2008 CADILLAC ESCALADE roof

Seats and Restraint Systems........................... 1-1
Front Seats
............................................... 1-2
Rear Seats
..............................................1-10
Safety Belts
.............................................1-28
Child Restraints
.......................................1-49
Airbag System
.........................................1-74
Restraint System Check
............................1-90
Features and Controls..................................... 2-1
Keys
........................................................ 2-3
Doors and Locks
......................................2-10
Windows
.................................................2-18
Theft-Deterrent Systems
............................2-20
Starting and Operating Your Vehicle
...........2-24
Mirrors
....................................................2-40
Object Detection Systems
..........................2-48
OnStar
®System
......................................2-51
Universal Home Remote System
................2-54
Storage Areas
.........................................2-61
Sunroof
..................................................2-65
Instrument Panel............................................. 3-1
Instrument Panel Overview
.......................... 3-4
Climate Controls
......................................3-26
Warning Lights, Gages, and Indicators
........3-33
Driver Information Center (DIC)
..................3-48
Audio System(s)
.......................................3-68Driving Your Vehicle....................................... 4-1
Your Driving, the Road, and Your Vehicle
..... 4-2
Towing
...................................................4-41
Service and Appearance Care.......................... 5-1
Service
..................................................... 5-3
Fuel
......................................................... 5-5
Checking Things Under the Hood
...............5-10
All-Wheel Drive
........................................5-44
Rear Axle
...............................................5-44
Front Axle
...............................................5-46
Headlamp Aiming
.....................................5-46
Bulb Replacement
....................................5-49
Windshield Wiper Blade Replacement
.........5-52
Tires
......................................................5-54
Appearance Care
.....................................5-96
Vehicle Identication
...............................5-105
Electrical System
....................................5-106
Capacities and Specications
...................5-113
Maintenance Schedule..................................... 6-1
Maintenance Schedule
................................ 6-2
Customer Assistance Information.................... 7-1
Customer Assistance and Information
........... 7-2
Reporting Safety Defects
...........................7-14
Vehicle Data Recording and Privacy
...........7-16
Index................................................................ 1
2008 Cadillac Escalade/Escalade ESV Owner ManualM

If the airbag is off, the off indicator in the passenger
airbag status indicator will come on and stay on when
the vehicle is started.
If a child restraint has been installed and the on
indicator is lit, turn the vehicle off. Remove the child
restraint from the vehicle and reinstall the child restraint.
If, after reinstalling the child restraint and restarting
the vehicle, the on indicator is still lit, check to make
sure that the vehicle’s seatback is not pressing the child
restraint into the seat cushion. If this happens, slightly
recline the vehicle’s seatback and adjust the seat
cushion if possible. Also make sure the child restraint is
not trapped under the vehicle head restraint. If this
happens, adjust the head restraint.
Remove any additional material from the seat such as
blankets, cushions, seat covers, seat heaters or
seat massagers before reinstalling or securing the child
restraint.
If the on indicator is still lit, secure the child in the child
restraint in a rear seat position in the vehicle and
check with your dealer/retailer.
To remove the child restraint, unbuckle the vehicle’s
safety belt and let it go back all the way.Airbag System
Your vehicle has the following airbags:
A frontal airbag for the driver.
A frontal airbag for the right front passenger.
A roof-rail airbag for the driver and the passenger
seated directly behind the driver.
A roof-rail airbag for the right front passenger and
the passenger seated directly behind the right
front passenger.
Your vehicle may have the following airbags:
If your vehicle has a third row seat, it will have third
row roof-rail airbags.
All of the airbags in your vehicle will have the word
AIRBAG embossed in the trim or on an attached label
near the deployment opening.
For frontal airbags, the word AIRBAG will appear on the
middle part of the steering wheel for the driver and
on the instrument panel for the right front passenger.
With roof-rail airbags, the word AIRBAG will appear
along the headliner or trim.
1-74

Airbags are designed to supplement the protection
provided by safety belts. Even though today’s airbags
are also designed to help reduce the risk of injury
from the force of an inating bag, all airbags must inate
very quickly to do their job.
Here are the most important things to know about the
airbag system:
{CAUTION:
You can be severely injured or killed in a crash
if you are not wearing your safety belt — even
if you have airbags. Wearing your safety belt
during a crash helps reduce your chance of
hitting things inside the vehicle or being
ejected from it. Airbags are “supplemental
restraints” to the safety belts. All airbags are
designed to work with safety belts, but do not
replace them.
{CAUTION:
Frontal airbags are designed to deploy in
moderate to severe frontal and near frontal
crashes. They are not designed to inate in
rollover, rear crashes, or in many side crashes.
Rollover capable roof-rail airbags are designed
to inate in moderate to severe crashes where
something hits the side of your vehicle, during
a vehicle rollover, or in a severe frontal impact.
They are not designed to inate in rear
crashes.
Everyone in your vehicle should wear a safety
belt properly — whether or not there is an
airbag for that person.
1-75

{CAUTION:
Airbags inate with great force, faster than the
blink of an eye. Anyone who is up against, or
very close to, any airbag when it inates can
be seriously injured or killed. Do not sit
unnecessarily close to the airbag, as you
would be if you were sitting on the edge of
your seat or leaning forward. Safety belts help
keep you in position before and during a
crash. Always wear your safety belt, even with
airbags. The driver should sit as far back as
possible while still maintaining control of the
vehicle.
Occupants should not lean on or sleep against
the door or side windows in seating positions
with roof-rail airbags.
{CAUTION:
Airbags plus lap-shoulder belts offer the best
protection for adults, but not for young
children and infants. Neither the vehicle’s
safety belt system nor its airbag system is
designed for them. Young children and infants
need the protection that a child restraint
system can provide. Always secure children
properly in your vehicle. To read how, see
Older Children on page 1-49orInfants and
Young Children on page 1-52.
There is an airbag
readiness light on the
instrument panel cluster,
which shows the airbag
symbol.
The system checks the airbag electrical system for
malfunctions. The light tells you if there is an electrical
problem. SeeAirbag Readiness Light on page 3-36
for more information.
1-76

The roof-rail airbags for the driver, right front passenger,
and second row outboard passengers are in the
ceiling above the side windows.If your vehicle has roof-rail airbags and a third row
passenger seat, the airbags are located in the ceiling
above the rear windows for the outboard passenger
positions in the third row. Driver Side shown, Passenger Side similar
Driver Side shown, Passenger Side similar
1-78

{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and an
airbag, the airbag might not inate properly
or it might force the object into that person
causing severe injury or even death. The path
of an inating airbag must be kept clear.
Do not put anything between an occupant and
an airbag, and do not attach or put anything
on the steering wheel hub or on or near any
other airbag covering.
If your vehicle has roof-rail airbags, never
secure anything to the roof of your vehicle by
routing the rope or tie down through any door
or window opening. If you do, the path of an
inating roof-rail airbag will be blocked.
When Should an Airbag Inate?
Frontal airbags are designed to inate in moderate to
severe frontal or near-frontal crashes to help reduce the
potential for severe injuries mainly to the driver’s or
right front passenger’s head and chest. However, they
are only designed to inate if the impact exceeds a
predetermined deployment threshold. Deployment
thresholds are used to predict how severe a crash is
likely to be in time for the airbags to inate and
help restrain the occupants.
Whether your frontal airbags will or should deploy is not
based on how fast your vehicle is traveling. It depends
largely on what you hit, the direction of the impact,
and how quickly your vehicle slows down.
1-79

Frontal airbags may inate at different crash speeds.
For example:
If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the airbags
could inate at a different crash speed than if the
vehicle hits a moving object.
If the vehicle hits an object that deforms, the
airbags could inate at a different crash speed than
if the vehicle hits an object does not deform.
If the vehicle hits a narrow object (like a pole),
the airbags could inate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle hits a wide object (like a wall).
If the vehicle goes into an object at an angle, the
airbags could inate at a different crash speed than if
the vehicle goes straight into the object.
Thresholds can also vary with specic vehicle design.
Frontal airbags are not intended to inate during vehicle
rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side impacts.
In addition, your vehicle has dual-stage frontal airbags.
Dual-stage airbags adjust the restraint according to
crash severity. Your vehicle has electronic frontal
sensors, which help the sensing system distinguishbetween a moderate frontal impact and a more severe
frontal impact. For moderate frontal impacts, dual-stage
airbags inate at a level less than full deployment.
For more severe frontal impacts, full deployment occurs.
Your vehicle has a seat position sensor which enables
the sensing system to monitor the position of the driver’s
seat. The seat position sensor provides information
that is used to determine if the airbags should deploy at
a reduced level or at full deployment.
Your vehicle has roof-rail airbags. SeeAirbag System
on page 1-74. Roof-rail airbags are intended to inate in
moderate to severe side crashes. In addition, these
roof-rail airbags are intended to inate during a rollover
or in a severe frontal impact. Roof-rail airbags will
inate if the crash severity is above the system’s
designed threshold level. The threshold level can vary
with specic vehicle design.
Roof-rail airbags are not intended to inate in rear
impacts. Both roof-rail airbags will deploy when either
side of the vehicle is struck, or if the sensing system
predicts that the vehicle is about to roll over, or in
a severe frontal impact.
1-80

In any particular crash, no one can say whether an
airbag should have inated simply because of the
damage to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs
were. For frontal airbags, ination is determined by
what the vehicle hits, the angle of the impact, and how
quickly the vehicle slows down. For roof-rail airbags,
deployment is determined by the location and severity
of the side impact. In a rollover event, roof-rail airbag
deployment is determined by the direction of the roll.
What Makes an Airbag Inate?
In a deployment event, the sensing system sends an
electrical signal triggering a release of gas from the
inator. Gas from the inator lls the airbag causing the
bag to break out of the cover and deploy. The inator,
the airbag, and related hardware are all part of the
airbag module.
Frontal airbag modules are located inside the steering
wheel and instrument panel. For vehicles with
roof-rail airbags, there are airbag modules in the ceiling
of the vehicle, near the side windows that have
occupant seating positions.
How Does an Airbag Restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel
or the instrument panel. In moderate to severe side
collisions, even belted occupants can contact the inside
of the vehicle.
Airbags supplement the protection provided by safety
belts. Frontal airbags distribute the force of the
impact more evenly over the occupant’s upper body,
stopping the occupant more gradually. Roof-rail airbags
distribute the force of the impact more evenly over
the occupant’s upper body.
Rollover capable roof-rail airbags are designed to help
contain the head and chest of occupants in the
outboard seating positions in the rst, second, and third
rows, if equipped with a third row seat. The rollover
capable roof-rail airbags are designed to help reduce the
risk of full or partial ejection in rollover events, although
no system can prevent all such ejections.
But airbags would not help in many types of collisions,
primarily because the occupant’s motion is not
toward those airbags. SeeWhen Should an Airbag
Inflate? on page 1-79for more information.
Airbags should never be regarded as anything more
than a supplement to safety belts.
1-81