2003 PONTIAC BONNEVILLE Owners Manual

Daytime Running Lamps
Daytime Running Lamps (DRL) can make it easier for
others to see the front of your vehicle during the
day. DRL can be helpful in many different driving
conditions, but they can be especially helpful in the
short
periods after dawn and before sunset. Fully functional
daytime running lamps are required on all vehicles
first sold in Canada.
A light sensor on top of the instrument panel monitors
the exterior light level for the operation of DRL and
Twilight Sentinel@,
so be sure it isn’t covered. The DRL
system will make your high-beam headlamps come
on at a reduced brightness when the following conditions
are met:
The ignition is on,
the exterior lamp control is off, and
the transaxle is not in PARK (P).
When the DRL are on, only your high-beam headlamps
will be
on at reduced intensity. The taillamps,
sidemarker and other lamps won’t be on. Your
instrument panel won’t be lit either. When it’s
dark enough outside, your regular intensity
headlamps will come on
at full brightness and the DRL
lighting will turn
off. The parking lamps that normally
come on with your headlamps will also come on. When
it’s bright enough outside, the regular intensity
headlamps and parking lamps will turn back
off, and the
reduced brightness
DRL lighting will turn back on.
To idle your vehicle during the day with the DRL
off,
shift the transaxle into PARK (P). The DRL will stay off
until you shift out of P.4RK (P).
At night, you can turn off all exterior lamps when you
are in PARK
(P) by turning the Twilight Sentinel@ knob
all the way to
OFF.
If the knob was already in OFF, it must be cycled to ON
and back to OFF. Turn the knob clockwise to turn the
exterior lighting back on. The lamps will come back
on automatically when you put the transaxle in gear.
As with any vehicle, you should turn on the regular
headlamp system when you need it.
3-1 4

Fog Lamps
The fog lamps button is located below the twilight knob,
to the left of the steering wheel on the instrument
panel.
An indicator light i~ the b~itton will glow when the fog
lamps are on. Your parking lamps will also come
on automatically while the fog lamps are active.
If your fog lamps are on when you use your high beams
or flash-to-pass feature, the fog lamps will be disabled
while the feature is being used.
Twilight Sentinel@
The Twilight Sentinel@ will keep your head!amps or! for
up to three minutes, to light your way when you
leave your vehicle.
To operate the Twilight Sentinel@, turn the DELAY knob
located to the left of the steering column on the
instrument panel fully clockwise for the three-minute
delay. Turn it counterclockwise to reduce the delay.
Turn the knob to
Ul-I- to turn tne Twiiignt Seniineia oii.
At night, you can turn off all exterior lamps when you
are in PARK (P) by turning the Twilight Sentinel@ knob
all the way to OFF. If the knob was already
in OFF,
it must be cycled to ON then back to OFF, to turn the
exterior
!ighting off. The lamps will come back on
when you turn the knob clockwise.
3-1 5

If the Twilight Sentinel@ lighting is active, it can be
disabled by turning on the manual parking lamps. This
lighting will be disabled until the key is turned from
ON or until the manual parking lamps are turned off.
Also, it’s possible that your headlamps may go out if you
drive from a dark area into a bright area like a lighted
parking lot.
If this happens, turn on your headlamps with
the exterior lamp control.
Exterior Lighting Battery Saver
If the exterior lamp control has been left on, the exterior
lamps will turn
off approximately 10 minutes after the
ignition is turned to
OFF and a door has been opened.
This protects against draining the battery in case
you have accidentally left the headlamps or parking
lamps on.
If you need to leave the lamps on for more
than
10 minutes, use the exterior lamp control to turn the
lamps back on after turning the ignition to
OFF and
opening a door. To delay the lamps from turning
off, see
“Twilight Sentinel@,” listed previously.
Interior Lamps
Instrument Panel Brightness
When it is dark outside, you can brighten or dim your
instrument panel cluster lights using the DIM knob,
located to the left of the steering wheel on the instrument
panel.
Turn the knob clockwise to brighten the instrument
panel cluster lights and displays. Turn the knob
clockwise all the way to turn on the interior courtesy
lamps. Turn the knob counterclockwise to dim the
instrument panel cluster lights and displays and to turn
off the courtesy lamps.
Courtesy Lamps
If it is dark enough outside, when any door is opened,
several lamps will come on. They make
it easier for you
to enter and leave the vehicle. Turn the dimmer knob
all the way clockwise to turn the interior courtesy
lamps on.
3-1 6

Entry Lighting
If it is dark enough outside and you press the button
with the unlock symbol on the remote keyless entry
transmitter
(if equipped), the interior courtesy lamps will
come on and stay on for approximately
25 seconds,
The lamps will turn
off immediately by pressing
the button with the lock symbol on the remote keyless
entry transmitter, by turning the ignition key to
ON or by
activating the power door locks.
If a door is left ajar, your interior lamps will turn
off after
10 minutes to save your battery.
Delayed Entry Lighting
When you open the door to enter your vehicle, the
interior lamps will come on
if it is dark enough outside.
When you close the door with the ignition
off, the
interior lamps will stay on for
25 seconds or until the
ignition is turned on. Locking the doors with the power
door lock switch, or with the lock button on the
remote keyless entry transmitter (if equipped), will
override the delayed entry lighting and the lamps will
turn
off immediately.
Theater Dimming
This feature allows for a three to five-second fade out oi
the courtesy lamps instead of immediate turn off after
you remove the key from the ignition.
Delayed Exit Lighting
This feature will turn on the interior lamps for 25 seconds
after you remove the key from the ignition while the
doors are closed and it is night. This
will give you time
to find the door handle or lock switches as you exit
the vehicle.
This lighting will only be deactivated
if the key is
reinserted into the ignition switch or the power door
locks are activated.
Parade Dimming
To activate the instrument panel backlighting during the
day, turn the exterior lamp switch to the parking
lamp or headlamp position. Dimming
oi the instrument
panel display is not possible during daylight hours.
The instrument panel display can only be adjusted when
the parking lamps or headlamps are on and it is dark
outside.
Perimeter Lighting
When the button with the unlock symbol on the remote
keyless entry transmitter
(if equipped) is pressed,
the DRL headlamps, parking lamps and back-up lamps
will turn on
if it is dark enough outside.
3-1 7

Personal Choice Programming
This feature can be programmed in the on or off mode
for each transmitter.
If your vehicle is equipped with the Driver Information
Center (DIC), you must program this feature through the
DIC. See DIC Vehicle Personalization on page 3-62.
To turn the feature off do the following:
1. Keep all doors closed, the vehicle in PARK (P) and
the ignition on throughout this procedure.
2. Press and hold LOCK on the power door lock
switch throughout this procedure. All the doors
will lock.
3. Press the instant alarm on the transmitter. Perimeter
lighting remains
on at this time and the horn will
chirp twice.
4. Press the instant alarm on the transmitter again.
Perimeter lighting is disabled and the horn will
chirp once.
feature is now
off.
5. Release the door lock switch. The perimeter lighting
To turn the feature on do the following:
1. Keep all doors closed, the vehicle in PARK (P) and
the ignition on throughout this procedure.
2. Press and hold LOCK on the power door lock
switch throughout this procedure. All the doors
will lock.
3. Press the instant alarm on the transmitter. Perimeter
lighting remains
off at this time and the horn will
chirp once.
4. Press the instant alarm on the transmitter again.
Perimeter lighting is now enabled and the horn
will chirp twice.
5. Release the door lock switch. The perimeter lighting
feature is now on.
This procedure only changes the mode for the
transmitter used to change this setting. The procedure
will need to be repeated for the second transmitter.
3-1 8

Front Reading Lamps Rear Reading Lamps
The front reading lamps, located on the headliner, will
come on as courtesy lamps when you open any of
the doors while
it is dark outside. They will also come
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To turn on a reading lamp when the doors are closed,
press either button. Press it again to turn the lamp
off.
To avoid draining your vehicle's battery, be sure to
turn
off the reading iamps when leaving your Vehicle.
See "Inadvertent Power Battery Saver" later in this
section for more information. The
rear reading iamps, located over each rear door,
will
come on as courtesy lamps when you open
any
of the doors while it is dark outside. They will also
come on as part of the interior lighting features listed
previously.
To turn on a reading lamp when the doors are closed,
press either button. Press it aqain to turn the lamp off.
3-1 9

Inadvertent Power Battery Saver
This feature is designed to protect your vehicle’s battery
against drainage from the interior lamps, trunk lamp,
glove box lamp or cigarette lighters. When the ignition is
turned
off, the power to these features will automatically
turn
off after 10 minutes. Power will be restored for
an additional
10 minutes if any door is opened, the trunk
is opened or the courtesy lamps are turned on. To
restore power back to the cigarette lighters the ignition
must be turned back to
ON.
Battery Load Management
The battery load management feature is designed to
monitor the vehicle’s electrical load and determine when
the battery is in a heavy discharge condition. During
times of high electrical loading, the engine may idle at
higher revolutions per minute (rpm) than normal to
make sure the battery charges. High electrical loads
may occur when several
of the following are on:
headlamps, high beams, fog lamps, rear window
defogger, fan on high speed, heated seats and engine
cooling fans.
If your vehicle’s battery remains in a heavy discharge
condition for a long period of time, the fan, rear
defogger, heated seats and heated mirrors will be
disabled and the DIC will display BATTERY SAVER
ACTIVE. This can happen either under long periods of
idling or low speed driving with high electrical loading,
or in the event of a charging system fault.
Monitor the battery voltage when in the BATTERY
SAVER ACTIVE mode.
If the voltmeter remains in the shaded area (below
11 volts) when driving then have the charging
system serviced immediately.
If the voltage increases above 12 volts then the
battery needs to be recharged.
Try driving on
the highway with as few electrical accessories on
as possible.
3-20

Head-Up Display (HUD)
If the HUD image is too bright, or too high in
your field
of view, it may take you more time to
see things you need to see when it's dark
outside. Be sure to keep the HUD image dim
and placed low in your field of view.
If you have the optional Head-Up Display (HUD), you
can see
some of the driver information also available 08
your instrument panel cluster. The information may
be displayed in English
or metric units and appears as a
reflection on the windshield. The HUD shows the
following:
Speedometer Reading
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High-beam Indicator Symbol
CHECK GAGES Message (for low oil pressure,
high coolant temperature, low oil level, high/low
battery, brake,
ABS and air bag)
Low Fuel Warning Symbol
Radio Frequency and Playback Mode (with the
exception of the
XMTM radio)
HUD shows these images when they are lighted on the
instrument panel.
The speedometer may display a difference of
1.5 mph
(2.4 km/h) from the HUD image. This is normal.
When the ignition key is turned to
ON, all possible HUU
images will come on, then the HUD will operate
normally.
If you never look at your instrument panel cluster, you
may not see something important, such as a warning
light. So be wre to scm your displays and csntrols and
the driving environment just as you would in a vehicle
without HUD.