SRS
covers in the center of the steering wheel and on top of the
dashboard, they could be injured if
the airbags inflate.
Driver and Passenger SafetyProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t
Protecting Children
U.S. Models
To remind you of the passenger's airbag hazards, and that children
must be properly restrained in a
back seat, your vehicle has warning labels on the dashboard and on thedriver's and front passenger's visors.
Please read and follow the
instructions on these labels. Canadian Models
To remind you of the airbag hazards,
your vehicle has warning labels on the driver's and front passenger's
visors. Please read and follow theinstructions on these labels.
Driver and Passenger Safety
CAUTION
TO AVOID SERIOUS INJURY:
FOR MAXIMUM SAFETY PROTECTION IN
ALL TYPES OF CRASHES, YOU MUST
ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SAFETY BELT. DO NOT INSTALL REARWARD-FACING
CHILD SEATS IN ANY FRONT PASSENGER SEAT POSITION
DO NOT SIT OR LEAN UNNECESSARILY
CLOSE TO THE AIR BAG.
DO NOT PLACE ANY OBJECTS OVER THE
AIR BAG OR BETWEEN THE AIR BAG
AND YOURSELF.
SEE THE OWNER'S MANUAL FOR FURTHERINFORMATION AND EXPLANATIONS. PRECAUTION:
POUR EVITER DES BLESSURES GRAVES:
POUR PROFITER D'UNE PROTECTION
MAXIMALE LORS D'UNE COLLISION BOUCLEZ
TOUJOURS VOTRE CEINTURE DE SECURITE. N'lNSTALLEZ JAMAIS UN SIEGE POURENFANTS FAISANT FACE A L'ARPIERE SUR
LE SIEGE DU PASSAGER AVANT
NE VOUS APPUYEZ PAS ET NE VOUS ASSEYEZ PAS PRES DU COUSSIN GONFLABLE.
NE DEPOSEZ AUCUN OBJET SUR LE COUSSIN
GONFLABLE OU ENTRE LE COUSSIN
GONFLABLE ET VOUS. LISEZ LE GUIDE UTILISATEUR POUR DE
PULS AMPLES RENSEIGNEMENTS.ProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t