
Doors and Locks
Door Locks
{CAUTION:
Unlocked doors can be dangerous.
·Passengers Ð especially children Ð can
easily open the doors and fall out of a
moving vehicle. When a door is locked,
the handle will not open it. You increase
the chance of being thrown out of the
vehicle in a crash if the doors are not
locked. So, wear safety belts properly and
lock the doors whenever you drive.
·Young children who get into unlocked
vehicles may be unable to get out. A child
can be overcome by extreme heat and can
suffer permanent injuries or even death
from heat stroke. Always lock your vehicle
whenever you leave it.
·Outsiders can easily enter through an
unlocked door when you slow down or
stop your vehicle. Locking your doors can
help prevent this from happening.There are several ways to lock and unlock your vehicle.
From the outside, use your key. To lock the door,
turn the key toward the front of the vehicle. To unlock
the door, turn the key toward the rear.
To lock the door from the
inside, push down on the
manual lock rod located
on the door. To unlock it,
pull up on the manual
lock rod.
If your vehicle is equipped with the remote keyless entry
system, you can use the transmitter to lock and unlock
the doors. See ªRemote Keyless Entry Systemº
previously in this section.
2-8

Lowering and Raising the
Canvas Top
1. Remove the side windows of the canvas top as
shown previously. Remember to release the
tension in the canvas top support arms ®rst.
2. Open the rear window and hang it down inside
the luggage compartment (or over the top of the
vehicle's trunk).
3. Unfasten the snaps that secure the canvas top to
the roof. The snaps are located on both sides of
the dome lamp. Reattach the snaps which hold the
sunroof canvas in place.4. Unhook the front end of the rear canvas top.
You may want to open the sunroof to gain
easier access to the rear top. Lower the bow
slowly while tucking the canvas into the luggage
compartment, making sure the bows are not
pinching any part of the canvas top. Make sure the
safety belts are not blocked by the folded top.
2-43

Instrument Panel Overview...............................3-2
Hazard Warning Flashers................................3-4
Other Warning Devices...................................3-4
Horn.............................................................3-4
Tilt Wheel.....................................................3-5
Turn Signal/Multifunction Lever.........................3-5
Exterior Lamps.............................................3-12
Interior Lamps..............................................3-15
Accessory Power Outlets...............................3-17
Ashtrays and Cigarette Lighter........................3-17
Climate Controls............................................3-18
Climate Control System.................................3-18
Outlet Adjustment.........................................3-21
Passenger Compartment Air Filter...................3-22
Warning Lights, Gages and Indicators.............3-24
Instrument Panel Cluster................................3-25
Speedometer and Odometer...........................3-26
Tachometer.................................................3-26
Safety Belt Reminder Light.............................3-26Air Bag Readiness Light................................3-27
Charging System Light..................................3-28
Brake System Warning Light..........................3-28
Anti-Lock Brake System Warning Light.............3-30
Engine Coolant Temperature Gage..................3-31
Malfunction Indicator Lamp.............................3-31
Oil Pressure Light.........................................3-34
Overdrive Off Light........................................3-35
Four-Wheel-Drive Light..................................3-35
Power Indicator Light.....................................3-36
Fuel Gage...................................................3-36
Audio System(s).............................................3-37
Setting the Time...........................................3-37
Radio with CD..............................................3-38
Understanding Radio Reception......................3-42
Care of Your CDs.........................................3-43
Care of Your CD Player................................3-43
Fixed Mast Antenna......................................3-43
Section 3 Instrument Panel
3-1

Speedometer and Odometer
Your speedometer lets you see your speed in both
miles per hour (mph) and kilometers per hour (km/h).
Your odometer shows how far your vehicle has
been driven, in either miles (used in the United States)
or kilometers (used in Canada).
Your vehicle's odometer is tamper-resistant.
You may wonder what happens if your vehicle needs a
new odometer installed. The new one is set at zero.
Then a label is attached on the driver's door to show
the old reading and when the new one was installed.
Trip Odometer
The trip odometer can tell you how far your vehicle has
been driven since you last set the trip odometer to
zero. The button located to the right of the odometer
display allows you to switch between the odometer
and the two trip odometers. Press the button once to
switch to TRIP A and again to switch to TRIP B.
To return the display to the odometer reading,
press the trip odometer button again.
To set the trip odometers to zero, press and hold
the button.
Tachometer
The tachometer shows engine speed in thousands of
revolutions per minute (rpm). You can use it while
driving to select correct shift points. The tachometer
may not return to zero when the engine is not running.
Notice:If you operate the engine with the
tachometer in the shaded warning area, your vehicle
could be damaged, and the damages would not
be covered by your warranty. Do not operate
the engine with the tachometer in the shaded
warning area.
Safety Belt Reminder Light
When the key is turned to ON or START, a tone will
come on for several seconds to remind people to fasten
their safety belts, unless the driver's safety belt is
already buckled.
The safety belt light will
also come on and stay on
until the driver's belt is
buckled.
3-26

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

Steering in Emergencies
There are times when steering can be more effective
than braking. For example, you come over a hill and ®nd
a truck stopped in your lane, or a car suddenly pulls
out from nowhere, or a child darts out from between
parked cars and stops right in front of you. You
can avoid these problems by braking Ð if you can stop
in time. But sometimes you can not; there is not
room. That is the time for evasive action Ð steering
around the problem.
Your vehicle can perform very well in emergencies like
these. First apply your brakes Ð but, unless you
have anti-lock, not enough to lock your wheels.
See
Braking on page 4-7. It is better to remove as much
speed as you can from a possible collision. Then
steer around the problem, to the left or right depending
on the space available.An emergency like this requires close attention and a
quick decision. If you are holding the steering wheel at
the recommended 9 and 3 o'clock positions, you
can turn it a full 180 degrees very quickly without
removing either hand. But you have to act fast, steer
quickly, and just as quickly straighten the wheel
once you have avoided the object.
The fact that such emergency situations are always
possible is a good reason to practice defensive driving
at all times and wear safety belts properly.
4-12

Traveling to Remote Areas
It makes sense to plan your trip, especially when going
to a remote area. Know the terrain and plan your
route. You are much less likely to get bad surprises.
Get accurate maps of trails and terrain. Try to learn of
any blocked or closed roads.
It's also a good idea to travel with at least one other
vehicle. If something happens to one of them, the other
can help quickly.
Does your vehicle have a winch? If so, be sure to read
the winch instructions. In a remote area, a winch
can be handy if you get stuck. But you'll want to know
how to use it properly.
Getting Familiar with Off-Road Driving
It's a good idea to practice in an area that's safe
and close to home before you go into the wilderness.
Off-road driving does require some new and different
driving skills. Here's what we mean.
Tune your senses to different kinds of signals. Your
eyes, for example, need to constantly sweep the terrain
for unexpected obstacles. Your ears need to listen
for unusual tire or engine sounds. With your arms,
hands, feet and body, you'll need to respond to
vibrations and vehicle bounce.Controlling your vehicle is the key to successful off-road
driving. One of the best ways to control your vehicle
is to control your speed. Here are some things to keep
in mind. At higher speeds:
·you approach things faster and you have less time
to scan the terrain for obstacles.
·you have less time to react.
·you have more vehicle bounce when you drive over
obstacles.
·you'll need more distance for braking, especially
since you're on an unpaved surfaces.
{CAUTION:
When you are driving off-road, bouncing and
quick changes in direction can easily throw
you out of position. This could cause you to
lose control and crash. So, whether you're
driving on or off the road, you and your
passengers should wear safety belts.
4-18