
Black plate (7,1)Chevrolet Avalanche Owner Manual - 2012
Customer Information 13-7
GM Mobility
Reimbursement Program
(U.S. and Canada)
This program is available to
qualified applicants for cost
reimbursement of eligible
aftermarket adaptive equipment
required for the vehicle, such as
hand controls or a wheelchair/
scooter lift for the vehicle.
For more information on the limited
offer, visit www.gmmobility.com or
call the GM Mobility Assistance
Center at 1-800-323-9935. Text
Telephone (TTY) users, call
1-800-833-9935.General Motors of Canada also
has a Mobility Program. Call
1-800-GM-DRIVE (463-7483) for
details. TTY users call
1-800-263-3830.
Roadside Assistance
Program (U.S. and
Canada)
For U.S.‐purchased vehicles, call
1‐800‐243‐8872; (Text Telephone
(TTY): 1‐888‐889‐2438).
For Canadian‐purchased vehicles,
call
1-800-268-6800.
Service is available 24 hours a day,
365 days a year.
Calling for Assistance
When calling Roadside Assistance,
have the following information
ready:
.Your name, home address, and
home telephone number.
.Telephone number of your
location.
.Location of the vehicle.
.Model, year, color, and license
plate number of the vehicle.
.Odometer reading, Vehicle
Identification Number (VIN), and
delivery date of the vehicle.
.Description of the problem.
Coverage
Services are provided up to 5 years/
160 000 km (100,000 mi), 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.
Chevrolet and General Motors of
Canada Limited reserve the right to
make any changes or discontinue
the Roadside Assistance program at
any time without notification.

Black plate (5,1)Chevrolet Avalanche Owner Manual - 2012
INDEX i-5
Front Fog LampLight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26
Front Seats Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Heated and Ventilated . . . . . . . . . 3-9
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-60 Additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-62
E85 (85% Ethanol) . . . . . . . . . . . 9-63
Filling a Portable Fuel
Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-66
Filling the Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-64
Fuels in Foreign Countries . . . . 9-62
Gasoline Specifications . . . . . . . 9-61
Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Low Fuel Warning Light . . . . . . . 5-25
Management, Active . . . . . . . . . . 9-30
Recommended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-61
Requirements, California . . . . . 9-61
System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-39
Fuel Economy Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-26
Full-Size Spare Tire . . . . . . . . . . 10-86 Fuses
Engine Compartment
Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-41
Fuses and Circuit Breakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-41
Instrument Panel Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-46
G
Garage Door Opener . . . . . . . . . . 5-53
Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-53
Gasoline Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-61
Gauges Engine CoolantTemperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Engine Oil Pressure . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Speedometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Tachometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Trip Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Voltmeter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Warning Lights and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10 General Information
Service and Maintenance . . . . . 11-1
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-66
Vehicle Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2
Glass Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . 10-35
Glove Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
GM Mobility Reimbursement Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-7H
Halogen Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-38
Hazard Warning Flashers . . . . . . . 6-5
Head Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
HeadlampsAiming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-35
Automatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . 10-38
Daytime RunningLamps (DRL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Flash-to-Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
High-Beam On Light . . . . . . . . . . 5-26
High/Low Beam Changer . . . . . . 6-3
Heated and Ventilated Front
Seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
Heated Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22

Black plate (8,1)Chevrolet Avalanche Owner Manual - 2012
i-8 INDEX
O
Object Detection SystemMessages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-40
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12 Trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Off-Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6 Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Oil Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-8
Engine Oil Life System . . . . . .10-11
Engine Oil PressureGauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-38
Pressure Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
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
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
OnStar
®System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-27 Operation, Infotainment
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Ordering Service Publications . . . . . . . . 13-16
Outlets Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9
Overheated Engine
Protection
Operating Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-24
Overheating, Engine . . . . . . . . . . 10-22
Overview, OnStar
®. . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1
P
Park Shifting into . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Shifting out of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-29
Park Tilt Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22
Parking Assist, Ultrasonic . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-54
Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-45
Brake and P (Park)Mechanism Check . . . . . . . . 10-34
Over Things That Burn . . . . . . . 9-30
Passenger Airbag Status Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
Passenger Sensing System . . . 3-29 Perchlorate Materials
Requirements, California . . . . . 10-3
Personalization Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-45
Phone Bluetooth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-47
Power
Door Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-20
Outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9
Protection, Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8
Retained Accessory (RAP) . . . 9-28
Seat Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Steering Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-25
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-24
Power Assist Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
Pregnancy, Using Safety
Belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
Privacy Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID) . . . . . . . 13-20
Program Courtesy Transportation . . . . 13-13
Proposition 65 Warning, California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2

Black plate (11,1)Chevrolet Avalanche Owner Manual - 2012
INDEX i-11
Storage Areas (cont'd)Glove Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Roof Rack System . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-13
Top-Box Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Stuck Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-15
Sun Visors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-25
Sunroof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-25
Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
System Infotainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
Roof Rack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-13
T
Tachometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Tailgate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
TaillampsBulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . 10-38
Text Telephone (TTY) Users . . . 13-6
Theft-Deterrent Systems . . . . . . . 2-18 Immobilizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18
Throttle, Adjustable . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-22
Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
Tires Buying New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . 10-64
Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-69
Changing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-72 Tires (cont'd)
Designations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-52
Different Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-66
Full-Size Spare . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-86
If a Tire Goes Flat . . . . . . . . . . 10-70
Inflation Monitor System . . . . 10-59
Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-62
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-42
Pressure Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Pressure Monitor System . . . 10-58
Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-62
Secondary Latch System . . . 10-83
Sidewall Labeling . . . . . . . . . . . 10-50
Terminology and
Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-53
Uniform Tire Quality Grading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-66
Wheel Alignment and Tire
Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-68
Wheel Replacement . . . . . . . . 10-68
When It Is Time for New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-63
Top-Box Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Tow/Haul Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-36
Tow/Haul Mode Light . . . . . . . . . . 5-23 Towing
Driving Characteristics . . . . . . . . 9-67
Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-75
General Information . . . . . . . . . . 9-66
Recreational Vehicle . . . . . . . . 10-91
Trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-71
Trailer Sway Control (TSC) . . . 9-83
Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-91
Traction Control System (TCS)/StabiliTrak
®Light . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-23
Trailer Sway Control (TSC) . . . . . . . . . . 9-83
Trailer Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-71
Transfer Case . . . . . . . . . . . 9-37, 9-42
Transmission Automatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-32
Fluid, Automatic . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-13
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-43
Transportation Program, Courtesy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-13
Trip Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12