2010 BUICK LACROSSE winter tires

Driving and Operating 8-9
Hill and Mountain Roads
Driving on steep hills or through
mountains is different than driving
on flat or rolling terrain. Tips for
driving in these conditions include:
.Keep the vehicle serviced and in
good shape.
.Check all fluid levels and brakes,
tires, cooling system, and
transmission.
.Going down steep or long hills,
shift to a lower gear.
{WARNING
If you do not shift down, the
brakes could get so hot that they
would not work well. You would
then have poor braking or even
none going down a hill. You could
crash. Shift down to let the engine
assist the brakes on a steep
downhill slope.
{WARNING
Coasting downhill in N (Neutral)
or with the ignition off is
dangerous. The brakes will have
to do all the work of slowing down
and they could get so hot that
they would not work well. You
would then have poor braking or
even none going down a hill. You
could crash. Always have the
engine running and the vehicle in
gear when going downhill.
.Stay in your own lane. Do not
swing wide or cut across the
center of the road. Drive at
speeds that let you stay in your
own lane.
.Top of hills: Be
alert—something could be in
your lane (stalled car, accident).
.Pay attention to special road
signs (falling rocks area, winding
roads, long grades, passing or
no-passing zones) and take
appropriate action.
Winter Driving
Driving on Snow or Ice
Drive carefully when there is snow
or ice between the tires and the
road, creating less traction or grip.
Wet ice can occur at about 0°C
(32°F) when freezing rain begins to
fall, resulting in even less traction.
Avoid driving on wet ice or in
freezing rain until roads can be
treated with salt or sand.
Drive with caution, whatever the
condition. Accelerate gently so
traction is not lost. Accelerating too
quickly causes the wheels to spin
and makes the surface under the
tires slick, so there is even less
traction.
Try not to break the fragile traction.
If you accelerate too fast, the drive
wheels will spin and polish the
surface under the tires even more.

Vehicle Care 9-1
Vehicle Care
General Information
General Information . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
California Proposition65 Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
California Perchlorate Materials Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Accessories and Modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Vehicle Checks
Doing Your OwnService Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
Hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Engine Compartment Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Engine Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-11
Engine Oil Life System . . . . . . 9-13
Automatic Transmission Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-15
Engine Air Cleaner/Filter . . . . . 9-15
Cooling System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-17
Engine Coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-18
Engine Overheating . . . . . . . . . 9-20
Overheated Engine Protection Operating Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-21
Power Steering Fluid . . . . . . . . 9-22 Washer Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-23
Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24
Brake Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-25
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-26
Starter Switch Check . . . . . . . . 9-27
Automatic Transmission Shift
Lock Control System
Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-27
Ignition Transmission Lock Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Park Brake and P (Park) Mechanism Check . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Wiper Blade Replacement . . . 9-29Headlamp Aiming
Headlamp Aiming . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-30
Bulb Replacement
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33
Halogen Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33
High Intensity Discharge (HID) Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33
Headlamps, Front Turn Signal and Parking Lamps . . . . . . . . . 9-33
Fog Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-35 Taillamps, Turn Signal,
Stoplamps, and Back-Up
Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-35
License Plate Lamp . . . . . . . . . . 9-36
Replacement Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . 9-37
Electrical System
Electrical System Overload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-38
Fuses and Circuit Breakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-38
Engine Compartment Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-39
Instrument Panel Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-41
Rear Compartment Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-43
Wheels and Tires
Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-46
Winter Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-46
Tire Sidewall Labeling . . . . . . . 9-47
Tire Designations . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-49
Tire Terminology and
Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-50
Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-53
Tire Pressure Monitor System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-54

9-46 Vehicle Care
Wheels and Tires
Tires
Your new vehicle comes with
high-quality tires made by a
leading tire manufacturer. If you
ever have questions about your
tire warranty and where to
obtain service, see your vehicle
Warranty booklet for details. For
additional information refer to
the tire manufacturer.
{WARNING
Poorly maintained and improperly
used tires are dangerous.
.Overloading your tires can
cause overheating as a result
of too much flexing. You
could have an air-out and a
serious accident. SeeVehicle
Load Limits on page 8‑12.
(Continued)
WARNING (Continued)
.Underinflated tires pose the
same danger as overloaded
tires. The resulting accident
could cause serious injury.
Check all tires frequently to
maintain the recommended
pressure. Tire pressure
should be checked when your
tires are cold. See Tire
Pressure on page 9‑53.
.Overinflated tires are more
likely to be cut, punctured or
broken by a sudden
impact —such as when you
hit a pothole. Keep tires at
the recommended pressure.
.Worn, old tires can cause
accidents. If your tread is
badly worn, or if your tires
have been damaged,
replace them.
Winter Tires
If you expect to drive on snow or ice
covered roads often, you may want
to get winter tires for your vehicle.
All season tires provide good overall
performance on most surfaces but
they may not offer the traction you
would like or the same level of
performance as winter tires on snow
or ice covered roads.
Winter tires, in general, are
designed for increased traction on
snow and ice covered roads. With
winter tires, there may be decreased
dry road traction, increased road
noise, and shorter tread life. After
switching to winter tires, be alert for
changes in vehicle handling and
braking.
See your dealer/retailer for details
regarding winter tire availability and
proper tire selection. Also, see
Buying New Tires on page 9‑61.

Vehicle Care 9-47
If you choose to use winter tires:
.Use tires of the same brand and
tread type on all four wheel
positions.
.Use only radial ply tires of the
same size, load range, and
speed rating as the original
equipment tires.
Winter tires with the same speed
rating as your original equipment
tires may not be available for H, V,
W, Y, and ZR speed rated tires.
If you choose winter tires with a
lower speed rating, never exceed
the tire's maximum speed capability.
Tire Sidewall Labeling
Useful information about a tire is
molded into its sidewall. The
examples below show a typical
passenger vehicle tire and a
compact spare tire sidewall.
Passenger (P-Metric) Tire Example
(A) Tire Size:The tire size is a
combination of letters and
numbers used to define a
particular tire's width, height,
aspect ratio, construction type,
and service description. See the
“Tire Size” illustration later in this
section for more detail.
(B) TPC Spec (Tire
Performance Criteria
Specification)
:Original
equipment tires designed to
GM's specific tire performance criteria have a TPC specification
code molded onto the sidewall.
GM's TPC specifications meet or
exceed all federal safety
guidelines.
(C) DOT (Department of
Transportation)
:The
Department of Transportation
(DOT) code indicates that the
tire is in compliance with the
U.S. Department of
Transportation Motor Vehicle
Safety Standards.
(D) Tire Identification Number
(TIN)
:The letters and numbers
following the DOT (Department
of Transportation) code is the
Tire Identification Number (TIN).
The TIN shows the
manufacturer and plant code,
tire size, and date the tire was
manufactured. The TIN is
molded onto both sides of the
tire, although only one side may
have the date of manufacture.

9-64 Vehicle Care
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
(NHTSA), 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
(UTQG) system does not apply
to deep tread, winter-type snow
tires, space-saver, or temporaryuse spare tires, tires with
nominal rim diameters of
25 to 30 cm (10 to 12 inches),
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, B, 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.

i-2 INDEX
B
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-26Jump Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-75
Load Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
Power Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
Voltage and ChargingMessages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-33
Blade Replacement, Wiper . . . . 9-29
Bluetooth . . . . 6-42, 6-43, 6-46, 6-57
Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24 Antilock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-31
Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-34
Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-25
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-32
System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-33
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
Break-In, New Vehicle . . . . . . . . . 8-17
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-37
Fog Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5, 9-35
Halogen Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33
Headlamp Aiming . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-30
Headlamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33
Headlamps, Front TurnSignal and Parking
Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33 Bulb Replacement (cont.)
High Intensity Discharge
(HID) Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33
License Plate Lamps . . . . . . . . . 9-36
Taillamps, Turn Signal,
Stoplamps, and Back-Up
Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-35
Buying New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-61
C
Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
California Fuel Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . 8-51
Perchlorate MaterialsRequirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Camera, Rear Vision . . . . . . . . . . 8-46
Canadian Vehicle Owners . . . . . . . . iv
Capacities and Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-2
Carbon Monoxide Engine Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-26
Trunk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9 Cautions, Danger, and
Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
CD DVD Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-22
CD Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-20
Center Console Storage . . . . . . . . 3-1
Chains, Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-67
Charging System Light . . . . . . . . 4-17
Check Engine Lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-17
Ignition Transmission Lock . . . 9-28
Child Restraints Infants and YoungChildren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-42
Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children . . . . . . . . . 2-48
Older Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-40
Securing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-55, 2-57
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-45
Where to Put the Restraint . . . 2-46
Circuit Breakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-38
Cleaning
Exterior Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-82
Interior Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-86

INDEX i-11
TiresBuying New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-61
Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-67
Changing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-69
Compact Spare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-74
Designations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-49
Different Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-63
If a Tire Goes Flat . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-67
Inflation Monitor System . . . . . . 9-55
Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-59
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-37
Pressure Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-23
Pressure Monitor System . . . . . 9-54
Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-59
Sidewall Labeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-47
Terminology and
Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-50
Uniform Tire Quality Grading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-64
Wheel Alignment and Tire Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-65
Wheel Replacement . . . . . . . . . . 9-66
When It Is Time for New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-60
Winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-46 Towing
Driving Characteristics . . . . . . . . 8-54
Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-59
General Information . . . . . . . . . . 8-54
Recreational Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . 9-79
Trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-58
Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-79
Traction Control System (TCS) . . . . . . . . 8-34
Off Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-22
Selective Ride Control . . . . . . . . 8-36
Trailer Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-58
Transmission Automatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-27
Fluid, Automatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-15
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-37
Transportation Program, Courtesy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-8
Trunk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Turn and Lane-Change Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4
Turn Signal Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-35U
Ultrasonic Parking Assist . . . . . . 8-40
Uniform Tire QualityGrading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-64
Universal Remote System . . . . . 4-45 Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-48
Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-45
Using this Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
V
Vehicle Canadian Owners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iv
Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
Load Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-32
Personalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-38
Remote Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-79
Vehicle Care Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-53

i-12 INDEX
Vehicle IdentificationNumber (VIN) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-1
Service Parts Identification
Label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-1
Ventilation, Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8
Visors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-19
W
Warning Lights, Gages, and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12
Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv Cautions and Danger . . . . . . . . . . . .iv
Hazard Flashers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4
Washer Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-23
Wheels Alignment and TireBalance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-65
Different Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-63
Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-66 When It Is Time for New
Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-60
Where to Put the Child Restraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-46
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-17 Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-38
Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-17
Windshield Wiper/Washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
Winter Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-46
Wiper Blade Replacement . . . . . 9-29