
Black plate (4,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
6-4 Lighting
Turn and Lane-Change
Signals
An arrow on the instrument panel
cluster flashes in the direction of the
turn or lane change.
Move the lever all the way up or
down to signal a turn.
Raise or lower the lever until the
arrow starts to flash to signal a lane
change. Hold it there until the lane
change is completed. If the lever is
briefly pressed and released, the
turn signal flashes three times.The lever returns to its starting
position whenever it is released.
If after signaling a turn or lane
change the arrow flashes rapidly
or does not come on, a signal bulb
might be burned out.
Have the bulbs replaced. If the bulb
is not burned out, check the fuse.
See
Fuses and Circuit Breakers on
page 10‑32.
Turn Signal On Chime
If either one of the turn signals are
left on and the vehicle has been
driven more than 1.2 km (3/4 mile),
a chime will sound.
Fog Lamps
Use the fog lamps for better vision
in foggy or misty conditions.
The fog lamps button is on the
exterior lamps control to the left
of the steering column.
#(Fog Lamps): Press the exterior
lamps button to turn the fog lamps
on or off. A light comes on in the
instrument panel cluster when the
fog lamps are in use. The ignition
must be on for the fog lamps
to work.
When the headlamps are changed
to high-beam, the fog lamps turn off.
The fog lamps come back on again
when the high-beam headlamps are
turned off.
Some localities have laws that
require the headlamps to be on
along with the fog lamps.

Black plate (5,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
Lighting 6-5
Interior Lighting
Instrument Panel
Illumination Control
The instrument panel brightness
knob is located on the instrument
panel to the left of the steering
column.
D(Instrument Panel
Brightness): Push the knob
in all the way until it extends out
and then turn the knob clockwise
or counterclockwise to brighten or
dim the lights. Push the knob back
in when finished.
Courtesy Lamps
The courtesy lamps automatically
come on when a door is opened.
The lamps can also be turned
on manually by fully turning the
instrument panel brightness control
clockwise.
The reading lamps, located on the
headliner above the rearview mirror,
can be turned on or off independent
of the automatic courtesy lamps,
when the doors are closed.
Dome Lamps
The dome lamps are located in the
overhead console and above the
rear seat passengers.
The dome lamps come on when a
door is opened, unless the dome
lamp override button is pressed in.
The lamps can also be turned on
and off by turning the instrument
panel brightness control clockwise
to the farthest position. Dome Lamp Override
The dome lamp override button is
next to the exterior lamps control.
E
DOME OFF (Dome Lamp
Override): Press the top of the
button in and the dome lamps
remain off when a door is opened.
An indicator light on the button
comes on to show that the dome
lamps are off. Press near the bottom
of the button so the dome lamps
come on when a door is opened.
Reading Lamps
Press the button near each lamp to
turn them on or off.

Black plate (6,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
6-6 Lighting
Lighting Features
Entry Lighting
For vehicles with courtesy lamps,
they come on and stay on for a set
time whenever the unlock symbol
is pressed on the Remote Keyless
Entry (RKE) transmitter, if the
vehicle has one.
If a door is opened, the lamps stay
on while it is open and then turn
off automatically about 20 seconds
after the door is closed. If the unlock
symbol is pressed and no door is
opened, the lamps turn off after
about 20 seconds.Entry lighting includes a feature
called theater dimming. With theater
dimming, the lamps do not turn
off at the end of the delay time.
Instead, they slowly dim and then
go out. The delay time is canceled
if the ignition key is turned to
ON/RUN or the power door lock
switch is pressed. The lamps will
dim right away.
When the ignition is on, illuminated
entry is inactive, which means the
courtesy lamps will not come on
unless a door is opened.
Delayed Entry Lighting
Delayed entry lighting illuminates
the interior for a period of time after
all the doors have been closed.
The ignition must be off for delayed
entry lighting to work. Immediately
after all the doors have been closed,
the delayed entry lighting feature
continues to work until one of the
following occurs:
.The ignition is in ON/RUN.
.The doors are locked.
.An illumination period of about
25 seconds has elapsed.
If during the illumination period
a door is opened, the timed
illumination period is canceled
and the interior lamps remain on.

Black plate (7,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
Lighting 6-7
Delayed Exit Lighting
Delayed exit lighting illuminates the
interior for a period of time after the
key is removed from the ignition.
The ignition must be off for delayed
exit lighting to work. When the key
is removed, interior illumination
activates and remains on until
one of the following occurs:
.The ignition is in ON/RUN.
.The power door locks are
activated.
.An illumination period of
20 seconds has elapsed.
If during the illumination period
a door is opened, the timed
illumination period will be canceled
and the interior lamps will remain
on because a door is open.
Parade Dimming
This feature automatically prohibits
the dimming of the instrument
panel displays in daylight while
the headlamps are on so that the
displays are still able to be seen.
Battery Load
Management
The vehicle has Electric Power
Management (EPM) that estimates
the battery's temperature and state
of charge. It then adjusts the voltage
for best performance and extended
life of the battery.
When the battery's state of charge
is low, the voltage is raised slightly
to quickly bring the charge back up.
When the state of charge is high,
the voltage is lowered slightly to
prevent overcharging. If the vehicle
has a voltmeter gauge or a voltage
display on the Driver Information
Center (DIC), you may see the voltage move up or down. This is
normal. If there is a problem, an
alert will be displayed.
The battery can be discharged at
idle if the electrical loads are very
high. This is true for all vehicles.
This is because the generator
(alternator) may not be spinning
fast enough at idle to produce
all the power needed for very
high electrical loads.
A high electrical load occurs when
several of the following are on,
such as: headlamps, high beams,
fog lamps, rear window defogger,
climate control fan at high speed,
heated seats, engine cooling fans,
trailer loads, and loads plugged into
accessory power outlets.
EPM works to prevent excessive
discharge of the battery. It does this
by balancing the generator's output
and the vehicle's electrical needs.

Black plate (8,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
6-8 Lighting
It can increase engine idle speed
to generate more power, whenever
needed. It can temporarily reduce
the power demands of some
accessories.
Normally, these actions occur
in steps or levels, without being
noticeable. In rare cases at the
highest levels of corrective action,
this action may be noticeable
to the driver. If so, a Driver
Information Center (DIC) message
might be displayed, such as
BATTERY SAVER ACTIVE,
BATTERY VOLTAGE LOW,
or LOW BATTERY. If one of
these messages displays, it is
recommended that the driver
reduce the electrical loads as
much as possible. SeeDriver
Information Center (DIC) (With
DIC Buttons) on page 5‑25 or
Driver Information Center (DIC)
(Without DIC Buttons) on page 5‑30.Battery Power Protection
This feature helps prevent the
battery from being drained, if the
interior courtesy lamps, reading/map
lamps, visor vanity lamps or trunk
lamp are accidentally left on.
If any of these lamps are left on,
they automatically turn off after
10 minutes, if the ignition is off.
The lamps will not come back on
again until one of the following
occurs:
.The ignition is turned on.
.The exterior lamps control is
turned off, then on again.
The headlamps will timeout after
10 minutes, if they are manually
turned on while the ignition is on
or off.

Black plate (5,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
Infotainment System 7-5
To activate SCV:
1. Set the radio volume.
2. Press the MENU button todisplay the radio setup menu.
3. Press the softkey under the AUTO VOLUM (automatic
volume) tab on the radio display.
4. Press the softkey under the Speed Compensated Volume
setting (OFF, Low, Med, or
High) to select the level of
radio volume compensation.
Press the softkey located below
the BACK tab on the MENU
SETUP display or let the display
time out after approximately
10 seconds. Each higher setting
allows for more radio volume
compensation at faster vehicle
speeds.Setting the Tone
(Bass/Midrange/Treble)
BASS/MID/TREB (Bass, Midrange,
or Treble): To adjust bass,
midrange, or treble:
1. Press
funtil the tone control
tabs display.
2. Continue pressing
fto highlight
the tab, or press the softkey
under the tab.
3. To adjust the highlighted setting, do one of the following until the
levels are obtained.
.Turnfclockwise or
counterclockwise.
.Press\FWD, orsREV.
If a station's frequency is weak or if
there is static, decrease the treble.
To quickly adjust bass, midrange,
or treble to the middle position,
press the softkey under the BASS, MID, or TREB tab for more than
two seconds. A beep sounds and
the level adjusts to the middle
position.
To quickly adjust all tone and
speaker controls to the middle
position, press
ffor more than
two seconds until a beep sounds.
EQ (Equalization): Press to
choose bass and treble equalization
settings designed for different types
of music. The choices are pop, rock,
country, talk, jazz, and classical.
Selecting MANUAL or changing
bass or treble, returns the EQ to
the manual bass and treble settings.
Unique EQ settings can be saved
for each source.
If the radio has a Bose
®audio
system, the EQ settings are either
MANUAL or TALK.

Black plate (6,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
7-6 Infotainment System
Adjusting the Speakers
(Balance/Fade)
BAL/FADE (Balance/Fade):
To adjust the balance or fade:
1. Press
funtil the speaker control
tabs display.
2. Continue pressing
fto highlight
the tab, or press the softkey
under the tab.
3. To adjust the highlighted setting, do one of the following until the
levels are obtained.
.Turnfclockwise or
counterclockwise.
.Press\FWD, orsREV.
To quickly adjust balance or fade
to the middle position, press the
softkey under the BAL or FADE tab
for more than two seconds. A beep
sounds and the level adjusts to the
middle position. To quickly adjust all speaker and
tone controls to the middle position,
press
ffor more than two seconds
until a beep sounds.
Radios with CD and DVD fade
differently depending on the DVD
Media type:
.With DVD‐A 5.1 Surround
media, the left front and right
front speakers fade rearward,
leaving the center front
speakers unaffected until the
last fade step, then all front
speakers mute.
.With DVD‐V 5.1 Surround
media, surround sound is
maintained until Step 4 of the
Fade control is reached while
fading rearward. At that point
the audio system output
changes to Stereo to prevent
the loss of Center channel
output when the full rearward
fade position is reached. If the Rear Seat Audio (RSA) is
turned on, the radio disables FADE
and mutes the rear speakers.
Radio Messages
Calibration Error:
The audio
system has been calibrated
for the vehicle from the factory.
If Calibration Error displays, it
means that the radio has not been
configured properly for the vehicle
and it must be returned to your
dealer for service.
Locked: This message displays
when the TheftLock
®system has
locked up the radio. Take the
vehicle to your dealer for service.
If any error occurs repeatedly or
if an error cannot be corrected,
contact your dealer.

Black plate (15,1)GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali Owner Manual - 2011
Infotainment System 7-15
Care of CDs
If playing a CD-R, the sound quality
can be reduced due to CD-R or
CD-RW quality, the method of
recording, the quality of the music
that has been recorded, and the
way the CD-R or CD-RW has been
handled. Handle them carefully.
Store CD-R(s) or CD-RW(s) in their
original cases or other protective
cases and away from direct sunlight
and dust. The CD player scans the
bottom surface of the disc. If the
surface of a CD is damaged, such
as cracked, broken, or scratched,
the CD does not play properly or not
at all. Do not touch the bottom side
of a CD while handling it; this could
damage the surface. Pick up CDs
by grasping the outer edges or the
edge of the hole and the outer edge.
If the surface of a CD is soiled, take
a soft, lint free cloth or dampen a
clean, soft cloth in a mild, neutral
detergent solution mixed with water,
and clean it. Make sure the wiping
process starts from the center to
the edge.Care of the CD Player
Do not add any label to a CD, it
could get caught in the CD player.
If a CD is recorded on a personal
computer and a description label is
needed, try labeling the top of the
recorded CD with a marking pen.
The use of CD lens cleaners for
CDs is not advised.
Notice:
If a label is added to a
CD, more than one CD is inserted
into the slot at a time, or an
attempt is made to play scratched
or damaged CDs, the CD player
could be damaged. While using
the CD player, use only CDs in
good condition without any label,
load one CD at a time, and keep
the CD player and the loading slot
free of foreign materials, liquids,
and debris.
If an error displays, see “CD
Messages” later in this section.Playing an MP3/WMA CD-R or
CD-RW Disc
The radio has the capability of
playing an MP3/WMA CD-R or
CD-RW disc. For more information
on how to play an MP3/WMA CD-R
or CD-RW disc, see MP3 (Radios
with CD/USB) on page 7‑24 or
MP3 (Radios with CD/DVD) on
page 7‑30.
CD Messages
CHECK DISC: Radios with a
Single CD player display CHECK
DISC and/or ejects the CD if an
error occurs.
Optical Error: The disc was
inserted upside down.
Disk Read Error: A disc was
inserted with an invalid or unknown
format.