2003 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX hood open

Engine Coolant Heater

Your vehicle may be equipped with an engine coolant
heater. In very cold weather,
0°F (-18°C) or colder,
the engine coolant heater can help. You’ll get easier
starting and better fuel economy during engine warm-up.
Usually, the coolant heater should be plugged in a
minimum of four hours prior
to starting your vehicle.
At temperatures above 32°F
(OOC), use of the coolant
heater
is not required.
To Use the Engine Coolant Heater
1. Turn off the engine.
2. Open the hood and unwrap the electrical cord.
The cord is located below the engine air
cleaner/filter near the coolant reservoir bottle. See
Engine Comparfment Overview on page
5-12
for more information on location.
3. Plug
it into a normal, grounded 1 IO-volt AC outlet.
Plugging the cord into an ungrounded outlet
could cause an electrical shock.
Also, the
wrong kind of extension cord could overheat
and cause a fire. You could be seriously injured. Plug the cord into a properly grounded
three-prong 110-volt
AC outlet. If the cord
won’t reach, use a heavy-duty three-prong
extension cord rated for at least 15 amps.
4. Before starting the engine, be sure to unplug and
store the cord as it was before
to keep it away
from moving engine parts. If you don’t, it could be
damaged.
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Battery Run-Down Protection
Your vehicle has a feature to help prevent you from
draining the battery in case you accidentally leave the
interior, trunk or underhood lamps
on. If you leave any of
these lamps on while the ignition is in LOCK or OFF,
they will automatically turn off after 10 minutes. The
lamps won’t come back
on again until you do one of
the following:
Turn the ignition to RUN or ACCESSORY.
Turn the interior lamps thumbwheel completely to
the right, then back slightly to the left.
Open (or close and reopen) a door that is closed.
If the vehicle has less than 15 miles (25 km) on
the odometer, the battery saver will turn
off the lamps
after only three minutes.
Head-Up Display (HUD)
.. :he HUD imag- .s too bri, It o DO 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 your vehicle is
equipped with the Head-Up
Display (HUD), you can
1 see the speedometer
reading (in English
or metric units) and a brief
display of the current
radio station or CD track,
displayed “through”
the windshield.
When you sit up straight in your seat, the HUD image
will appear straight ahead near the front bumper.
3-1 5

Checking Things Under
the
Hood
Ar. Jectric fan unl,.' the hood can start up
and injure you even when the engine is not
running. Keep hands, clothing and tools away
from any underhood electric fan.
Hood Release
To open the hood do the following:
Things that burn can get on ..__ -.. 3"'- parts
and start
a fire. These include liquids like fuel,
oil, coolant, brake fluid, windshield washer and
other fluids, and plastic or rubber. You or
others could be burned. Be careful not to drop
or spill things that
will burn onto a hot engine.
1. Pull the handle located
inside the vehicle near
the parking brake.
5-1 0

Engine Compartment Overview
When you open the hood of a vehicle with a 3100 V6 (Code J) engine, you’ll see:
5-1 2

When you open the hood of a vehicle with a the 3800 V6 (Code K) engine, you’ll see:
5-1 4

When you open the hood of a vehicle with a 3800 V6 Supercharged (Code 1) engine, you’ll see:
5-1 6

If Steam Is Coming From Your Engine
Steam -m an overheated engine can burn
you badly, even if you just open the hood. Stay away from the engine if you see or hear
steam coming from
it. Just turn it off and get
CAUTION: (Continued) everyone away .rom the vehicle
UllLII it
coolsdown.
Wait until there is no sign of steam
or coolant before you open the hood.
If you keep driving when your engine is
overheated, the liquids in
it can catch fire. You
or others could be badly burned. Stop your
engine if it overheats, and get out of the
vehicle until the engine
is cool.
See “Overheated Engine Protection Operating
Mode” in the Index for information on driving
to a safe place
in an emergency.
Notice: If your engine catches fire because you keep
driving with no coolant, your vehicle can be badly
damaged. The costly repairs would not be covered by
your warranty. See “Overheated Engine Protection
Operating Mode”
in the Index for information on
driving to a safe place in an emergency.
5-34

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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