
Black plate (88,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
10-88 Vehicle Care
Dinghy Towing
If the vehicle is front-wheel‐drive, it
can be dinghy towed from the front.
These vehicles may also be towed
by putting the front wheels on a
dolly. See“Dolly Towing” later in
this section.
If the vehicle is all‐wheel‐drive, it
can be dinghy towed from the front.
These vehicles can also be towed
by placing them on a platform
trailer with all four wheels off of the
ground. These vehicles cannot be
towed using a dolly. For vehicles being dinghy towed,
the vehicle should be run at the
beginning of each day and at each
RV fuel stop for about five minutes.
This will ensure proper lubrication of
transmission components. Re-install
the fuse to start the vehicle.
To tow the vehicle from the front
with all four wheels on the ground:
1. Position the vehicle to be
towed, shift the transmission to
P (Park), and turn the ignition
to LOCK/OFF.
2. Secure the vehicle to the towing vehicle.
3. Set the parking brake.
4. Turn the ignition to ACC/ACCESSORY.
5. Shift the transmission to N (Neutral). 6. To prevent the battery from
draining while the vehicle is
being towed, remove the 15 amp
ECM fuse and the 50 amp
BATT1 fuse from the underhood
fuse block and store in a
safe location. See Engine
Compartment Fuse Block on
page 10‑33.
7. Release the parking brake.
Notice: If the vehicle is
towed without performing
each of the steps listed under
“Dinghy Towing,” the automatic
transmission could be damaged.
Be sure to follow all steps of the
dinghy towing procedure prior to
and after towing the vehicle.
Notice: If 105 km/h (65 mph)
is exceeded while towing the
vehicle, it could be damaged.
Never exceed 105 km/h (65 mph)
while towing the vehicle.

Black plate (90,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
10-90 Vehicle Care
5. Remove the key from theignition.
6. Secure the vehicle to the dolly.
7. Release the parking brake.
Towing the Vehicle From
the Rear
Notice: Towing the vehicle from
the rear could damage it. Also,
repairs would not be covered by
the vehicle warranty. Never have
the vehicle towed from the rear.
Do not tow the vehicle from the rear.
Appearance Care
Exterior Care
Cleaning Exterior
Lamps/Lenses
Use only lukewarm or cold water, a
soft cloth, and a car washing soap
to clean exterior lamps and lenses.
Follow instructions under “Washing
the Vehicle” later in this section.
Finish Care
Occasional waxing or mild polishing
of the vehicle by hand may be
necessary to remove residue from
the paint finish. Approved cleaning
products can be obtained from your
dealer.

Black plate (99,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
Vehicle Care 10-99
Button Retainer
Floor mats with a button-type
retainer.
Removing and Replacing the
Floor Mat
1. Pull up on the rear of the mat tounlock and remove.
2. Reinstall the floor mat by lining up the floor mat openings over
the carpet retainers and
snapping into position. 3. Make sure the floor mat is
properly secured and verify that
it does not interfere with the
accelerator or brake pedal.
Knob Retainer
Floor mats with a knob retainer.
Removing and Replacing the
Floor Mat
1. Turn the knob until it is aligned
with the slot in the floor mat
grommet.
2. Pull up on the floor mat. 3. Center the slot in the floor mat
grommet with the knob on the
floor and set into position.
4. Turn the knob until it is perpendicular to the slot in the
grommet to lock the mat in
place.
5. Make sure the floor mat is properly secured and verify that
it does not interfere with the
accelerator or brake pedal.

Black plate (9,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
Customer Information 13-9
Coverage
Services are provided up to
5 years/160 000 km (100,000 miles),
whichever comes first.
In the U.S., anyone driving the
vehicle is covered. In Canada, a
person driving the vehicle without
permission from the owner is not
covered.
Roadside Assistance is not a
part of the New Vehicle Limited
Warranty. GMC and General Motors
of Canada Limited reserve the right
to make any changes or discontinue
the Roadside Assistance program
at any time without notification.
GMC and General Motors of
Canada Limited reserve the right
to limit services or payment to an
owner or driver if they decide the
claims are made too often, or the
same type of claim is made many
times.
Services Provided
.Emergency Fuel Delivery:
Delivery of enough fuel for the
vehicle to get to the nearest
service station.
.Lock‐Out Service:Service to
unlock the vehicle if you are
locked out. A remote unlock
may be available if you have
OnStar
®. For security reasons,
the driver must present
identification before this
service is given.
.Emergency Tow From a Public
Road or Highway: Tow to the
nearest GMC dealer for warranty
service, or if the vehicle was
in a crash and cannot be driven.
Assistance is also given when
the vehicle is stuck in the sand,
mud, or snow.
.Flat Tire Change: Service to
change a flat tire with the spare
tire. The spare tire, if equipped,
must be in good condition and properly inflated. It is the owner's
responsibility for the repair or
replacement of the tire if it is
not covered by the warranty.
.Battery Jump Start:
Service to
jump start a dead battery.
.Trip Routing Service: Detailed
maps of North America when
requested either with the
most direct route or the most
scenic route. Additional travel
information is also available.
Allow three weeks for delivery.
.Trip Interruption Benefits
and Assistance: If your
trip is interrupted due to
a warranty failure, incidental
expenses may be reimbursed
during the 5 years/(160 000 km)
100,000 miles Powertrain
warranty period. Items
considered are hotel, meals,
and rental car.

Black plate (19,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
Customer Information 13-19
GM will not access this data or
share it with others except: with the
consent of the vehicle owner or,
if the vehicle is leased, with the
consent of the lessee; in response
to an official request by police or
similar government office; as part
of GM's defense of litigation
through the discovery process; or,
as required by law. Data that GM
collects or receives may also be
used for GM research needs or
may be made available to others for
research purposes, where a need is
shown and the data is not tied to a
specific vehicle or vehicle owner.OnStar®
If the vehicle is equipped with
an active OnStar system, that
system may also record data in
crash or near crash‐like situations.
The OnStar Terms and Conditions
provides information on data
collection and use and is available
in the OnStar glove box kit,
at www.onstar.com (U.S.) or
www.onstar.ca (Canada), or
by pressing the
Qbutton and
speaking to an advisor.
Navigation System
If the vehicle has a navigation
system, use of the system may
result in the storage of destinations,
addresses, telephone numbers, and
other trip information. Refer to the
navigation system operating manual
for information on stored data and
for deletion instructions.
Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID)
RFID technology is used in some
vehicles for functions such as tire
pressure monitoring and ignition
system security, as well as in
connection with conveniences
such as key fobs for remote door
locking/unlocking and starting, and
in-vehicle transmitters for garage
door openers. RFID technology in
GM vehicles does not use or record
personal information or link with
any other GM system containing
personal information.

Black plate (2,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
i-2 INDEX
B
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-26Jump Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-83
Load Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Power Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8
Voltage and ChargingMessages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37
Blade Replacement, Wiper . . . 10-29
Bluetooth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-50
Brake System Warning Light . . . 5-20
Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-24 Antilock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-29
Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-30
Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-25
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-30
System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-38
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Break-In, New Vehicle . . . . . . . . . 9-17
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-31 Fog Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
Halogen Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-30
Headlamp Aiming . . . . . . . . . . . 10-30 Bulb Replacement (cont.)
Headlamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-30
High Intensity Discharge
(HID) Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-30
License Plate Lamps . . . . . . . 10-31
Buying New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-54
C
Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
California Fuel Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . 9-43
Perchlorate Materials
Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Camera, Rear Vision . . . . . . . . . . 9-37
Canadian Vehicle Owners . . . . . . . . iii
Capacities and Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-2
Carbon Monoxide Engine Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24
Liftgate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9 Cargo
Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Management System . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Tie Downs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Cautions, Danger, and Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
CD Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-14
CD/DVD Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-16
Center Console Storage . . . . . . . . 4-2
Chains, Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-60
Charging
System Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
Check Engine Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-18
IgnitionTransmission Lock . . . . . . . . 10-28
Child Restraints Infants and YoungChildren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-51
Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children . . . . . . . . . 3-57
Older Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-48
Securing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-65, 3-67
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-53

Black plate (7,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
INDEX i-7
L
Labeling, Tire Sidewall . . . . . . . . 10-39
Lamp Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-41
LampsCourtesy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Dome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Exterior Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
License Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-31
Malfunction Indicator . . . . . . . . . 5-18
Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Lap-Shoulder Belt . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-25
LATCH System
Replacing Parts After aCrash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-64
LATCH, Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children . . . . . . . . . . 3-57
Liftgate Carbon Monoxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10 Lighting
Delayed Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Delayed Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Illumination Control . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Parade Dimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Lights
Airbag Readiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Antilock Brake System(ABS) Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21
Brake System Warning . . . . . . . 5-20
Charging System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Engine Coolant
Temperature Warning . . . . . . . 5-22
Engine Oil Pressure . . . . . . . . . . 5-23
Flash-to-Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Front Fog Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
High-Beam On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24 Lights (cont.)
High/Low Beam Changer . . . . . . 6-2
Safety Belt Reminders . . . . . . . . 5-15
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
StabiliTrak
®Indicator . . . . . . . . . 5-22
Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-23
Tow/Haul Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-22
Locks Automatic Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
Delayed Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Lockout Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
Power Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
Loss of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children
(LATCH System) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-57
Lumbar Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6 Front Seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6

Black plate (11,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
INDEX i-11
Roof Rack System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Rotation, Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-52
Routing, Engine Drive Belt . . . . . 12-3
Running the Vehicle WhileParked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24
S
Safety Belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-16Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-32
Extender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-31
How to Wear Safety Belts
Properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
Lap-Shoulder Belt . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-25
Reminders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Replacing After a Crash . . . . . . 3-32
Use During Pregnancy . . . . . . . . 3-30
Safety Defects Reporting Canadian Government . . . . . . 13-17
General Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-17
U.S. Government . . . . . . . . . . . 13-16
Safety Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9 Safety System Check . . . . . . . . . . 3-31
Satellite Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8
Scheduled Maintenance . . . . . . . 11-2
Scheduling Appointments . . . . . 13-11
Sealant Kit, Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-63
Seats
Adjustment, Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Head Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Heated and Ventilated Front . . . 3-9
Lumbar Adjustment, Front . . . . . 3-6
Power Adjustment, Front . . . . . . 3-4
Rear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Reclining Seatbacks . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Third Row Seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
Secondary Latch System . . . . . 10-80
Securing Child Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-65, 3-67
Security Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13 Service
Accessories and
Modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Doing Your Own Work . . . . . . . . 10-4
Engine Soon Light . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-18
Maintenance Records . . . . . . .11-10
Maintenance, General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-1
Parts Identification Label . . . . . 12-1
Publications Ordering Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-15
Scheduling Appointments . . . .13-11
Vehicle Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-43
Servicing the Airbag . . . . . . . . . . . 3-45
Shift Lock Control Function Check, Automatic
Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-28
Shifting Into Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-21
Out of Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-23