Black plate (7,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2012
OnStar 14-7
OnStar Personal Identification
Number (PIN)
A PIN is needed to access some of
the OnStar services, like Remote
Door Unlock and Stolen Vehicle
Assistance. You will be prompted to
change the PIN the first time when
speaking with an Advisor. To
change the OnStar PIN, call OnStar
and provide the Advisor with the
current number.
Warranty
OnStar equipment may be
warranted as part of the new-vehicle
limited warranty. The manufacturer
of the vehicle furnishes detailed
warranty information.
Languages
The vehicle can be programmed to
respond in French or Spanish. Push
Qand ask an Advisor. Advisors
can speak French or Spanish.
Potential Issues
Some OnStar services are disabled
after five days. OnStar cannot
perform Remote Door Unlock or
Stolen Vehicle Assistance after the
vehicle has been off continuously
for five days. After five days, OnStar
can contact Roadside Assistance
and a locksmith to help gain access
to the vehicle.
Global Positioning
System (GPS)
.Obstruction of the GPS can
occur in a large city with tall
buildings; in parking garages;
around airports; in tunnels,
underpasses, or parking
garages; or in an area with very
dense trees. If GPS signals are
not available, the OnStar system
should still operate to call
OnStar. However, OnStar could
have difficulty identifying the
exact location.
.In emergency situations, OnStar
can use the last stored GPS
location to send to emergency
responders.
.A temporary loss of GPS can
cause loss of the ability to send
a Turn-by-Turn Navigation route.
The Advisor may give a verbal
route or may ask for a call back
after the vehicle is driven into an
open area.
Cellular and GPS Antennas
Avoid placing items over or near the
antenna to prevent blocking cellular
and GPS signal reception. Cellular
reception is required for OnStar to
send remote signals to the vehicle.
Black plate (8,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2012
14-8 OnStar
Unable to Connect to OnStar
Message
If there is limited cellular coverage
or the cellular network has reached
maximum capacity, this message
may come on. Push
Qto try the
call again or try again after driving a
few miles into another cellular area.
Vehicle and Power Issues
OnStar services require a vehicle
electrical system, wireless service,
and GPS satellite technologies to be
available and operating for features
to function properly. These systems
may not operate if the battery is
discharged or disconnected.
Add-on Electrical Equipment
The OnStar system is integrated
into the electrical architecture of the
vehicle. Do not add any electrical
equipment. See Add-On Electrical
Equipment on page 9‑63. Added
electrical equipment may interfere
with the operation of the OnStar
system and cause it to not operate.
Privacy
The complete OnStar Privacy
Statement may be found at
www.onstar.com. Privacy-sensitive
users of wireless communications
are cautioned that the privacy of any
information sent via wireless cellular
communications cannot be assured.
Third parties may unlawfully
intercept or access transmissions
and private communications without
consent.
Black plate (3,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2012
INDEX i-3
CheckEngine Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
Ignition
Transmission Lock . . . . . . . . 10-28
Child Restraints Infants and YoungChildren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-38
Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children . . . . . . . . . 3-44
Older Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-36
Securing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-52, 3-55
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-41
Circuit Breakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-38
Cleaning Exterior Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-102
Interior Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-105
Climate Control Systems Automatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Dual Automatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
Cluster, Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10
Collision Damage Repair . . . . . 13-15 Compact Spare Tire . . . . . . . . . . 10-93
Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36
Compressor Kit, Tire Sealant . . . . . . . . . .10-71, 10-78
Connections, OnStar
®. . . . . . . . . 14-4
Control of a Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
Convenience Net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Convex Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
Coolant Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-16
Engine Temperature
Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Engine Temperature Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Cooling System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-15
Engine Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37
Courtesy Transportation Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-14
Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-42 Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36
Cupholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1 Customer Assistance . . . . . . . . . . 13-6
Offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-5
Text Telephone (TTY)
Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-6
Customer Information Service PublicationsOrdering Information . . . . . . 13-18
Customer Satisfaction Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-1, 13-3
D
Damage Repair, Collision . . . . . 13-15
Danger, Warnings, andCautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
Data Recorders, Event . . . . . . . 13-20
Daytime Running Lamps (DRL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Defensive Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Delayed Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Devices, Auxiliary . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-39
Diagnostics, OnStar
®. . . . . . . . . . 14-5
Black plate (4,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2012
i-4 INDEX
Differential, Limited-Slip . . . . . . . 9-41
Distracted Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Dome Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
DoorAjar Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Ajar Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37
Delayed Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
Power Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Drive Belt Routing, Engine . . . . . 12-4
Drive Systems All-Wheel Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-34
Driver Efficiency Gauge . . . . . . . 5-13
Driver Information Center (DIC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Driving
Characteristics andTowing Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-57
Defensive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Drunk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
For Better Fuel Economy . . . . . 1-27
Highway Hypnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
Hill and Mountain Roads . . . . . . . 9-8
If the Vehicle is Stuck . . . . . . . . . 9-11
Loss of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Off-Road Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6 Driving (cont'd)
Vehicle Load Limits . . . . . . . . . . . 9-12
Wet Roads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
Dual Automatic Climate Control System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
DVD Rear Seat EntertainmentSystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-47
DVD/CD Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-30
E
Electric Parking Brake Light . . . 5-21
Electrical Equipment, Add-On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-63
Electrical System
Engine CompartmentFuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-38
Fuses and Circuit Breakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-38
Instrument Panel Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-42 Electrical System (cont'd)
Overload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-37
Rear Compartment Fuse
Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-44
Emergency, OnStar
®. . . . . . . . . . 14-2
Engine Air Cleaner/Filter . . . . . . . . . . . 10-13
Check and Service EngineSoon Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
Compartment Overview . . . . . . . 10-6
Coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-16
Coolant Temperature Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Coolant Temperature
Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Cooling System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-15
Cooling System Messages . . . 5-37
Drive Belt Routing . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-4
Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-30
Heater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-26
Oil Life System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-12
Oil Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-38
Black plate (6,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2012
i-6 INDEX
GaugesDriver Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
Engine Coolant
Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Speedometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Tachometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Warning Lights and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9
General Information
Service and Maintenance . . . . . 11-1
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-57
Vehicle Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2
Glove Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
GM Mobility Reimbursement Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-7
H
Halogen Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-33
Hazard Warning Flashers . . . . . . . 6-4
Head Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Head-up Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-31 Headlamps
Adaptive Forward
Lighting (AFL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Aiming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-30
Automatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . 10-33
Daytime Running Lamps (DRL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Flash-to-Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
High Intensity Discharge (HID) Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-33
High-Beam On Light . . . . . . . . . . 5-26
High/Low Beam Changer . . . . . . 6-2
Lamps On Reminder . . . . . . . . . 5-26
Heated Steering Wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Heated and Ventilated Front Seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Heated Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18
Heater Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-26
Heating and Air Conditioning . . . 8-1 High Voltage Devices and
Wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-37
High-Beam On Light . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26
Highway Hypnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
Hill and Mountain Roads . . . . . . . . 9-8
Hill Start Assist (HSA) . . . . . . . . . 9-38
Hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-5
Horn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
I
Ignition Positions . . . . . . . . 9-18, 9-20
Ignition Transmission LockCheck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-28
Immobilizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
Infants and Young Children, Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-38
Infotainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
Instrument Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Black plate (9,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2012
INDEX i-9
O
Object Detection SystemMessages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-39
Object Detection, Side Blind Zone Alert (SBZA) . . . . . . . . . . . 9-46
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Off-Road Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Oil Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-9
Engine Oil Life System . . . . . 10-12
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-38
Pressure Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-25
Older Children, Restraints . . . . . 3-36
Online Owner Center . . . . . . . . . . 13-6
OnStar
®
Additional Information . . . . . . . . 14-5
Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-4
Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-5
Emergency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2 OnStar
®(cont'd)
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
System, In Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-28
Operation, Infotainment System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-13
Ordering Service Publications . . . . . . . . 13-18
Outlets
Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
Overheated Engine Protection
Operating Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-21
Overheating, Engine . . . . . . . . . . 10-19
Overview,
Infotainment
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3, 7-5, 7-7
Overview, OnStar
®. . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1
P
Park
Shifting Into . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-27
Shifting Out of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-29
Tilt Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18 Parking
Assist, Ultrasonic . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-44
Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-36
Brake and P (Park)
Mechanism Check . . . . . . . . 10-28
Over Things That Burn . . . . . . . 9-29
Passenger Airbag Status
Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-16
Passenger Compartment Air Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-11
Passenger Sensing System . . . 3-29
Perchlorate Materials
Requirements, California . . . . . 10-3
Personalization Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-43
Phone
Bluetooth . . . . . . . . 7-57, 7-59, 7-63, 7-69
Power
Door Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
Outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
Protection, Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8
Retained Accessory (RAP) . . . 9-27
Black plate (11,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2012
INDEX i-11
RoadsDriving, Wet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Roadside Assistance Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-7, 13-10
Roof Sunroof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22
Rotation, Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-61
Routing, Engine Drive Belt . . . . . 12-4
Running the Vehicle While
Parked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-30
S
Safety Belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-21
Extender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-20
How to Wear Safety BeltsProperly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
Lap-Shoulder Belt . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-15
Reminders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Replacing after a Crash . . . . . . 3-21
Use During Pregnancy . . . . . . . . 3-20 Safety Defects Reporting
Canadian Government . . . . . . 13-19
General Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-20
U.S. Government . . . . . . . . . . . 13-19
Safety Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Safety System Check . . . . . . . . . . 3-20
Satellite Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-24
Scheduling Appointments . . . . . 13-13
Sealant Kit, Tire . . . . . . .10-71, 10-78
Seats Adjustment, Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Head Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Heated and Ventilated
Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Lumbar Adjustment, Front . . . . . 3-5
Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Power Adjustment, Front . . . . . . 3-5
Rear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11
Reclining Seatbacks . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Securing Child Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-52, 3-55 Security
Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26
OnStar
®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14
Selective Ride Control . . . . . . . . . 9-41
Service Accessories and
Modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Doing Your Own Work . . . . . . . . 10-4
Engine Soon Light . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
Maintenance Records . . . . . . .11-15
Maintenance, General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-1
Parts Identification Label . . . . . 12-1
Publications Ordering Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-18
Scheduling Appointments . . . 13-13
Servicing the Airbag . . . . . . . . . . . 3-33
Shift Lock Control Function Check, Automatic
Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-27