2006 CHEVROLET COBALT ignition

Driver Information Center (DIC)
The Driver Information Center (DIC) display gives you the
status of many of your vehicle’s systems. The DIC is also
used to display driver personalization menu modes and
warning/status messages. All messages will appear in
the DIC display, located at the bottom of the tachometer
on the instrument panel cluster.
The DIC buttons are
located to the right of the
steering wheel on the
instrument panel.
4(Information):Press this button to scroll through the
vehicle information mode displays.
r(Reset):Press this button to reset some vehicle
information mode displays, select a personalization
menu mode setting, or acknowledge a warning
message.
Press and hold the information and reset buttons at the
same time for one second, then release to enter the
personalization menu. SeeDIC Vehicle Personalization
on page 3-43for more information.
DIC Operation and Displays
The DIC comes on when the ignition is on. The DIC has
different modes which can be accessed by pressing the
DIC buttons. The button functions are detailed in the
following.
Information Modes
4
(Information):Press this button to scroll through the
following vehicle information modes:
Outside Air Temperature and Odometer
Press the information button until the outside air
temperature and the odometer are displayed. This mode
shows the temperature outside of the vehicle in either
degrees Fahrenheit (°F) or degrees Celsius (°C) and the
total distance the vehicle has been driven in either miles
(mi) or kilometers (km). The outside air temperature will
appear on the left side of the DIC display and the
odometer will appear on the right side of the display.
To change the DIC display to English or metric units,
see “UNITS” underDIC Vehicle Personalization on
page 3-43.
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OIL LIFE
Press the information button until OIL LIFE is displayed.
The engine oil life system shows an estimate of the
oil’s remaining useful life. It will show 100% when the
system is reset after an oil change. It will alert you
to change your oil on a schedule consistent with your
driving conditions.
In addition to the engine oil life system monitoring the
oil life, additional maintenance is recommended in
the Maintenance Schedule in this manual. SeeEngine
Oil on page 5-15andScheduled Maintenance on
page 6-4.
Always reset the engine oil life system after an oil
change. See “How to Reset the Engine Oil Life System”
underEngine Oil Life System on page 5-20and
“OIL–LIFE RESET” underDIC Vehicle Personalization
on page 3-43.
COOLANT
Press the information button until COOLANT is
displayed. This mode shows the temperature of the
engine coolant in either degrees Fahrenheit (°F)
or degrees Celsius (°C).
DIC Warnings and Messages
These messages will appear if there is a problem
detected in one of your vehicle’s systems.
Any message will clear when the vehicle’s condition is
no longer present. The warning message will come back
on the next time the vehicle is turned off and back on
if the condition is still present. With most messages,
a warning chime will sound when the message is
displayed. You can also acknowledge and clear some
warning messages from the DIC display by pressing
either the reset or information buttons. Your vehicle may
have other warning messages.
AUTO (Automatic) LIGHTS OFF
This message is displayed if the automatic headlamp
system is disabled with the headlamp switch.
AUTO (Automatic) LIGHTS ON
This message is displayed if the automatic headlamp
system is enabled with the headlamp switch.
BRAKE FLUID
This message will display if the ignition is on to inform
the driver that the brake uid level is low. Have the
brake system serviced by your GM dealer as soon as
possible.
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DIC Vehicle Personalization
Your vehicle has personalization capabilities that allow
you to program certain features to a preferred setting.
All of the features listed may not be available on
your vehicle. Only the features available will be
displayed on your DIC.
The default settings for the features were set when your
vehicle left the factory, but may have been changed
from their default state since then.
To change feature settings, use the following procedure:
Entering Personalization Menu
1. Turn the ignition on while the vehicle is stopped.
2. Press and hold the information and reset buttons at
the same time for one second, then release to enter
the personalization menu.
If the vehicle speed is greater than 2 mph (3 km/h),
only the UNITS menu will be accessible.
3. Press the information button to scroll through the
available personalization menu modes.
Press the reset button to scroll through the available
settings for each mode.
If you do not make a selection within ten seconds,
the display will go back to the previous information
displayed.
Personalization Menu Modes
UNITS
This feature allows you to select the units of
measurement in which the DIC will display the vehicle
information. When UNITS appears on the display, press
and hold the reset button for at least one second to
scroll through the available settings:
ENGLISH (default in United States):All information
will be displayed in English units. For example, distance
will be shown in miles (mi) and fuel economy in miles
per gallon (mpg).
METRIC (default in Canada):All information will be
displayed in metric units. For example, distance will be
shown in kilometers (km) and fuel economy in liters
per 100 kilometers (L/100 km).
Choose one of the available settings and press the
information button to select it and move on to the next
feature.
OIL-LIFE RESET
When this feature is displayed, you can reset the engine
oil life system. To reset the system, seeEngine Oil
Life System on page 5-20. See “OIL LIFE” underDIC
Operation and Displays on page 3-38for more
information.
3-43

AUTO UNLK (Unlock)
This feature, which allows the vehicle to automatically
unlock certain doors, can be enabled or disabled. When
AUTO UNLK appears on the display, press and hold
the reset button for at least one second to scroll through
the available settings:
ALL (default):All of the doors will automatically unlock.
DRIVER:The driver’s door will automatically unlock.
NONE:None of the doors will automatically unlock. You
will need to manually unlock the doors.
If you have a manual transaxle vehicle, the door(s) will
automatically unlock when the ignition is turned off.
If you have an automatic transaxle vehicle, you
can select when the automatic unlocking will occur. See
“UNLK (Unlock) (Automatic Transaxle Only)” following.
SeeProgrammable Automatic Door Unlock on page 2-9
for more information.
Choose one of the available settings and press the
information button to select it and move on to the
next feature.
UNLK (Unlock) (Automatic Transaxle Only)
This screen displays only if your vehicle has an
automatic transaxle and DRIVER or ALL is selected
for the AUTO UNLK feature. This feature determines
when the automatic door unlocking will occur. When
UNLK appears on the display, press and hold the reset
button for at least one second to scroll through the
available settings:
KEY OFF:The door(s) will unlock when the ignition is
turned off.
SHIFT TO P (Park) (default):The door(s) will unlock
when the vehicle is shifted into PARK (P).
SeeProgrammable Automatic Door Unlock on page 2-9
for more information.
Choose one of the available settings and press the
information button to select it and move on to the next
feature.
3-46

EXT (Exterior) LIGHTS
If your vehicle has remote keyless entry, this feature,
which allows the vehicle’s exterior perimeter lighting to
turn on each time the unlock button on the remote
keyless entry transmitter is pressed, can be enabled or
disabled. When EXT LIGHTS appears on the display,
press and hold the reset button for at least one second
to scroll through the available settings:
OFF:The exterior perimeter lighting will not turn on
when the unlock button on the remote keyless
entry transmitter is pressed.
ON (default):The exterior perimeter lighting will turn
on when the unlock button on the remote keyless entry
transmitter is pressed.
SeeRemote Keyless Entry System Operation on
page 2-4for more information.
Choose one of the available settings and press the
information button to select it and move on to the next
feature.
LANGUAGE
This feature allows you to select the language in which
the DIC will display. Press and hold the reset button
for at least one second to scroll through the available
settings:
ENGLISH (default):The DIC will display all information
in English.
FRENCH:The DIC will display all information in
French.
SPANISH:The DIC will display all information in
Spanish.
GERMAN:The DIC will display all information in
German.
Choose one of the available settings and press the
information button to select it and exit out of the
personalization menu mode.
Exiting Personalization Menu
The personalization menu will be exited when any of the
following conditions occur:
A ten second time period has elapsed.
The ignition is turned off.
The end of the personalization menu list is reached.
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Notice:Before adding any sound equipment to your
vehicle, such as an audio system, CD player, CB
radio, mobile telephone, or two-way radio, make sure
that it can be added by checking with your dealer.
Also, check federal rules covering mobile radio and
telephone units. If sound equipment can be added,
it is very important to do it properly. Added sound
equipment may interfere with the operation of your
vehicle’s engine, radio, or other systems, and even
damage them. Your vehicle’s systems may interfere
with the operation of sound equipment that has been
added.
Notice:The chime signals related to safety belts,
parking brake, and other functions of your vehicle
operate through the radio/entertainment system.
If that equipment is replaced or additional equipment
is added to your vehicle, the chimes may not work.
Make sure that replacement or additional equipment
is compatible with your vehicle before installing it.
SeeAccessories and Modifications on page 5-3.
Your vehicle has a feature called Retained Accessory
Power (RAP). With RAP, the audio system can be played
even after the ignition is turned off. SeeRetained
Accessory Power (RAP) on page 2-20for more
information.Setting the Time
To set the hour, press the clock button. The clock
symbol will appear on the display and the hour number
will ash. Then turn the ADJ knob to increase or to
decrease. To set the minutes, press the clock button
again. The minute numbers will ash. Then turn the
ADJ knob to increase or to decrease. The time can be
set with the ignition on or off.
To synchronize the time with an FM station broadcasting
Radio Data System (RDS) information, press and hold
the clock button to enter the clock set mode, then press
and hold the clock button for three seconds until
UPDATED appears on the display. If the time is not
available from the station, NO UPDATE will appear on
the display.
RDS time is broadcast once a minute. After tuning to an
RDS broadcast station, it may take a few minutes for
the time to update.
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AUTOu(Automatic Volume):With automatic
volume, the audio system adjusts automatically to
make up for road and wind noise as you drive.
Set the volume at the desired level. Press this button to
select LOW, MEDIUM, or HIGH. AUTO VOL LOW, AUTO
VOL MEDIUM, or AUTO VOL HIGH will appear on the
display. Each higher setting will allow for more volume
compensation at faster vehicle speeds. Then as you
drive, automatic volume increases the volume, as
necessary, to overcome noise at any speed. The volume
level should always sound the same to you as you drive.
AUTO VOL NONE will appear on the display if the radio
cannot determine the vehicle speed or if the engine is not
running. To turn automatic volume off, press this button
until AUTO VOL OFF appears on the display.
DISP (Display):When the ignition is off, press this
knob to display the time.
For RDS, press the DISP knob to change what appears
on the display. The display options are station name,
RDS station frequency, PTY, and the name of the
program (if available).
For XM™ (if equipped), press the DISP knob, while in
XM™ mode, to retrieve four different categories of
information related to the current song or channel:
Artist, Song Title, Category or PTY, Channel Number/
Channel Name.To change the default on the display, press the
DISP knob until you see the display you want, then hold
the knob for two seconds. The radio will produce a beep
and the selected display will now be the default.
Finding a Station
BAND:Press this button to switch between FM1, FM2,
AM, or XM1 or XM2 (if equipped). The display will
show the selection.
ADJ (Adjust):Turn this knob to select radio stations.
©SEEK¨:Press the right or the left arrow to
go to the next or to the previous station and stay there.
To scan stations, press and hold either arrow for
two seconds until you hear a beep. The radio will go to
a station, play for a few seconds, then go on to the
next station. Press either arrow again to stop scanning.
To scan preset stations, press and hold either arrow
for more than four seconds until you hear two beeps.
The radio will go to the rst preset station stored on
the pushbuttons, play for a few seconds, then go on
to the next preset station. Press either arrow again
to stop scanning presets.
The radio will only seek and scan stations with a strong
signal that are in the selected band.
3-51

RDS Messages
ALERT!:Alert warns of local or national emergencies.
When an alert announcement comes on the current
radio station, ALERT! will appear on the display. You will
hear the announcement, even if the volume is low or
a CD is playing. If a CD is playing, play will stop during
the announcement. Alert announcements cannot be
turned off.
ALERT! will not be affected by tests of the emergency
broadcast system. This feature is not supported by
all RDS stations.
MSG (Message):If the current station has a message,
MSG will appear on the display. Press this button to
see the message. The message may display the artist,
song title, call in phone numbers, etc.
If the entire message is not displayed, parts of the
message will appear every three seconds. To scroll
through the message, press and release the MSG button.
A new group of words will appear on the display after
every press of the button. Once the complete message
has been displayed, MSG will disappear from the display
until another new message is received. The last message
can be displayed by pressing the MSG button. You can
view the last message until a new message is received or
a different station is tuned to.
When a message is not available from a station,
NO MESSAGE will appear on the display.
Radio Messages
CALIBRATE:The audio system has been calibrated for
your vehicle from the factory. If CALIBRATE appears on
the display, it means that the radio has not been
congured properly for your vehicle and it must be
returned to your GM dealer for service.
LOCKED:This message is displayed when the
THEFTLOCK
®system has locked up the radio.
Take the vehicle to your GM dealer for service.
If any error occurs repeatedly or if an error cannot be
corrected, contact your GM dealer.
For information on XM™ radio messages, see the XM™
Radio Messages table under “Radio with CD (MP3)”
later in this section.
Playing a CD
Insert a CD partway into the slot, label side up. The
player will pull it in and the CD should begin playing.
If you want to insert a CD with the ignition off, rst press
the eject button or the DISP knob.
As each new track starts to play, the track number will
appear on the display.
If the ignition or radio is turned off with a CD in the player,
it will stay in the player. When the ignition or radio is
turned on the CD will start playing, where it stopped, if it
was the last selected audio source.
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