2003 Oldsmobile Bravada brake

Automatic Headlamp System
When it is dark enough outside, your automatic
headlamp system will turn on your headlamps at the
normal brightness along with other lamps such as
the taillamps, sidemarker, parking lamps and the
instrument panel lights. The radio lights will also be on.
Your vehicle is equipped with a light sensor on the
top of the instrument panel. Be sure it is not covered or
the system will be on whenever the ignition is on.
The system may also turn on your lights when driving
through a parking garage, heavy overcast weather
or a tunnel. This is normal.
There is a delay in the transition between the daytime
and nighttime operation
of the Daytime Running
Lamps (DRL) and the automatic headlamp systems,
so
that driving under bridges or bright overhead street
lights does not affect the system. The DRL and
automatic headlamp system will only be affected when
the light sensor sees a change in lighting lasting
longer than the delay. If
you start your vehicle in a dark garage, the automatic
headlamp system will come on immediately. Once
you leave the garage, it will take approximately
one minute for the automatic headlamp system to
change to DRL
if it is light outside. During that delay,
your instrument panel cluster may not be as bright
as usual. Make sure your instrument panel brightness
control is in the full bright position.
To idle your vehicle with the automatic headlamp
system off, set the parking brake while the ignition is off.
Then start your vehicle. The automatic headlamp
system will stay off until you release the parking brake,
shift out
of park or turn the exterior lamp control to
the
off position as described in “Exterior Lamps”.
Lamps On Reminder
A reminder tone will sound when your headlamps or
parking lamps are manually turned on, the driver’s door
is open and your ignition is in LOCK or ACCESSORY.
To turn the tone off, turn the knob all the way
counterclockwise. In the automatic mode, the headlamps
turn
off once the ignition key is in LOCK.
3-1 5

Readings in the low warning zone may occur when a
large number of electrical accessories are operating in
the vehicle and the engine is left idling for an
extended period. This condition is normal since the
charging system is not able
to provide full power
at engine idle. As engine speeds are increased, this
condition should correct itself as higher engine speeds
allow the charging system
to create maximum power.
You can only drive for a short time with the reading
in either warning zone. If you must drive, turn
off
all unnecessary accessories.
Readings in either warning zone indicate a possible
problem in the electrical system. Have the vehicle
serviced as soon as possible. Your
vehicle’s hydraulic brake system
is divided into two
parts.
If one part isn’t working, the other part can still
work and stop you. For good braking, though, you need
both parts working well.
If the warning light comes on, there could be a brake
problem. Have your brake system inspected right away.
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I BRAKE I I
I I I
United States Canada
Brake System Warning Light
When the ignition is on, the brake system warning light
will come on when you set your parking brake. The
light will stay on
if your parking brake doesn’t release
fully. If it stays on after your parking brake is fully
released, it means you have a brake problem.
A chime
may also sound when the light comes on. This light should come on briefly when you turn the
ignition key
to RUN. If it doesn’t come on then, have it
fixed
so it will be ready to warn you if there’s a
problem.
3-33

If the light comes on while you are driving, pull off the
road and stop carefully. You may notice that the pedal is
harder to push. Or, the pedal may go closer to the
floor. It may take longer to stop. If the light is still on,
have the vehicle towed for service. See
Towing
Your Vehicle
on page 4-41.
. ,UT brake sl ,,em m,, not be WOL ... ng
properly if the brake system warning light is
on. Driving with the brake system warning light
on can lead to an accident.
If the light is still
on after you’ve pulled
off the road and stopped
carefully, have the vehicle towed for service.
I
Anti-Lock Brake System Warning
Light
With the anti-lock brake
system, this light will come
on when you start your
engine and may stay on for
several seconds. That’s
normal.
A chime may also
sound when the light
comes on.
If the light stays on, or comes on when you’re driving,
your vehicle needs service. If the regular brake
system warning light isn’t on, you still have brakes, but
you don’t have anti-lock brakes. If the regular brake
system warning light is also on, you don’t have anti-lock
brakes and there’s a problem with your regular
brakes. See
Brake System Warning Light on page 3-33
earlier in this section.
The anti-lock brake system warning light should come
on briefly when you turn the ignition key to
RUN. If
the light doesn’t come on then, have it fixed
so it will be
ready to warn you
if there is a problem.
3-34

OIL PRESSURE LOW/STOP ENGINE
If low oil pressure levels occur, this message will
be displayed on the DIC. Stop the vehicle as soon as
safely possible and do not operate it until the cause
of the low oil pressure has been corrected. Check your
oil as soon as possible and have your vehicle
serviced.
BATTERY NOT CHARGING
If the battery is not charging during operation, this
message will appear on the DIC. Driving with this
problem could drain your battery. Have the electrical
system checked as soon as possible. Pressing the
select button will acknowledge this message and clear it
from the DIC display.
SERVICE AIR BAG
If there is a problem with the air bag system this
message will be displayed on the DIC. Have a qualified
technician inspect the system for problems. Pressing
the select button will acknowledge this message
and clear it from the DIC display.
SERVICE BRAKE SYSTEM
If a problem occurs with the brake system this message
will appear on the DIC. If this message appears, stop
as soon as possible and turn
off the vehicle. Restart the
vehicle and check for the message
on the DIC display.
If the message is still displayed, or appears again when
you begin driving, the brake system needs service.
TURN SIGNAL ON
If a turn signal is left on for 3/4 of a mile (1.2 km), this
message will appear on the display and you will
hear a chime. Move the turn signaVmultifunction lever to
the
off position. Pressing the select button will
acknowledge this message and clear it from the DIC
display.
REARACCESSOPEN
If the liftgate or liftglass is open while the ignition is in
RUN, this message will appear on the DIC and you will
hear a chime. Turn
off the vehicle and check the
liftgate and liftglass. Restart the vehicle and check for
the message on the DIC display. Pressing the select
button will acknowledge this message and clear it from
the DIC display.
3-53

Your Driving, the Road, and
Your Vehicle
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 1-8.
Defensive driving really means “be ready for anything.”
On city streets, rural roads or freeways, it means
“always expect the unexpected.”
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’s 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
- such as concentrating on a cellular
telephone call, reading, or reaching for something on
the floor
- 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.
Drunken Driving
Death and injury associated with drinking and driving is
a national tragedy.
It’s 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.
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There’s something else about drinking and driving that
many people don’t know. Medical research shows
that alcohol in a person’s system can make crash
injuries worse, especially injuries to the brain, spinal
cord or heart. This means that when anyone who
has been drinking
- driver or passenger - is in a
crash, that person’s chance
of being killed or
permanently disabled is higher than
if the person had
not been drinking.
Drinking and then driving is very dangerous.
Your reflexes, perceptions, attentiveness and
judgement can be affected by even a small
, amount of alcohol. You can have a serious-or
~ even fatal-collision if you drive after drinking.
Please don’t drink and drive or ride with a
driver who has been drinking. Ride home in a
cab; or
if you’re with a group, designate a
driver who will not drink.
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 Traction Assist System
(TAS) on page 4-9.
4-5

Braking
Braking action involves perception time and
reaction time.
First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal.
That’s
perception time. Then you have to bring up your
foot and do it. That’s
reaction time.
Average reaction time is 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 (1 00 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. Avoid
needless heavy braking. Some people drive in
spurts
- heavy acceleration followed by heavy
braking
- rather than keeping pace with traffic. This is
a mistake. Your brakes may not have time
to cool
between hard stops. Your brakes will wear out much
faster
if you do a lot of heavy braking. If you keep pace
with the traffic and allow realistic following distances,
you will eliminate a lot of unnecessary braking.
That means better braking and longer brake life.
If your engine ever stops while you’re driving, brake
normally but don’t pump your brakes. If you do,
the pedal may get harder
to push down. If your engine
stops, you will still have some power brake assist.
But you will use it when you brake. Once the power
assist is used up, it may take longer
to stop and
the brake pedal will be harder to push.
4-6

Anti-lock Brake System
Your vehicle has anti-lock brakes. ABS is an advanced
electronic braking system that will help prevent a
braking skid.
When you start your engine and begin to drive away,
your anti-lock brake system will check itself. You
may hear a momentary motor or clicking noise while
this test
is going on. This is normal.
If there’s a problem with
~ the anti-lock brake system,
~ this warning light will
stay on. See
Anti-Lock
Brake System Warning
Light
on page 3-34.
Along with ABS, your vehicle has a Dynamic Rear
Proportioning (DRP) system. If there’s a DRP problem,
both the brake and ABS warning lights will come on
accompanied by a IO-second chime. The lights
and chime will come on each time the ignition
is turned
on until the problem is repaired. See your dealer for
service. Let’s say the
road is wet and you’re driving safely.
Suddenly, an animal jumps out in front of you. You slam
on the brakes and continue braking. Here’s what
happens with ABS:
A computer senses that wheels are slowing down. If
one of the wheels is about to stop rolling, the computer
will separately work the brakes at each front wheel
and at both rear wheels.
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