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6-
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 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
- 22 Engine Coolant
6
- 25 Surge Tank Pressure Cap
6
- 26 Power Steering Fluid
6
- 27 Windshield Washer Fluid
6
- 28 Brakes
6
- 32 Battery
6
- 34 Bulb Replacement6
- 43 Windshield Wiper Blade Replacement
6
- 44 Tires
6
- 52 Appearance Care
6
- 53 Cleaning the Inside of Your Vehicle
6
- 54 Care of Safety Belts
6
- 55 Cleaning the Outside of Your Vehicle
6
- 57 Cleaning Tires
6
- 59 GM Vehicle Care/Appearance Materials
6
- 60 Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
6
- 60 Service Parts Identification Label
6
- 61 Electrical System
6
- 68 Removing the Rear Seat Cushion
6
- 69 Replacement Bulbs
6
- 69 Capacities and Specifications
6
- 70 Normal Maintenance Replacement Parts
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6-8
Filling a Portable Fuel Container
CAUTION:
Never fill a portable fuel container while it is in
your vehicle. Static electricity discharge from the
container can ignite the gasoline vapor. You can
be badly burned and your vehicle damaged if this
occurs. To help avoid injury to you and others:
Dispense gasoline only into
approved containers.
Do not fill a container while it is inside a
vehicle, in a vehicle's trunk, pickup bed
or on any surface other than the ground.
Bring the fill nozzle in contact with the
inside of the fill opening before operating
the nozzle. Contact should be maintained
until the filling is complete.
Don't smoke while pumping gasoline.
Checking Things Under the Hood
CAUTION:
An electric fan under the hood can start up and
injure you even when the engine is not running.
Keep hands, clothing and tools away from any
underhood electric fan.
CAUTION:
Things that burn can get on hot engine parts and
start a fire. These include liquids like gasoline,
oil, coolant, brake fluid, windshield washer and
other fluids, and plastic or rubber. You or others
could be burned. Be careful not to drop or spill
things that will burn onto a hot engine.
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6-10
When you open the hood, you'll see:
A. Windshield Washer Fluid
B. Power Steering Fluid
C. Engine Oil Fill Location
D. Engine Oil Dipstick LocationE. Brake Master Cylinder
F. Transaxle Dipstick/Fill Location
G. Engine Air Cleaner/Filter
H. Surge Tank/Coolant Fill Location
Before closing the hood, be sure all filler caps are on properly. Then pull the hood down and close it firmly.
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6-16
Engine Air Cleaner/Filter
The air cleaner is located next to the coolant surge tank
on the driver's side of the engine. Be sure the engine has
cooled before following these steps to replace the air
cleaner filter:
1. With a screwdriver,
loosen the air duct
clamp, which is
located at the mass
airflow sensor end of
the air duct.
2. Disconnect the air duct from the mass airflow sensor.
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6-22 How to Reset the Transaxle Fluid
Change Indicator
After the transaxle fluid has been changed, display the
TRANS FLUID LIFE message by pressing the INFO
button. Then press and hold the INFO RESET button
until the display shows ª100.º This resets the transaxle
fluid life index. The percentage of transaxle fluid life
remaining may be checked at any time by pressing the
INFO button several times until the TRANS FLUID
LIFE message appears.
Engine Coolant
The cooling system in your vehicle is filled with
DEX
-COOL engine coolant. This coolant is designed
to remain in your vehicle for 5 years or 150,000 miles
(240 000 km), whichever occurs first, if you add only
DEX
-COOL extended life coolant.
The following explains your cooling system and how
to add coolant when it is low. If you have a problem
with engine overheating, see ªEngine Overheatingº
in the Index.A 50/50 mixture of clean, drinkable water and
DEX
-COOL coolant will:
Give freezing protection down to
-34F (-37C).
Give boiling protection up to 265F (129C).
Protect against rust and corrosion.
Help keep the proper engine temperature.
Let the warning lights and gages work as they should.
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.
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6-23 What to Use
Use a mixture of one-half clean, drinkable water and
one
-half DEX-COOL coolant which won't damage
aluminum parts. If you use this coolant mixture, you
don't need to add anything else.
CAUTION:
Adding only plain water to your cooling system
can be dangerous. Plain water, or some other
liquid like alcohol, can boil before the proper
coolant mixture will. Your vehicle's coolant
warning system is set for the proper coolant
mixture. With plain water or the wrong mixture,
your engine could get too hot but you wouldn't
get the overheat warning. Your engine could
catch fire and you or others could be burned.
Use a 50/50 mixture of clean, drinkable water
and DEX
-COOL coolant.
NOTICE:
If you use an improper coolant mixture, your
engine could overheat and be badly damaged.
The repair cost wouldn't be covered by your
warranty. Too much water in the mixture can
freeze and crack the engine, radiator, heater core
and other parts.
If you have to add coolant more than four times a year,
have your dealer check your cooling system.
NOTICE:
If you use the proper coolant, you don't have to
add extra inhibitors or additives which claim to
improve the system. These can be harmful.
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6-24 Checking Coolant
The engine coolant surge tank is located on the driver's
side of the engine.
The cooling system is under a lot of pressure when it
is hot. If the CHECK COOLANT LEVEL message
appears on the Driver Information Center, you will need
to add coolant.
CAUTION:
Turning the surge tank pressure cap when the
engine and radiator are hot can allow steam and
scalding liquids to blow out and burn you badly.
Never turn the surge tank pressure cap
-- even a
little
-- when the engine and radiator are hot.
The vehicle must be on a level surface. When your
engine is cold, the coolant level should be at the FULL
COLD mark, which is at or above the fill mark at the
edge of the surge tank.
If the CHECK COOLANT LEVEL message comes on
and stays on, it means you're low on engine coolant.
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6-25
Adding Coolant
If you need more coolant, add the proper DEX
-COOL
coolant mixture at the surge tank, but only when the
engine is cool.
CAUTION:
You can be burned if you spill coolant on hot
engine parts. Coolant contains ethylene glycol,
and it will burn if the engine parts are hot
enough. Don't spill coolant on a hot engine.
When replacing the pressure cap, make sure it is hand-tight.
Surge Tank Pressure Cap
NOTICE:
The surge tank cap is a 15 psi (105 kPa)
pressure
-type cap and must be tightly installed
to prevent coolant loss and possible engine
damage from overheating. Two and one
-half
turns are required to seal the cap.
If the surge tank pressure cap needs to be replaced, a
GM cap is recommended.