1999 OLDSMOBILE AURORA Owners Manual

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2-71 Malfunction Indicator Lamp
(Service Engine Soon Light)
Your vehicle is equipped
with a computer which
monitors operation of the
fuel, ignition and emission
control systems.
This system is called OBD II (On
-Board
Diagnostics
-Second Generation) and is intended to
assure that emissions are at acceptable levels for the life
of the vehicle, helping to produce a cleaner
environment. The SERVICE ENGINE SOON light
comes on to indicate that there is a problem and service
is required. Malfunctions often will be indicated by the
system before any problem is apparent. This may
prevent more serious damage to your vehicle. This
system is also designed to assist your service technician
in correctly diagnosing any malfunction.
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.
NOTICE:
Modifications made to the engine, transaxle,
exhaust or fuel system of your vehicle or the
replacement of the original tires with other than
those of the same Tire Performance Criteria
(TPC) can affect your vehicle's emission controls
and may cause the SERVICE ENGINE SOON
light to come on. Modifications to these systems
could lead to costly repairs not covered by your
warranty. This may also result in a failure to pass
a required Emission Inspection/Maintenance test.
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2-72
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:

Reducing vehicle speed.

Avoiding hard accelerations.

Avoiding steep uphill grades.

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 ªIf
the Light Is On Steadyº 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 ªIf the Light
Is On Steadyº following. If the light is still flashing,
follow the previous steps, and drive the vehicle to your
dealer or qualified service center for service.
If the Light Is On Steady
You may be able to correct the emission system
malfunction by considering the following:
Did you recently put fuel into your vehicle?
If so, reinstall the fuel cap, making sure to fully install
the cap. See ªFilling Your Tankº in the Index. The
diagnostic system can determine if the fuel cap has been
left off or improperly installed. A loose or missing fuel
cap will allow fuel to evaporate into the atmosphere. A
few driving trips with the cap properly installed should
turn the light off.
Did you just drive through a deep puddle of water?
If so, your electrical system may be wet. The condition
will usually be corrected when the electrical system
dries out. A few driving trips should turn the light off.
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2-73
Are you low on fuel?
As your engine starts to run out of fuel, your engine may
not run as efficiently as designed since small amounts of
air are sucked into the fuel line causing a misfire. The
system can detect this. Adding fuel should correct this
condition. Make sure to install the fuel cap properly. See
ªFilling Your Tankº in the Index. It will take a few
driving trips to turn the light off.
Have you recently changed brands of fuel?
If so, be sure to fuel your vehicle with quality fuel (see
ªFuelº 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.
Oil Pressure 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.
A warning chime and the message LOW OIL
PRESSURE may also come on.
These indicate that oil is not going through your engine
quickly enough to keep it cool. 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 briefly 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 START. 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.
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2-74
CAUTION:
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.
Cruise Light
The CRUISE light comes
on whenever you set your
cruise control. See ªCruise
Controlº in the Index.
Fuel Gage
When the ignition is on,
your fuel gage tells you
about how much fuel you
have left.
When you have less than 3.0 gallons (11.3 L) of fuel
remaining, the message LOW FUEL will be displayed and
a chime will sound. You need to get more fuel right away.
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2-75
Press the FUEL button on the Driver Information Center
to turn off the warning.
Here are four things that some owners ask about. None
of these show a problem with your fuel gage:

At the service station, the gas pump shuts off before
the gage reads ªFº (Full).

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
the tank.

The gage moves a little when you turn a corner or
speed up.

The tank is not necessarily empty when the pointer is
over the ªEº (Empty) mark. There is a reserve of
about 1.5 gallons (5.6 L) in the tank. You should still
get more fuel as soon as possible.Driver Information Center
The Driver Information Center (DIC) displays
information in either English or metric. When the
system is on or off, push the OFF button down for two
seconds to change the display between English and
metric. This will also change the digital screen for the
climate control system between English and metric.
In addition to the functions described in this part, the
DIC also displays various warning messages under
appropriate conditions.
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2-76
Turn on the system by pressing any button except
RESET, ENTER or OFF. When you turn on the ignition,
the DIC will be in the mode last displayed when the
engine was turned off. Keep in mind that this also
applies to the OFF mode.
To turn off messages on the DIC (except LOW OIL
PRESSURE, LOW BRAKE FLUID, PARK BRAKE
SET and the hot engine warnings), press any button on
the DIC.
You will need to open the cover to access the control
buttons. To open the cover, push the button located to
the right of the cover.
To close the cover, push it down to its closed position.
Fuel Economy
The ECON button displays average fuel economy and
instantaneous fuel economy calculated for your specific
driving conditions.
Press ECON to display average fuel economy, such as:
25.2 AVG MI/GAL or 9.3 AVG L/100 KM
Press ECON again to display instantaneous fuel
economy, such as:
28 INST MI/GAL or 8.4 INST L/100 KM
Press again to return to average fuel economy.
The average fuel economy is viewed as a long
-term
approximation of your overall driving conditions.
If you press RESET in this mode while you're driving,
the system will begin figuring fuel economy from that
point in time.
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2-77 Fuel
Press FUEL to see how much fuel has been used since
you last pressed the RESET button. The display will
show a reading such as:
10.4 GALLONS USED or 39.4 LITERS USED
To learn how much fuel will be used from a specific
starting point, first press FUEL to display fuel used,
then press RESET.
Don't confuse fuel used with the amount of fuel in
your tank.
Fuel Range
RANGE calculates the remaining distance you can drive
without refueling. It's based on fuel economy and the
fuel remaining in the tank. The display will show a
reading such as:
FUEL RANGE 235 MI or FUEL RANGE 378 KMIf the range is less than 50 miles (80 km), the display
will read LOW FUEL RANGE.
The fuel economy data used to determine fuel range is
an average of recent driving conditions. As your driving
conditions change, this data is gradually updated.
Resetting fuel range causes the fuel economy data to be
updated immediately. To reset fuel range, press
RANGE, then RESET.
Average Speed
The calculation for average speed begins when SPEED
is reset. Press SPEED to display the average speed,
such as:
AVG SPEED 55 MPH or AVG SPEED 90 KM/H
To reset the average speed, press SPEED and
then RESET.
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2-78 Engine
The ENG button scrolls through the following functions:

Oil pressure, such as:
OIL PRESSURE 40 PSI or OIL PRESSURE
276 kPa

Battery voltage, such as:
BATTERY 13.8 VOLTS

Transaxle fluid life, such as:
TRANS FLUID LIFE 40%
This is an estimate of the transaxle fluid's remaining
useful life. It will show 100% when the system is
reset after a transaxle fluid change. It will alert you
to change your transaxle fluid on a schedule
consistent with your driving conditions.

Engine oil life, such as:
OIL LIFE 30%
This is an estimate of the oil's remaining useful life.
It will show 100% when the system is reset after an
oil change. It will alert you to change your oil on a
schedule consistent with your driving conditions.When the remaining oil life or transaxle fluid life is low,
the system will alert you with a message:
CHANGE OIL SOON or CHANGE TRNS
FLUID SOON
When the oil or transaxle fluid life is down to zero, you
will receive the message:
CHANGE OIL NOW or CHANGE TRNS
FLUID NOW
Always reset the OIL LIFE reminder after an oil change
or the TRNS FLUID LIFE reminder after a transaxle
fluid change. To reset the TRNS FLUID LIFE:
1. With the ignition on, press the ENG button so the
TRNS LIFE percentage is displayed.
2. Press RESET and hold for five seconds. The word
RESET will appear, then TRNS FLUID 100%.
To reset the Oil Life Monitor, see ªEngine Oil Life
Monitorº in the Index. Also, see ªEngine Oil, When to
Changeº in the Index.
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