2003 GMC SAVANA Owner's Manual

If you drive regularly in steep country, or if you’re
planning to visit there, here are some tips that can make
your trips safer and more enjoyable.
Keep your vehicle in good shape. Check alluid
levels and also the brakes, tires, cooling system
and transmission. These parts can work hard
on mountain roads.
Know how to go down hills. The most important
thing to know is this: let your engine do some of
the slowing down. Shift to a lower gear when you
go down a steep or long hill.
{CAUTION:
If you don’t shift down, your brakes could get
so hot that they wouldn’t work well. You would
then have poor braking or even none going
down a hill. You could crash. Shift down to let
your engine assist your brakes on a steep
downhill slope.
{CAUTION:
Coasting downhill in NEUTRAL (N) or with the
ignition off is dangerous. Your brakes will have
to do all the work of slowing down. They could
get so hot that they wouldn’t work well. You
would then have poor braking or even none
going down a hill. You could crash. Always
have your engine running and your vehicle in
gear when you go downhill.
Know how to go uphill. You may want to shift down to
a lower gear. The lower gears help cool your engine
and transmission, and you can climb the hill better.
Stay in your own lane when driving on two-lane
roads in hills or mountains. Don’t swing wide or cut
across the center of the road. Drive at speeds that let
you stay in your own lane.
As you go over the top of a hill, be alert. There could
be something in your lane, like a stalled car or an
accident.
You may see highway signs on mountains that warn
of special problems. Examples are long grades,
passing or no-passing zones, a falling rocks area
or winding roads. Be alert to these and take
appropriate action.
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2003 - Savana OM

Winter Driving
Here are some tips for winter driving:
Have your vehicle in good shape for winter.
You may want to put winter emergency supplies in
your vehicle.Include an ice scraper, a small brush or broom, a
supply of windshield washeruid, a rag, some winter
outer clothing, a small shovel, aashlight, a red
cloth and reective warning triangles. And, if you will be
driving under severe conditions, include a small bag
of sand, a piece of old carpet or a couple of burlap bags
to help provide traction. Be sure you properly secure
these items in your vehicle.
Driving on Snow or Ice
Most of the time, those places where your tires meet
the road probably have good traction.
However, if there is snow or ice between your tires
and the road, you can have a very slippery situation.
You’ll have a lot less traction or“grip”and will need to be
very careful.
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2003 - Savana OM

What’s the worst time for this?“Wet ice.”Very cold
snow or ice can be slick and hard to drive on. But wet
ice can be even more trouble because it may offer
the least traction of all. You can get wet ice when it’s
about freezing (32°F; 0°C) and freezing rain begins
to fall. Try to avoid driving on wet ice until salt and
sand crews can get there.Whatever the condition—smooth ice, packed, blowing
or loose snow—drive with caution.
Accelerate gently. Try not to break the fragile traction.
If you accelerate too fast, the drive wheels will spin and
polish the surface under the tires even more.
Your anti-lock brakes improve your vehicle’s stability
when you make a hard stop on a slippery road.
Even though you have an anti-lock braking system,
you’ll want to begin stopping sooner than you would on
dry pavement. SeeBraking on page 4-6.
Allow greater following distance on any
slippery road.
Watch for slippery spots. The road might bene
until you hit a spot that’s covered with ice. On an
otherwise clear road, ice patches may appear
in shaded areas where the sun can’t reach:
around clumps of trees, behind buildings or under
bridges. Sometimes the surface of a curve or
an overpass may remain icy when the surrounding
roads are clear. If you see a patch of ice ahead
of you, brake before you are on it. Try not to brake
while you’re actually on the ice, and avoid sudden
steering maneuvers.
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2003 - Savana OM

If You’re Caught in a Blizzard
If you are stopped by heavy snow, you could be in a
serious situation. You should probably stay with
your vehicle unless you know for sure that you are near
help and you can hike through the snow. Here are
some things to do to summon help and keep yourself
and your passengers safe:
Turn on your hazardashers.
Tie a red cloth to your vehicle to alert police that
you’ve been stopped by the snow.
Put on extra clothing or wrap a blanket around you.
If you have no blankets or extra clothing, make
body insulators from newspapers, burlap bags, rags,
oor mats—anything you can wrap around
yourself or tuck under your clothing to keep warm.
You can run the engine to keep warm, but be careful.
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{CAUTION:
Snow can trap exhaust gases under your
vehicle. This can cause deadly CO (carbon
monoxide) gas to get inside. CO could
overcome you and kill you. You can’t see it or
smell it, so you might not know it is in your
vehicle. Clear away snow from around the
base of your vehicle, especially any that is
blocking your exhaust pipe. And check around
again from time to time to be sure snow
doesn’t collect there.
Open a window just a little on the side of the
vehicle that’s away from the wind. This will
help keep CO out.Run your engine only as long as you must. This saves
fuel. When you run the engine, make it go a little
faster than just idle. That is, push the accelerator
slightly. This uses less fuel for the heat that you get and
it keeps the battery (or batteries) charged. You will
need a well-charged battery (or batteries) to restart the
vehicle, and possibly for signaling later on with your
headlamps. Let the heater run for a while.
Then, shut the engine off and close the window almost
all the way to preserve the heat. Start the engine
again and repeat this only when you feel really
uncomfortable from the cold. But do it as little as
possible. Preserve the fuel as long as you can.
To help keep warm, you can get out of the vehicle
and do some fairly vigorous exercises every half hour
or so until help comes.
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2003 - Savana OM

If You Are Stuck: In Sand, Mud,
Ice or Snow
In order to free your vehicle when it is stuck, you will
need to spin the wheels, but you don’t want to spin your
wheels too fast. The method known as“rocking”can
help you get out when you’re stuck, but you must
use caution.
{CAUTION:
If you let your tires spin at high speed, they
can explode, and you or others could be
injured. And, the transmission or other parts of
the vehicle can overheat. That could cause an
engine compartment fire or other damage.
When you’re stuck, spin the wheels as little as
possible. Don’t spin the wheels above 35 mph
(55 km/h) as shown on the speedometer.Notice:Spinning your wheels can destroy parts of
your vehicle as well as the tires. If you spin the
wheels too fast while shifting your transmission
back and forth, you can destroy your transmission.
For information about using tire chains on your
vehicle, seeTire Chains on page 5-65.
Rocking Your Vehicle To Get It Out
First, turn your steering wheel left and right. That will
clear the area around your front wheels. Then shift back
and forth between REVERSE (R) and a forward gear,
spinning the wheels as little as possible. Release
the accelerator pedal while you shift, and press lightly
on the accelerator pedal when the transmission is
in gear. By slowly spinning your wheels in the forward
and reverse directions, you will cause a rocking
motion that may free your vehicle. If that doesn’t get
you out after a few tries, you may need to be towed out.
If you do need to be towed out, see“Towing Your
Vehicle”following.
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2003 - Savana OM

Towing
Towing Your Vehicle
Consult your dealer or a professional towing service
if you need to have your disabled vehicle towed.
SeeRoadside Assistance Program on page 7-6.
If you want to tow your vehicle behind another vehicle
for recreational purposes (such as behind a motorhome),
see“Recreational Vehicle Towing”following.
Recreational Vehicle Towing
Recreational vehicle towing means towing your vehicle
behind another vehicle—such as behind a motorhome.
The two most common types of recreational vehicle
towing are known as“dinghy towing”(towing your vehicle
with all four wheels on the ground) and“dolly towing”
(towing your vehicle with two wheels on the ground and
two wheels up on a device known as a“dolly”).
Your vehicle was not designed to be towed with any
of its wheels on the ground. If your vehicle must
be towed, see“Towing Your Vehicle”earlier in
this section.
Loading Your Vehicle
The Certication/Tire label is found on the rear edge of
the driver’s door. The label shows the size of your original
tires and the ination pressures needed to obtain the
gross weight capacity of your vehicle. This is called Gross
Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR). The GVWR includes the
weight of the vehicle, all occupants, fuel and cargo.
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The Certication/Tire label also tells you the maximum
weights for the front and rear axles, called Gross Axle
Weight Rating (GAWR). Tond out the actual loads on
your front and rear axles, you need to go to a weigh
station and weigh your vehicle. Your dealer can help you
with this. Be sure to spread out your load equally on
both sides of the centerline.
Never exceed the GVWR for your vehicle, or the
GAWR for either the front or rear axle.
And, if you do have a heavy load, you should spread
it out.
{CAUTION:
Do not load your vehicle any heavier than the
GVWR, or either the maximum front or rear
GAWR. If you do, parts on your vehicle can
break, and it can change the way your vehicle
handles. These could cause you to lose
control and crash. Also, overloading can
shorten the life of your vehicle.
{CAUTION:
Things you put inside your vehicle can strike
and injure people in a sudden stop or turn,
or in a crash.
•Put things in the cargo area of your
vehicle. Try to spread the weight evenly.
•Never stack heavier things, like suitcases,
inside the vehicle so that some of them
are above the tops of the seats.
•Don’t leave an unsecured child restraint
in your vehicle.
•When you carry something inside the
vehicle, secure it whenever you can.
•Don’t leave a seat folded down unless
you need to.
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2003 - Savana OM