2003 BUICK CENTURY steering

Instrument Panel Overview...............................3-2
Hazard Warning Flashers................................3-3
Other Warning Devices...................................3-4
Horn.............................................................3-4
Tilt Wheel.....................................................3-4
Turn Signal/Multifunction Lever.........................3-5
Exterior Lamps.............................................3-11
Interior Lamps..............................................3-14
Auxiliary Power Connection
(Power Drop)............................................3-16
Ashtrays and Cigarette Lighter........................3-16
Climate Controls............................................3-17
Dual Climate Control System..........................3-17
Outlet Adjustment.........................................3-20
Passenger Compartment Air Filter...................3-20
Warning Lights, Gages and Indicators.............3-22
Instrument Panel Cluster................................3-23
Speedometer and Odometer...........................3-24
Safety Belt Reminder Light.............................3-24
Air Bag Readiness Light................................3-25
Charging System Light..................................3-26
Brake System Warning Light..........................3-27
Anti-Lock Brake System Warning Light.............3-28
Enhanced Traction System Warning Light.........3-28
Low Traction Light........................................3-29Engine Coolant Temperature Warning Light......3-29
Engine Coolant Temperature Gage..................3-30
Tire Pressure Light.......................................3-30
Malfunction Indicator Lamp.............................3-31
Oil Pressure Light.........................................3-34
Low Oil Level Light.......................................3-35
Change Engine Oil Light................................3-35
Security Light...............................................3-36
Cruise Control Light......................................3-36
Low Washer Fluid Warning Light.....................3-36
Door/Trunk Ajar Warning Light........................3-36
Service Vehicle Soon Light............................3-37
Fuel Gage...................................................3-37
Low Fuel Warning Light.................................3-38
Audio System(s).............................................3-39
Setting the Time...........................................3-39
AM-FM Radio...............................................3-40
Radio with Cassette and CD..........................3-42
Theft-Deterrent Feature..................................3-48
Audio Steering Wheel Controls.......................3-50
Understanding Radio Reception......................3-50
Care of Your Cassette Tape Player.................3-51
Care of Your CDs.........................................3-52
Care of Your CD Player................................3-52
Fixed Mast Antenna......................................3-52
Section 3 Instrument Panel
3-1

The main components of the instrument panel are the
following:
A. Exterior Lamps Control. See
Exterior Lamps on
page 3-11.
B. Turn Signal/Multifunction Lever. See
Turn
Signal/Multifunction Lever on page 3-5.
C. Instrument Panel Cluster. See
Instrument Panel
Cluster on page 3-23.
D. Audio Steering Wheel Controls. See
Audio Steering
Wheel Controls on page 3-50.
E. Gear Shift Lever. See
Automatic Transaxle
Operation on page 2-23.
F. Air Outlets. See
Outlet Adjustment on page 3-20.
G. Side Window Defogger Outlet.
H. Hood Release. See
Hood Release on page 5-11.
I. Tilt Wheel Lever. See
Tilt Wheel on page 3-4.
J. Horn. (See
Horn on page 3-4.
K. Audio System. See
Audio System(s) on page 3-39.
L. Ashtray. See
Ashtrays and Cigarette Lighter on
page 3-16.
M. Climate Control. See
Dual Climate Control System
on page 3-17.
N. Glove Box.
O. Instrument Panel Fuse Block. See
Fuses and Circuit
Breakers on page 5-89.
Hazard Warning Flashers
Your hazard warning ¯ashers let you warn others.
They also let police know you have a problem. Your
front and rear turn signal lamps will ¯ash on and off.
3-3

The hazard warning
¯asher button is located
on the top of the steering
column.
Your hazard warning ¯ashers work no matter what
position your key is in, and even if the key isn't in.
Press the button to make the front and rear turn signal
lamps ¯ash on and off. Press the button again to
turn the ¯ashers off.
When the hazard warning ¯ashers are on, your turn
signals won't work.Other Warning Devices
If you carry re¯ective triangles, you can set one up at the
side of the road about 300 feet (100 m) behind your
vehicle.
Horn
Press the horn symbols on your steering wheel pad
to sound the horn.
Tilt Wheel
A tilt wheel allows you to adjust the steering wheel
before you drive. You can raise it to the highest level
to give your legs more room when you exit and enter the
vehicle.
The lever that allows you to tilt the steering wheel is
located on the left side of the steering column.
3-4

To tilt the wheel, hold the
wheel and pull the lever.
Then move the steering
wheel to a comfortable
position and release
the lever to lock the wheel
into place.Turn Signal/Multifunction Lever
The lever located on the left side of the steering column
includes the following:
·Turn and Lane-Change Signals
·Headlamp High/Low-Beam Changer
·Flash-to-Pass
·Windshield Wipers
·Windshield Washer
·Cruise Control
3-5

Audio Steering Wheel Controls
If your vehicle has this feature, you can control certain
radio functions using the buttons on your steering wheel.
wSEEKx:Press the up or the down arrow to seek
to the next or the previous radio station.
If a cassette tape or compact disc is playing, the player
will advance to the next or the previous selection.
SCAN:Press this button and SCAN will appear on the
display. The radio will scan to the ®rst preset station
on your pushbuttons, play for a few seconds, then go to
the next preset station. The radio will scan preset
stations with a strong signal only. Press SCAN again to
stop scanning.
AM FM:Press this button to choose AM, FM1 or FM2.If a cassette tape or compact disc is playing, press this
button to listen to the radio.
SRCE (Source):Press this button to change to playing
a cassette tape or compact disc when listening to the
radio.
MUTE:Press this button to silence the audio system.
Press it again to turn on the sound.
wVOL (Volume)x:Press the up or the down arrow
to increase or to decrease volume.
Understanding Radio Reception
AM
The range for most AM stations is greater than for FM,
especially at night. The longer range, however, can
cause stations to interfere with each other. AM can pick
up noise from things like storms and power lines. Try
reducing the treble to reduce this noise if you ever get it.
FM
FM stereo will give you the best sound, but FM signals
will reach only about 10 to 40 miles (16 to 65 km).
Tall buildings or hills can interfere with FM signals,
causing the sound to come and go.
3-50

Your Driving, the Road, and Your Vehicle..........4-2
Defensive Driving...........................................4-2
Drunken Driving.............................................4-3
Control of a Vehicle........................................4-6
Braking.........................................................4-6
Enhanced Traction System (ETS)....................4-10
Steering......................................................4-11
Off-Road Recovery.......................................4-13
Passing.......................................................4-14
Loss of Control.............................................4-15
Driving at Night............................................4-16
Driving in Rain and on Wet Roads..................4-18City Driving..................................................4-21
Freeway Driving...........................................4-22
Before Leaving on a Long Trip.......................4-23
Highway Hypnosis........................................4-24
Hill and Mountain Roads................................4-24
Winter Driving..............................................4-26
If You Are Stuck: In Sand, Mud, Ice or Snow . . .4-31
Towing..........................................................4-32
Towing Your Vehicle.....................................4-32
Recreational Vehicle Towing...........................4-32
Loading Your Vehicle....................................4-33
Towing a Trailer...........................................4-35
Section 4 Driving Your Vehicle
4-1

Control of a Vehicle
You have three systems that make your vehicle go where
you want it to go. They are the brakes, the steering and
the accelerator. All three systems have to do their work at
the places where the tires meet the road.
Sometimes, as when you're driving on snow or ice, it's
easy to ask more of those control systems than the
tires and road can provide. That means you can lose
control of your vehicle. Also see
Enhanced Traction
System (ETS) on page 4-10.
Braking
Braking action involvesperception timeandreaction time.
First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal.
That'sperception time.Then you have to bring up your
foot and do it. That'sreaction time.
Averagereaction timeis about 3/4 of a second. But that's
only an average. It might be less with one driver and as
long as two or three seconds or more with another. Age,
physical condition, alertness, coordination and eyesight
all play a part. So do alcohol, drugs and frustration. But
even in 3/4 of a second, a vehicle moving at 60 mph
(100 km/h) travels 66 feet (20 m). That could be a lot of
distance in an emergency, so keeping enough space
between your vehicle and others is important.
And, of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly
with the surface of the road (whether it's pavement
or gravel); the condition of the road (wet, dry, icy); tire
tread; the condition of your brakes; the weight of
the vehicle and the amount of brake force applied.
4-6

Remember: Anti-lock doesn't change the time you need
to get your foot up to the brake pedal or always
decrease stopping distance. If you get too close to the
vehicle in front of you, you won't have time to apply
your brakes if that vehicle suddenly slows or stops.
Always leave enough room up ahead to stop, even
though you have anti-lock brakes.
Using Anti-Lock
Don't pump the brakes. Just hold the brake pedal down
®rmly and let anti-lock work for you. You may feel a
slight brake pedal pulsation or notice some noise, but
this is normal.
Braking in Emergencies
At some time, nearly every driver gets into a situation
that requires hard braking.
If you have anti-lock, you can steer and brake at the
same time. However, if you don't have anti-lock,
your ®rst reaction Ð to hit the brake pedal hard andhold it down Ð may be the wrong thing to do. Your
wheels can stop rolling. Once they do, the vehicle can't
respond to your steering. Momentum will carry it in
whatever direction it was headed when the wheels
stopped rolling. That could be off the road, into the very
thing you were trying to avoid, or into traffic.
If you don't have anti-lock, use a ªsqueezeº braking
technique. This will give you maximum braking while
maintaining steering control. You can do this by pushing
on the brake pedal with steadily increasing pressure.
In an emergency, you will probably want to squeeze the
brakes hard without locking the wheels. If you hear or
feel the wheels sliding, ease off the brake pedal.
This will help you retain steering control. If you
dohave
anti-lock, it's different. See ªAnti-Lock Brake Systemº
in this section.
In many emergencies, steering can help you more than
even the very best braking.
4-9