2003 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX warning

If No Steam is Coming From Your
Engine
An overheat warning can indicate a serious problem.
If you get an engine overheat warning, but see or hear
no steam, the problem may not be too serious.
Sometimes the engine can get a little too hot when you:
Climb a long hill on
a hot day.
Stop after high-speed driving.
Idle for long periods in traffic.
Tow a trailer.
If you get the overheat warning with no sign
of steam,
try this for a minute or
so:
1. In heavy traffic let the engine idle in NEUTRAL (N)
while stopped.
If it’s safe to do so, pull off the rozd,
shift to PARK
(P) or NEUTRAL (N) and let the
engine idle.
If you no longer have the overheat warning, you can
drive. Just to be safe, drive slower for about
10 minutes.
If the warning doesn’t come back on, you can drive
normally.
If the warning continues, and you have not stopped,
pull over, stop, and park your vehicle right away.
If there’s still no sign of steam, you can idle the engine
for three minutes while you’re parked. If you still
have the warning, turn off the engine and get everyone
out of the vehicle until it cools down. Also, see
“Overheated Engine Protection Operating Mode” listed
previously in this section.
You may decide not to lift the hood but to get service
help right away.
2. Turn on your heater to full hot at the highest fan
speed and open the windows as necessary.
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Notice: In cold weather, water can freeze and crack
the engine, radiator, heater core and other parts.
Use the recommended coolant and the proper
coolant mixture. Adding only plain water 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.
You car.
._e burnec. .. you spi-. :oolant 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.
When the coolant in the coolant recovery tank
is at the
COLD mark, start your vehicle.
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If the overheat warning continues, there’s one more
thing you can try. You can add the proper coolant
mixture directly to the radiator, but be sure the cooling
system is cool before you do it.
Steam and scalding liquids from a hot cooling
~
system can blow out and burn you badly. They
are under pressure, and if you turn the radiator pressure cap
-- even a little -- they can come
out at high speed. Never turn the cap when the
cooling system, including the radiator pressure
cap,
is hot. Wait for the cooling system and
radiator pressure cap to cool if you ever have
to turn the pressure cap.
5-40

United States
~~
Canada
When your brake fluid falls to a low level, your brake
warning light will come on. See Brake System Warning
Light on page
3-28.
What to Add
When you do need brake fluid, use only DOT-3 brake
fluid. Use new brake fluid from a sealed container
only. See Part D: Recommended Fluids and Lubricants
on page
6- 15.
Always clean the brake fluid reservoir cap and the area
around the cap before removing it. This will help
keep
dirt from entering the reservoir.
r
With the wrong kind of fluid in your brake
system, your brakes may not work well, or they
may not even work at all. This could cause a
crash. Always
use the proper brake fluid.
Notice:
Using the wrong fluid can badly damage brake
system parts. For example, just a few drops of mineral-based oil, such as engine oil, in your
brake system can damage brake system
parts
so badly that they’ll have to be replaced.
Don’t let someone put in the wrong kind of fluid.
If you spill brake fluid on your vehicle’s painted
surfaces, the paint finish can be damaged.
Be careful not to spill brake fluid on your
vehicle. If you do, wash
it off immediately.
See “Appearance Care” in the Index.
5-50

Replacing Brake System Parts
The braking system on a vehicle is complex. Its many
parts have to be of top quality and work well together
if
the vehicle is to have really good braking. Your
vehicle was designed and tested with top-quality
GM
brake parts. When you replace parts of your braking
system
- for example, when your brake linings
wear down and you need new ones put in
- be sure
you get new approved
GM replacement parts. If
you don’t, your brakes may no longer work properly.
For example,
if someone puts in brake linings that are
wrong for your vehicle, the balance between your
front and rear brakes can change
- for the worse.
The braking performance you’ve come to expect can
change in many other ways
if someone puts in the
wrong replacement brake parts.
Battery
Your new vehicle comes with a maintenance free
ACDelco@ battery. When it’s time for a new battery, get
one that has the replacement number shown on the
original battery’s label. We recommend an ACDelco@
battery. See Engine Compartment Overview on
page
5- 12 for battery location.
Warning: Battery posts, terminals and related
accessories contain lead and lead compounds,
chemicals known to the State of California to cause
cancer and reproductive harm. Wash hands after
handling.
If your battery has a very low charge or is dead, you
may not be able to remove the ignition key from
the ignition switch or shift out of Park (P). Refer to
Shifting Out of Park
(P) on page 2-30.
5-52

Uniform Tire Quality Grading
Quality grades can be found where applicable on the
tire sidewall between tread shoulder and maximum
section width. For example:
Treadwear 200 Traction AA Temperature A
The following information relates to the system
developed by the United States National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, which grades tires by
treadwear, traction and temperature performance.
(This applies only to vehicles sold in the United States.)
The grades are molded on the sidewalls of most
passenger car tires. The Uniform Tire Quality Grading
system does not apply to deep tread, winter-type
snow tires, space-saver or temporary use spare tires,
tires with nominal rim diameters of
10 to 12 inches
(25 to
30 cm), or to some limited-production tires.
While the tires available on General Motors passenger
cars and light trucks may vary with respect to these
grades, they must also conform to federal safety
requirements and additional General Motors Tire
Performance Criteria (TPC) standards.
Treadwear
The treadwear grade is a comparative rating based on
the wear rate of the tire when tested under controlled
conditions on a specified government test course.
For example, a tire graded
150 would wear one and
a half
(1.5) times as well on the government course as
a tire graded
100. The relative performance of tires
depends upon the actual conditions of their use,
however, and may depart significantly from the norm
due to variations in driving habits, service practices and
differences in road characteristics and climate.
Traction - AA, A, 9, C
The traction grades, from highest to lowest, are AA, A,
B, and C. Those grades represent the tire’s ability
to stop on wet pavement as measured under controlled
conditions on specified government test surfaces
of
asphalt and concrete. A tire marked C may have poor
traction performance. Warning: The traction grade
assigned to this tire is based on straight-ahead braking
traction tests, and does not include acceleration,
cornering, hydroplaning, or peak traction characteristics.
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Temperature - A, B, C
The temperature grades are A (the highest), B, and C,
representing the tire’s resistance to the generation
of heat and its ability
to dissipate heat when tested
under controlled conditions on a specified indoor
laboratory test wheel. Sustained high temperature can
cause the material of the tire to degenerate and
reduce tire life, and excessive temperature can lead to
sudden tire failure. The grade
C corresponds to a
level of performance which all passenger car tires must
meet under the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
No. 109. Grades B and A represent higher levels of
performance on the laboratory test wheel than the
minimum required by law.
Warning: The temperature grade for this tire
is
established for a tire that is properly inflated and not
overloaded. Excessive speed, underinflation, or
excessive loading, either separately or in combination,
can cause heat buildup and possible tire failure.
Wheel Alignment and Tire Balance
The wheels on your vehicle were aligned and balanced
carefully at the factory to give you the longest tire life
and best overa!! performance.
Scheduled wheel alignment and wheel balancing are
not needed. However,
if you notice unusual tire wear or
your vehicle pulling one way or the other, the alignment
may need to be reset.
If you notice your vehicle
vibrating when driving on a smooth road, your wheels
may need to be rebalanced.
Wheel Replacement
Replace any wheel that is bent, cracked or badly rusted
or corroded. If wheel nuts keep coming loose, the
wheel, wheel bolts and wheel nuts should be replaced.
If the wheel leaks air, replace
it (except some
aluminum wheels, which can sometimes be repaired).
See your dealer
if any of these conditions exist.
Your dealer will know the kind of wheel you need.
Each new wheel should have the same load-carrying
capacity, diameter, width, offset and be mounted
the same way as the one it replaces.
5-73

If a Tire Goes Flat
It’s unusual for a tire to “blow out” while you’re driving,
especially
if you maintain your tires properly. If air
goes out of a tire, it’s much more likely
to leak out
slowly. But
if you should ever have a “blowout”, here are
a few tips about what to expect and what to do:
If a front tire fails, the flat tire will create a drag that
pulls the vehicle toward that side. Take your foot
off the
accelerator pedal and grip the steering wheel firmly.
Steer to maintain lane position, and then gently brake to
a stop well out of the traffic lane.
A rear blowout, particularly on a curve, acts much like a
skid and may require the same correction you’d use
in a skid. In any rear blowout, remove your foot from the
accelerator pedal. Get the vehicle under control by
steering the way you want the vehicle to go.
It may be
very bumpy and noisy, but you can still steer. Gently
brake to a stop
- well off the road if possible.
If a tire goes flat, the next part shows how to use your
jacking equipment to change a flat tire safely.
Changing a Flat Tire
If a tire goes flat, avoid further tire and wheel damage
by driving slowly to a level place. Turn
on your
hazard warning flashers.
I
Chant_ g a tire can cause an injury. The v icle
can slip
off the jack and roll over you or other
people.
You and they could be badly injured.
Find a level place to change your tire. To help
prevent the vehicle from moving:
1. Set the parking brake firmly.
2. Put the shift lever in PARK (P).
3. Turn off the engine.
To be even more certain the vehicle won’t move, you can put blocks at the front and
rear of the tire farthest away from
the one
being changed. That would be the tire on
the other side of the vehicle, at the
opposite end.
5-76