2003 OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE radiator

Section 5 Service and Appearance Care
Service ............................................................ 5.3
Doing Your Own Service Work
......................... 5.3
Adding Equipment to the Outside
of
Your Vehicle .............................................. 5-4
Fuel
.............................................................. -5-5
Gasoline Octane
............................................ 5-5
Gasoline Specifications
................................... 5-5
California Fuel
............................................... 5-6
Additives
....................... .... ......... 5-6
Fuels in Foreign Countries
........... ..... 5-7
Filling Your Tank
............................ ..... 5-7
Filling a Portable Fuel Container
.................... 5-9
Checking Things Under the
Hood .................. -5-1 0
Hood Release .............................................. 5-10
Engine Compartment Overview ....................... 5-12
Engine Oil
................................................... 5-14
Engine Air CleanedFilter
................................ 5-19
Automatic Transaxle Fluid
.............................. 5-20
Radiator Pressure Cap
............................... 5-26
Engine Overheating
.................................... 5-26
Cooling System
............................. , ....... 5-29
Power Steering Fluid .................. , ....... 5-37
Windshield Washer Fluid
................. , ....... 5-38
Brakes
.......................... .... ........ 5-39
r.--.:.-- ---I-.- b CI lyll IC uuvlal I1 4-LU c r)r) .............................................
Battery ........................................................ 5.43
Jump Starting
............................................... 5-44
All-Wheel Drive
.............................................. 5-50
Bulb Replacement .......................................... 5-52
Halogen Bulbs
.............................. ......... 5-52
Front Turn Signal, Sidemarker and
Taillamps, Turn Signal, Stoplamps and
Headlamps
...................................... ..... 5-52
Parking Lamps
.............................. ..... 5-54
Replacement Bulbs
....................................... 5-57
Back-up Lamps
......................................... 5-56
Windshield Wiper Blade Replacement
.............. 5-58
Tires
.............................................................. 5-60
Inflation
- Tire Pressure ................................ 5-61
Tire Inspection and Rotation
........................... 5-62
When It
Is Time for New Tires ....................... 5-63
Buying New Tires
......................................... 5-64
Uniform Tire Quality Grading
.......................... 5-65
Wheel Alignment and Tire Balance
.................. 5-66
Wheel Replacement
...................................... 5-66
Tire Chains
.................................................. 5-67
Accessory Inflator
......................................... 5-68
If a Tire Goes Flat ........................................ 5-69
Changing a Flat Tire ..................................... 5-70
Compact Spare Tire ...................................... 5-86
5- 1

A. Underhood Fuse Block
B. Remote Positive (+) Terminal
C. Windshield Washer Fluid Reservoir
D. Radiator Pressure Cap
E. Power Steering Fluid Reservoir
F. Engine Oil Fill Cap
G. Engine Oil Dipstick
H. Transaxle Fluid Dipstick
I. Brake Master Cylinder Reservoir
J. Engine Air CleanedFilter
K. Engine Coolant Reservoir
5-1 3

Engine Coolant
The cooling system in your vehicle is filled with
DEX-COOL@ engine coolant. This coolant is designed
to remain in your vehicle for 5 years or 150,000 miles
(240
000 km), whichever occurs first, if you add
only DEX-COOL@ extended life coolant.
The following explains your cooling system and how to
add coolant when it is low.
If you have a problem
with engine overheating, see
Engine Overheating on
page
5-26.
A 5060 mixture of clean, drinkable water and
DEX-COOL@ coolant will:
Give freezing protection down to -34°F (-37°C).
Give boiling protection up to 265°F
(129°C).
0 Protect against rust and corrosion.
Help keep the proper engine temperature.
Let the warning messages and gages work as they
should.
Notice: When adding coolant, it is important that
you use only
DEX-COOL@ (silicate-free) coolant.
If coolant other than DEX-COOL@ is added to
the system, premature engine, heater core or
radiator corrosion may result. In addition, the engine
coolant will require change sooner
-- at 30,000 miles
(50,000 km) or 24 months, whichever occurs first.
Damage caused by the use
of coolant other
than DEX-COOL@
is not covered by your new
vehicle warranty.
5-23

What to Use
Use a mixture of one-half clean, drinkable water and
one-half
DEX-COOL@ coolant which won’t damage
aluminum parts.
If you use this coolant mixture,
you don’t need
to add anything else.
Adding on
, plain wa ~ ~ * to your cooling
system can be dangerous. Plain water, or
some other liquid such as alcohol, can boil
before the proper coolant mixture will. Your
vehicle’s coolant warning system
is set for the
proper coolant mixture.
With plain water or the
wrong mixture, your engine could get too hot but you wouldn’t get the overheat warning.
Your engine could catch fire and you or others
could be burned. Use a
50/50 mixture of clean,
drinkable water and
DEX-COOL@ coolant.
Notice: If you use an improper coolant mixture,
your engine could overheat and be badly damaged.
The repair cost wouldn’t be covered by your
warranty.
Too much water in the mixture can freeze
and crack the engine, radiator, heater core and
other parts.
If you have to add coolant more than four times a year,
have your dealer check your cooling system.
Notice: If you use the proper coolant, you don’t
have to add extra inhibitors or additives which claim
to improve the system. These can be harmful.
Checking Coolant
The engine coolant
reservoir is located on the
driver’s side
of the vehicle,
above the engine air
cleanedfilter. See
Engine
Compartment Overview
on page
5- 12 for more
information on location.
5-24

The vehicle must be on a level surface. When your
engine is cold, the coolant level should be at the FULL
COLD mark, or a little higher. When your engine is
warm, the level should be above the FULL COLD mark
or a little higher.
Adding Coolant
If you need more coolant, add the proper DEX-COOL@
coolant mixture at the coolant recovery tank.
Add coolant mixture at the recovery tank, but be careful
not to spill it.
Turning the radiator pressure cap when the engine and radiator are hot can allow steam
and scalding liquids to blow out and burn
you badly. With the coolant recovery tank,
you will almost never have to add coolant at
the radiator. Never turn the radiator pressure
cap
- even a little - when the engine and
radister Ere h3!.
You can be burned if you spill coolant on hot
engine parts. Coolant contains ethylene glycol,
and
it will burn if the engine parts are hot
enough. Don’t spill coolant on a
hot engine.
.
Occasionally check the coolant level in the radiator.
For information on how to add coolant to the radiator,
see
Cooling System on page 5-29.
5-25

Radiator Pressure Cap
Notice: Your radiator cap is a pressure-type cap
and must be tightly installed to prevent coolant
loss
and possible engine damage from overheating.
Be sure the arrows on the cap line
up with the
overflow tube on the radiator filler neck.
The radiator pressure cap is located at the front of the
engine compartment on the passenger’s side of the
vehicle. See
Engine Compartment Overview on
page 5-72 for more information on location.
Engine Overheating
You will find an engine coolant temperature gage on
your vehicle’s instrument panel cluster. See
Engine
Coolant Temperature Gage
on page 3-47. You also
have an engine coolant temperature warning message
on your instrument panel. See
Engine Coolant
Temperature Warning Message
on page 3-53.
Overheated Engine Protection
Operating Mode
This emergency operating mode allows your vehicle to
be driven to a safe place in an emergency situation.
If an overheated engine condition exists, an overheat
protection mode which alternates firing groups of
cylinders helps prevent engine damage.
In this mode,
you will notice a significant
loss in power and engine
performance. The temperature gage will indicate
an overheat condition exists. Driving extended miles
(km) and/or towing a trailer in the overheat protection
mode should be avoided.
Notice: After driving in the overheated engine
protection operating mode, to avoid engine damage,
allow the engine to cool before attempting any repair. The engine oil will be severely degraded.
Repair the cause
of coolant loss, change the oil
and reset the
oil life system. See “Engine Oil” in
the Index.
5-26

Cooling System
When you decide it’s safe to lift the hood, here’s what
you’ll see:
A. Radiator Pressure Cap
B. Electric Engine Cooling Fans
C. Coolant Recovery Tank An electric
engine cooling far. -..-er the hood
can start up even when the engine is not
running and can injure you. Keep hands,
clothing and tools away from any underhood
electric fan.
If the coolant inside the coolant recovery tank is boiling,
don’t do anything else until it cools down. The vehicle
should be parked on a level surface.
5-29

The coolant level should be at or above the FULL COLD
mark. If it isn’t, you may have a leak at the pressure cap
or in the radiator hoses, heater hoses, radiator, water
pump or somewhere else in the cooling system. Heater
and radiator hoses, and other engine
parts, can be very hot. Don’t touch them.
If you do, you can
be burned.
Don’t run the engine
if there is a leak. If you run
the engine,
it could lose all coolant. That could
cause an engine fire, and you could be burned.
Get any leak fixed before you drive the vehicle.
If there seems to be no leak, with the engine on, check
to see
if the electric engine cooling fans are running.
If the engine is overheating, both fans should be
running. If they aren’t, your vehicle needs service.
5-30