2003 OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE steering

Hazard Warning Flashers
Your hazard warning flashers let you warn others. They
also let police know you have a problem. Your front
and rear turn signal lamps will flash on and
off.
Your hazard warning
flashers button is
located on top of the
steering column.
Your hazard warning flashers work no matter what
position your key is in, and even
if the key isn’t in.
Press the button to make the front and rear turn signal
lamps flash on and
off. Press the button again to
turn the flashers
off.
When the hazard warning flashers are on, your turn
signals won’t work.
Other Warning Devices
If you carry reflective triangles, you can set one up at
the side of the road about
300 feet (1 00 m) behind
your vehicle.
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Horn
You can sound the horn by pressing the horn symbols
on your steering wheel.
Tilt Wheel
A tilt wheel allows you to adjust the steering wheel before
you drive. You can raise it to the highest level to give your
legs more room when you exit and enter the vehicle.
The lever that allows you to
tilt the steering wheel is
located on the left side of the steering column.
To tilt the wheel, hold the
steering wheel and pull
the lever.
Turn SignaVMultifunction Lever
Then move the steering wheel to a comfortable position
and release the lever to lock the wheel in place.
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The lever on the left side of the steering column
includes the following:
Turn and Lane-Change Signals
I I--AI--- I 1:-L II -... n--- -I -_I_._.I I leaulal I ~p I IIYI II Luvv-ucal I I UI la1 lyt-I
Flash-to-Pass
Windshield Wipers
0 Windshield Washer
0 Cruise Controi
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Exterior Lamps
The control to the left of the steering column operates
the exterior lamps.
0 (Off/Auto): Turning the control to this setting will
activate the automatic headlamp control when it is
dark enough outside and turn
off all of the lamps and
lights during the day, except the Daytime Running
Lamps (DRL).
?% (Parking Lamps): Turning the control to this
setting turns on the parking lamps together with the
following:
Sidemarker Lamps
Taillamps
Instrument Panel Lights
sD (Headlamps): Turning the control to this setting
turns on the headlamps, together with the previously
listed lamps and lights.
Lamps on Reminder
If the driver’s door is opened and you turn the ignition
to
OFF or LOCK while leaving the lamps on, you
will hear a warning chime.
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Audio Steering Wheel Controls
If your vehicle has this feature, you can control certain
radio functions using the buttons on your steering wheel.
A SEEK v : Press the up or the down arrow to seek
to the next or to the previous station. When playing
a cassette tape
or compact disc, press the up arrow to
hear the next selection.
PROG (Program): Press this button to choose AM,
FM1 or FM2.
PRESET: Press this button to scan you preset stations.
The radio will scan to a preset station, play for a few
seconds, then go on to the next preset station. The
display will show your selections. Press this button again
to stop scanning preset stations.
A VOL (Volume) v : Press the up or the down arrow
to increase or to decrease volume.
PLAY: Press this button to play a loaded cassette tape
or compact disc when listening to the radio.
MUTE: Press this button to silence the system. Press it
again to turn on the sound. This button may be used
when listening to the radio, a cassette tape or a
compact disc.
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Section Driving Your Vehicle
Your
Driving. the Road. and Your Vehicle .......... 4-2
Defensive Driving
........................................... 4.2
Drunken Driving
............................................. 4.3
Braking
......................................................... 4.6
Traction Control System (TCS)
....................... 4.10
Steering
...................................................... 4.12
Off-Road Recovery
....................................... 4.14
Passing
........................................ .... 4.14
Loss of Control
.................................. .... 4.16
Driving at Night
......................................... 4.17
Driving in Rain and on Wet Roads
.............. 4-18
Control of a Vehicle ........................................ 4-6
All-Wheel Drive (AWD) System
....................... 4-1 1 City Driving
.................................................. 4.21
Freeway Driving
............................... ..... 4.22
Before Leaving on a Long Trip
....................... 4-23
Highway Hypnosis
........................................ 4-24
Winter Driving
.............................................. 4.26
Ice or Snow
.............................................. 4-30
Towing .......................................................... 4-32
Towing Your Vehicle
..................................... 4-32
Recreational Vehicle Towing
........................... 4-32
Loading Your Vehicle
.................................... 4-34
Towing a Trailer
.............................. ..... 4-36
Hill
and Mountain Roads
................................ 4-24
If You Are Stuck: In Sand, Mud,
4- 1

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.
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 (I00 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.
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Remember: Anti-lock doesn’t change the time you need
to get your foot up to the brake pedal or always
decrease stopping distance.
If you get too close to the
vehicle in front of you, you won’t have time to apply
your brakes
if that vehicle suddenly slows or stops.
Always leave enough room up ahead to stop, even
though you have anti-lock brakes.
Using Anti-Lock
Don’t pump the brakes. Just hold the brake pedal down
firmly and let anti-lock work for you. You may feel a
slight brake pedal pulsation or notice some noise,
but this is normal.
Braking in Emergencies
At some time, nearly every driver gets into a situation
that requires hard braking.
If you have anti-lock, you can steer and brake at the
same time. However,
if you don’t have anti-lock,
your first reaction
- to hit the brake pedal hard
and hold it down
- mav be the wronq thina to do. Your
wheels can stop rolling. Once they do, the vehicle
can’t respond to your steering. Momentum will carry
it in whatever direction it was headed when the wheels
stopped rolling. That could be off the road, into the
very thing you were trying to avoid, or into traffic.
If you don’t have anti-lock, use a “squeeze” braking
technique. This will give you maximum braking while
maintaining steering control. You can do this by pushing
on the brake pedal with steadily increasing pressure.
In an emergency, you will probably want to squeeze
the brakes hard without locking the wheels. If you hear
or feel the wheels sliding, ease
off the brake pedal.
This will help you retain steering control.
If you do have
anti-lock, it’s different. See “Anti-Lock Brakes.”
In many emergencies, steering can help you more than
even the very best braking.
4-9

Steering
Power Steering
If you lose power steering assist because the engine
stops or the system is not functioning, you can steer
but it will take much more effort.
Steering Tips
Driving on Curves
It’s important to take curves at a reasonable speed.
A lot of the “driver lost control” accidents mentioned on
the news happen on curves. Here’s why:
Experienced driver or beginner, each of us is subject
to the same laws of physics when driving on curves.
The traction of the tires against the road surface makes
it possible for the vehicle to change its path when
you turn the front wheels. If there’s no traction, inertia
will keep the vehicle going in the same direction.
If you’ve ever tried to steer a vehicle on wet ice,
you’ll understand this.
The traction you can get in
a curve depends on the
condition of your tires and the road surface, the angle at
which the curve is banked, and your speed. While you’re
in a curve, speed is the one factor you can control. Suppose
you’re steering through a sharp curve. Then you
suddenly accelerate. Both control systems
- steering
and braking
- have to do their work where the tires meet
the road. Unless you have four-wheel anti-lock brakes,
adding the hard braking can demand too much of those
places. You can lose control.
The same thing can happen
if you’re steering through a
sharp curve and you suddenly accelerate. Those two
control systems
- steering and acceleration - can
overwhelm those places where the tires meet the road
and make you lose control. See
Traction Control
System (TCS) on page
4- 10.
What should you do if this ever happens? Ease up on
the brake or accelerator pedal, steer the vehicle the way
you want it to go, and slow down.
Speed limit signs near curves warn that you should
adjust your speed. Of course, the posted speeds
are based on good weather and road conditions.
Under less favorable conditions you’ll want to go slower.
If you need to reduce your speed as you approach a
curve, do it before you enter the curve, while your front
wheels are straight ahead.
Try to adjust your speed
so you can “drive” through the
curve. Maintain a reasonable, steady speed. Wait to
accelerate until you are out
of the curve, and then
accelerate gently into the straightaway.
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