2003 CHEVROLET TRACKER Owners Manual

Do not play 3 inch discs without a standard adapter disc.
If an error appears on the display, see ªCompact Disc
Messagesº later in this section.
1 PREV (Previous):Press this pushbutton to go to the
previous track if the current track has been playing
for less than eight seconds. If pressed when the current
track has been playing for more than eight seconds,
it will go to the beginning of the current track. The track
number will appear on the display. If you hold the
pushbutton or press it more than once, the player will
continue moving back through the disc.
2 NEXT:Press this pushbutton to go to the next track.
The track number will appear on the display. If you
hold the pushbutton or press it more than once,
the player will continue moving forward through the disc.
3 REV (Reverse):Press and hold this pushbutton to
reverse quickly within a track. Release it to play the
passage. The display will show elapsed time while
reversing.
4 FWD (Forward):Press and hold this pushbutton to
advance quickly within a track. Release it to play the
passage. The display will show elapsed time while
forwarding.5 RDM (Random):Press this pushbutton to hear the
tracks in random, rather than sequential, order. RND will
appear on the display. Press RDM again to turn off
random play. OFF will appear on the display.
6 RPT (Repeat):Press this pushbutton once to hear a
track over again. RPT will appear on the display.
The current track will continue to repeat. Press RPT
again to turn off repeated play. OFF will appear on the
display.
oSEEKp:Press the right or the left arrow to go to
the next or to the previous track. The track number
will appear on the display.
RCL (Recall):Press this knob to see the current track
number or how long the current track has been playing.
AM FM:Press this button to play the radio when a disc is
in the player. The disc will stop but remain in the player.
CD:With a compact disc in the player and the radio
playing, press this button to play the compact disc.
CD will appear on the display.
Z(Eject):Press this button to eject a CD. Eject may
be activated with either the ignition or radio off. CDs
may be loaded with the radio and ignition off if this
button is pressed ®rst.
3-41

Compact Disc Messages
If the disc comes out, it could be for one of the following
reasons:
·You're driving on a very rough road. When the road
becomes smoother, the disc should play.
·It's very hot. When the temperature returns to
normal, the disc should play.
·The disc is dirty, scratched, wet or upside down.
·The air is very humid. If so, wait about an hour
and try again.
·There may have been a problem while burning
the CD.
·The label may be caught in the CD player.
If the CD is not playing correctly, for any other reason,
try a known good CD.
If any error occurs repeatedly or if an error can't be
corrected, contact your dealer.
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.
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.
3-42

Care of Your CDs
Handle CDs carefully. Store them in their original cases
or other protective cases and away from direct
sunlight and dust. If the surface of a CD is soiled,
dampen a clean, soft cloth in a mild, neutral detergent
solution and clean it, wiping from the center to the edge.
Be sure never to touch the side without writing when
handling CDs. Pick up CDs by grasping the outer edges
or the edge of the hole and the outer edge.
Care of Your CD Player
The use of CD lens cleaners for CDs is not advised,
due to the risk of contaminating the lens of the CD optics
with lubricants internal to the CD mechanism.
Fixed Mast Antenna
The ®xed mast antenna can withstand most car washes
without being damaged. If the mast should ever
become slightly bent, you can straighten it out by hand.
If the mast is badly bent you should replace it.
If the mast becomes loose from the antenna base,
which is located on the fender, tighten by hand, then
with a wrench, one quarter turn.
3-43

-NOTES
3-44

Your Driving, the Road, and Your Vehicle..........4-2
Driver Behavior..............................................4-2
Driving Environment........................................4-2
Vehicle Design...............................................4-3
Defensive Driving...........................................4-3
Drunken Driving.............................................4-4
Control of a Vehicle........................................4-7
Braking.........................................................4-7
Steering......................................................4-11
Off-Road Recovery.......................................4-13
Passing.......................................................4-13
Loss of Control.............................................4-15
Off-Road Driving with Your
Four-Wheel-Drive Vehicle...........................4-16
Driving at Night............................................4-30Driving in Rain and on Wet Roads..................4-32
City Driving..................................................4-35
Freeway Driving...........................................4-36
Before Leaving on a Long Trip.......................4-37
Highway Hypnosis........................................4-38
Hill and Mountain Roads................................4-38
Winter Driving..............................................4-40
If You Are Stuck: In Sand, Mud,
Ice or Snow..............................................4-44
Towing..........................................................4-47
Towing Your Vehicle.....................................4-47
Recreational Vehicle Towing...........................4-47
Loading Your Vehicle....................................4-51
Towing a Trailer...........................................4-53
Section 4 Driving Your Vehicle
4-1

Your Driving, the Road, and
Your Vehicle
Whenever we drive, we are taking on an important
responsibility. This is true for any motor
vehicle Ð passenger car, van, truck, sport utility.
Driver behavior, the driving environment, and the
vehicle's design all affect how well a vehicle performs.
But statistics show that the most important factor,
by far, is how we drive.
Knowing how these three factors work together can help
you understand how your vehicle handles and what
you can do to avoid many types of crashes, including a
rollover crash.
Driver Behavior
The single most important thing is this: everyone in
the vehicle, including the driver, should buckle up.
See
Safety Belts: They Are for Everyone on page 1-11.
In fact, most serious injuries and fatalities to unbelted
occupants can be reduced or prevented by the useof safety belts. In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is
signi®cantly more likely to die than a person wearing
a seat belt. In addition, avoiding excessive speed,
sudden or abrupt turns and drunken or aggressive
driving can help make trips safer and avoid the
possibility of a crash, especially a rollover crash.
This section provides many useful tips to help you
drive more safely.
Driving Environment
You can also help avoid a rollover or other type of crash
by being prepared for driving in inclement weather, at
night, or during other times where visibility or traction
may be limited (such as on curves, slippery roads or
hilly terrain). Unfamiliar surroundings can also have
hidden hazards.
To help you learn more about driving in different
conditions, this section contains information about city,
freeway and off-road driving, as well as other hints
for driving in various weather conditions.
4-2

Vehicle Design
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation,
utility vehicles have a signi®cantly higher rollover rate
than other types of vehicles. Utility vehicles do have
higher ground clearance and a narrower track or
shorter wheelbase than passenger cars, to make them
more capable for off-road driving. Speci®c design
characteristics like these give the driver a better view
of the road, but also give utility vehicles a higher
center of gravity than other types of vehicles.
This means that you should not expect a utility vehicle to
handle the same way a vehicle with a lower center of
gravity, like a car, would in similar situations.
But driver behavior factors are far more often the cause
of a utility vehicle rollover than are environmental or
vehicle factors. Safe driver behavior and understanding
the environment in which you will be driving can help
avoid a rollover crash in any type of vehicle, including
utility vehicles.
Defensive Driving
The best advice anyone can give about driving is:
Drive defensively.
Please start with a very important safety device in your
vehicle: Buckle up. See
Safety Belts: They Are for
Everyone on page 1-11.
Defensive driving really means ªbe ready for anything.º
On city streets, rural roads or freeways, it means
ªalways expect the unexpected.º
Assume that pedestrians or other drivers are going to
be careless and make mistakes. Anticipate what
they might do. Be ready for their mistakes.
Rear-end collisions are about the most preventable of
accidents. Yet they are common. Allow enough following
distance. It is the best defensive driving maneuver,
in both city and rural driving. You never know when the
vehicle in front of you is going to brake or turn suddenly.
Defensive driving requires that a driver concentrate on
the driving task. Anything that distracts from the
driving task Ð such as concentrating on a cellular
telephone call, reading, or reaching for something on
the ¯oor Ð makes proper defensive driving more difficult
and can even cause a collision, with resulting injury.
Ask a passenger to help do things like this, or pull off the
road in a safe place to do them yourself. These simple
defensive driving techniques could save your life.
4-3

Drunken Driving
Death and injury associated with drinking and driving is
a national tragedy. It is the number one contributor
to the highway death toll, claiming thousands of victims
every year.
Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drive
a vehicle:
·Judgment
·Muscular Coordination
·Vision
·Attentiveness.
Police records show that almost half of all motor
vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol. In most cases,
these deaths are the result of someone who was
drinking and driving. In recent years, more than
16,000 annual motor vehicle-related deaths have been
associated with the use of alcohol, with more than
300,000 people injured.Many adults Ð by some estimates, nearly half the adult
population Ð choose never to drink alcohol, so they
never drive after drinking. For persons under 21,
it is against the law in every U.S. state to drink alcohol.
There are good medical, psychological and
developmental reasons for these laws.
The obvious way to eliminate the leading highway
safety problem is for people never to drink alcohol
and then drive. But what if people do? How much is
ªtoo muchº if someone plans to drive? It is a lot less than
many might think. Although it depends on each person
and situation, here is some general information on
the problem.
The Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of someone
who is drinking depends upon four things:
·The amount of alcohol consumed
·The drinker's body weight
·The amount of food that is consumed before and
during drinking
·The length of time it has taken the drinker to
consume the alcohol.
4-4