2004 CHEVROLET CAVALIER steering

Other Warning Devices
If you carry reective triangles, you can set one up at
the side of the road about 300 feet (100 m) behind your
vehicle.
Horn
You can sound the horn by pressing the center of your
steering wheel near the horn symbols.
Tilt Wheel
Your vehicle may have a tilt wheel which 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 wheel and pull the lever.
Then, move the wheel to a comfortable position
and release the lever to lock the wheel in place.
3-5

Turn Signal/Multifunction Lever
The lever on the left side of the steering column
includes the following:
Turn and Lane-Change Signals
Headlamp High/Low-Beam Changer
Flash-to-Pass
Cruise Control
For information on the exterior lamps, seeExterior
Lamps on page 3-11.
Turn and Lane-Change Signals
The turn signal has two upward (for right) and two
downward (for left) positions. These positions allow you
to signal a turn or a lane change.
To signal a turn, move the lever all the way up or down.
When the turn is nished, the lever will return
automatically.
An arrow on the instrument
panel cluster will ash in
the direction of the
turn or lane change.
To signal a lane change, just raise or lower the lever
until the arrow starts to ash. Hold it there until you
complete your lane change. The lever will return by itself
when you release it.
As you signal a turn or a lane change, if the arrows
ash rapidly, a signal bulb may be burned out and other
drivers will not see your turn signal. If a bulb is burned
out, replace it to help avoid an accident.
If the arrows do not go on at all when you signal a turn,
check the fuse. SeeFuses and Circuit Breakers on
page 5-81.
3-6

Windshield Wipers
Use the lever located on the right side of the steering
wheel to operate the windshield wipers.
9OFF:Move the lever to OFF to turn off the
windshield wipers.
QDELAY:If your vehicle has delay wipers, move the
lever to DELAY to choose a delayed wiping cycle.
Turn the lever down for a longer delay or up for a shorter
delay. The further the lever is turned upward, the
shorter the delay will be and the further the lever is
turned downward, the longer the delay will be. The wiper
speed can only be adjusted when the lever is in the
DELAY position. Use this position for light rain or snow.
Q1 (Low Speed):Move the lever up to the rst
setting past DELAY for steady wiping at low speed.
Q2 (High Speed):Move the lever up to the second
setting past DELAY for steady wiping at high speed.
RMIST:Move the lever all the way down to MIST for
a single wiping cycle. Hold it there until the windshield
wiper starts; then let go. The windshield wipers will stop
after one wipe. If you want more wipes, hold the
band on mist longer.
Heavy snow or ice can overload the wipers. If this
occurs, a circuit breaker will stop the wipers until the
wiper motor cools. So, be sure to clear any snow or ice
from the windshield wiper blades before using them.
If the wiper blades are frozen to the windshield, carefully
loosen them or warm the windshield before turning
the wipers on. If your blades do become worn or
damaged, get new blades or blade inserts.
3-10

Interior Lamps
Instrument Panel Brightness
The thumbwheel for this
feature is located on the
instrument panel to the left
of the steering column.
Turn the thumbwheel up to brighten the lights or down
to dim them. Turn the thumbwheel all the way up to
turn on the interior courtesy lamps.
Entry Lighting
When you open either a front door or a rear door, the
lamps inside your vehicle will go on. In addition, if
your vehicle is equipped with remote keyless entry, the
light will come on when the remote keyless entry
UNLOCK button is pressed.
After you exit the vehicle and all of the doors have been
closed, the lamps will stay on for an additional
20 seconds before fading off. The lamps will also fade
to off when the key is inserted and turned to RUN
or ACCESSORY, or the LOCK button on the remote
keyless entry transmitter is pressed.
Front Reading Lamps
If your vehicle has this feature, these lamps are located
on the rearview mirror. Turn each one on and off by
pressing its button.
Map Lamps
If your vehicle has this feature, these lamps are located
in front of the dome lamp. To turn the lamps on and
off, press the button.
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Your Driving, the Road, and Your Vehicle..........4-2
Defensive Driving...........................................4-2
Drunken Driving.............................................4-2
Control of a Vehicle........................................4-5
Braking.........................................................4-5
Enhanced Traction System (ETS).....................4-8
Steering........................................................4-9
Off-Road Recovery.......................................4-11
Passing.......................................................4-12
Loss of Control.............................................4-13
Driving at Night............................................4-14
Driving in Rain and on Wet Roads..................4-16
City Driving..................................................4-19
Freeway Driving...........................................4-20Before Leaving on a Long Trip.......................4-21
Highway Hypnosis........................................4-22
Hill and Mountain Roads................................4-22
Winter Driving..............................................4-24
If You Are Stuck: In Sand, Mud,
Ice or Snow..............................................4-28
Towing..........................................................4-29
Towing Your Vehicle.....................................4-29
Recreational Vehicle Towing...........................4-29
Loading Your Vehicle....................................4-31
Towing a Trailer
(Automatic Transaxle)................................4-37
Towing a Trailer (Manual Transaxle)................4-43
Section 4 Driving Your Vehicle
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 are driving on snow or ice, it
is easy to ask more of those control systems than
the tires and road can provide. That means you can lose
control of your vehicle. Also seeEnhanced Traction
System (ETS) on page 4-8.
Braking
Braking action involvesperception timeand
reaction time.
First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal.
That isperception time.Then you have to bring up your
foot and do it. That isreaction time.
Averagereaction timeis about 3/4 of a second. But that
is 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 (100 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 is 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.
4-5

A computer senses that wheels are slowing down. If
one of the wheels is about to stop rolling, the computer
will separately work the brakes at each wheel.
The anti-lock system can change the brake pressure
faster than any driver could. The computer is
programmed to make the most of available tire and road
conditions. This can help you steer around the obstacle
while braking hard.
As you brake, your computer keeps receiving updates
on wheel speed and controls braking pressure
accordingly.Remember: Anti-lock does not 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 will not 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
Do not pump the brakes. Just hold the brake pedal
down rmly 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 do not have anti-lock, your
rst reaction — to hit the brake pedal hard and hold
it down — may be the wrong thing to do. Your wheels
can stop rolling. Once they do, the vehicle can not
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.
4-7

If you do not 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 youdohave
anti-lock, it is different. See “Anti-Lock Brake System”
in this section.
In many emergencies, steering can help you more than
even the very best braking.
Enhanced Traction System (ETS)
If your vehicle has the optional four-speed automatic
transaxle and anti-lock brakes, it also has an Enhanced
Traction System (ETS) that limits wheel spin. This is
especially useful in slippery road conditions. The system
operates only when the transaxle shift lever is in the
REVERSE (R), THIRD (3) or AUTOMATIC
OVERDRIVE (D) position and the system senses that
one or both of the front wheels are spinning or beginning
to lose traction. When this happens, the system
reduces engine power and may also upshift the
transaxle to limit wheel spin.This light will come on when your Enhanced Traction
System is limiting wheel spin. SeeEnhanced Traction
System Active Light on page 3-28.
You may feel or hear the system working, but this is
normal.
When the transaxle shift lever is in any position other
than FIRST (1) or SECOND (2) and the parking brake is
fully released, this warning light will come on to let
you know if there’s a problem with the system.United States
Canada
United StatesCanada
4-8