2012 CHEVROLET TRAVERSE steering

Black plate (85,1)Chevrolet Traverse Owner Manual - 2012
Vehicle Care 10-85
Notice:To avoid surface damage,
do not use strong soaps,
chemicals, abrasive polishes,
cleaners, brushes, or cleaners
that contain acid on aluminum or
chrome-plated wheels. Use only
approved cleaners. Also, never
drive a vehicle with aluminum or
chrome-plated wheels through an
automatic car wash that uses
silicone carbide tire cleaning
brushes. Damage could occur
and the repairs would not be
covered by the vehicle warranty.
Steering, Suspension, and
Chassis Components
Visually inspect front and rear
suspension and steering system for
damaged, loose, or missing parts
or signs of wear. Inspect power
steering lines and hoses for proper
hook-up, binding, leaks, cracks,
chafing, etc. Visually check constant
velocity joints, rubber boots, and
axle seals for leaks.
Body Component Lubrication
Lubricate all key lock cylinders,
hood hinges, liftgate hinges, and the
steel fuel door hinge unless the
components are plastic. Applying
silicone grease on weatherstrips
with a clean cloth will make them
last longer, seal better, and not stick
or squeak.
Underbody Maintenance
Use plain water to flush dirt and
debris from the vehicle's underbody.
Your dealer or an underbody car
washing system can do this. If not
removed, rust and corrosion can
develop.
Sheet Metal Damage
If the vehicle is damaged and
requires sheet metal repair or
replacement, make sure the body
repair shop applies anti-corrosion
material to parts repaired or
replaced to restore corrosion
protection. Original manufacturer replacement
parts will provide the corrosion
protection while maintaining the
vehicle warranty.
Finish Damage
Quickly repair minor chips and
scratches with touch-up materials
available from your dealer to avoid
corrosion. Larger areas of finish
damage can be corrected in your
dealer's body and paint shop.
Chemical Paint Spotting
Airborne pollutants can fall upon
and attack painted vehicle surfaces
causing blotchy, ring-shaped
discolorations, and small, irregular
dark spots etched into the paint
surface.

Black plate (4,1)Chevrolet Traverse Owner Manual - 2012
11-4 Service and Maintenance
.Check tire inflation pressures.
SeeTire Pressure on
page 10‑42.
.Inspect tire wear. See Tire
Inspection on page 10‑47.
.Visually check for fluid leaks.
.Inspect engine air cleaner filter.
See Engine Air Cleaner/Filter on
page 10‑11.
.Inspect brake system.
.Visually inspect steering,
suspension, and chassis
components for damaged, loose,
or missing parts or signs of
wear. See Exterior Care on
page 10‑83.
.Check restraint system
components. See Safety System
Check on page 3‑22.
.Visually inspect fuel system for
damage or leaks.
.Visually inspect exhaust system
and nearby heat shields for
loose or damaged parts.
.Lubricate body components. See
Exterior Care on page 10‑83.
.Check starter switch. See Starter
Switch Check on page 10‑24.
.Check automatic transmission
shift lock control function. See
Automatic Transmission Shift
Lock Control Function Check on
page 10‑24.
.Check ignition transmission lock.
See Ignition Transmission Lock
Check on page 10‑25.
.Check parking brake and
automatic transmission park
mechanism. See Park Brake and
P (Park) Mechanism Check on
page 10‑25.
.Check accelerator pedal for
damage, high effort, or binding.
Replace if needed.
.Visually inspect gas strut for
signs of wear, cracks, or other
damage. Check the hold open
ability of the strut. See your
dealer if service is required.
.Check tire sealant expiration
date, if equipped. See Tire
Sealant and Compressor Kit on
page 10‑57.
.Inspect sunroof track and seal,
if equipped. See Sunroof on
page 2‑22.

Black plate (10,1)Chevrolet Traverse Owner Manual - 2012
11-10 Service and Maintenance
Hoses
Hoses transport fluids and should
be regularly inspected to ensure
that there are no cracks or leaks.
With a multi‐point inspection, your
dealer can inspect the hoses and
advise if replacement is needed.
Lamps
Properly working headlamps,
taillamps, and brake lamps are
important to see and be seen on
the road.
.Signs that the headlamps need
attention include dimming, failure
to light, cracking, or damage.
The brake lamps need to be
checked periodically to ensure
that they light when braking.
.With a multi‐point inspection,
your dealer can check the lamps
and note any concerns.Shocks and Struts
Shocks and struts help aid in control
for a smoother ride.
.Signs of wear may include
steering wheel vibration, bounce/
sway while braking, longer
stopping distance, or uneven
tire wear.
.As part of the multi‐point
inspection, trained dealer
technicians can visually inspect
the shocks and struts for signs
of leaking, blown seals,
or damage, and can advise
when service is needed.
Tires
Tires need to be properly inflated,
rotated, and balanced. Maintaining
the tires can save money, fuel, and
can reduce the risk of tire failure.
.Signs that the tires need to be
replaced include three or more
visible treadwear indicators; cord
or fabric showing through the
rubber; cracks or cuts in the
tread or sidewall; or a bulge or
split in the tire.
.Trained dealer technicians can
inspect and recommend the
right tires. Your dealer can also
provide tire/wheel balancing
services to ensure smooth
vehicle operation at all speeds.
Your dealer sells and services
name brand tires.

Black plate (12,1)Chevrolet Traverse Owner Manual - 2012
11-12 Service and Maintenance
Recommended Fluids, Lubricants, and Parts
Recommended Fluids and Lubricants
UsageFluid/Lubricant
Engine Oil Use only engine oil licensed to the dexos1 specfication, or equivalent, of
the proper SAE viscosity grade. ACDelco dexos1 Synthetic Blend is
recommended. See
Engine Oil on page 10‑8.
Engine Coolant 50/50 mixture of clean, drinkable water and use only DEX-COOL Coolant.
See
Engine Coolant on page 10‑13.
Hydraulic Brake System DOT 3 Hydraulic Brake Fluid (GM Part No. 88862806, in
Canada 88862807).
Windshield Washer Optikleen
®Washer Solvent.
Hydraulic Power Steering System GM Power Steering Fluid (GM Part No. 89021184, in Canada 89021186). Automatic Transmission DEXRON
®-VI Automatic Transmission Fluid.
Carrier Assembly —Differential (Rear
Drive Module) and Transfer Case (Power Transfer Unit) SAE 75W‐90 Synthetic Axle Lubricant (GM Part No. 89021677, in
Canada 89021678).
Key Lock Cylinders Multi-Purpose Lubricant, Superlube (GM Part No. 12346241, in
Canada 10953474).

Black plate (16,1)Chevrolet Traverse Owner Manual - 2012
13-16 Customer Information
.Insurance company and policy
number.
.General description of the
damage to the other vehicle.
Choose a reputable repair facility
that uses quality replacement parts.
See “Collision Parts” earlier in this
section.
If the airbag has inflated, see What
Will You See after an Airbag
Inflates? on page 3‑29.
Managing the Vehicle Damage
Repair Process
In the event that the vehicle requires
damage repairs, GM recommends
that you take an active role in its
repair. If you have a pre-determined
repair facility of choice, take the
vehicle there, or have it towed there.
Specify to the facility that any
required replacement collision parts
be original equipment parts, either
new Genuine GM parts or recycled
original GM parts. Remember,
recycled parts will not be covered
by the GM vehicle warranty. Insurance pays the bill for the repair,
but you must live with the repair.
Depending on your policy limits,
your insurance company may
initially value the repair using
aftermarket parts. Discuss this with
the repair professional, and insist on
Genuine GM parts. Remember,
if the vehicle is leased, you may
be obligated to have the vehicle
repaired with Genuine GM parts,
even if your insurance coverage
does not pay the full cost.
If another party's insurance
company is paying for the repairs,
you are not obligated to accept a
repair valuation based on that
insurance company's collision policy
repair limits, as you have no
contractual limits with that company.
In such cases, you can have control
of the repair and parts choices as
long as the cost stays within
reasonable limits.
Service Publications
Ordering Information
Service Manuals
Service Manuals have the diagnosis
and repair information on the
engines, transmission, axle,
suspension, brakes, electrical,
steering, body, etc.
Service Bulletins
Service Bulletins give additional
technical service information
needed to knowledgeably service
General Motors cars and trucks.
Each bulletin contains instructions
to assist in the diagnosis and
service of the vehicle.

Black plate (5,1)Chevrolet Traverse Owner Manual - 2012
INDEX i-5
Flat Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-55Changing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-65
Floor Console Storage . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Floor Mats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-88
Fluid Automatic Transmission . . . . .10-11
Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-22
Power Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-19
Washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-20
Folding Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
Front Seats Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Heated and Ventilated . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-38 Additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-40
Filling a Portable FuelContainer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-42
Filling the Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-41
Fuels in Foreign Countries . . . . 9-39
Gasoline Specifications . . . . . . . 9-39
Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Recommended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-39
Requirements, California . . . . . 9-39
System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-35
Fuel Economy
Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-24 Fuses
Engine Compartment
Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-30
Fuses and Circuit Breakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-30
Instrument Panel Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-33
G
Garage Door Opener . . . . . . . . . . 5-48
Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-48
Gasoline Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-39
Gauges Engine CoolantTemperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Speedometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Tachometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Voltmeter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Warning Lights and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10 General Information
Service and Maintenance . . . . . 11-1
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-43
Vehicle Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2
Glove Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
GM Mobility Reimbursement Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-7
H
Hazard Warning Flashers . . . . . . . 6-4
Head Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
HeadlampsAiming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-26
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . 10-26
Daytime Running Lamps/
Automatic Headlamp
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Delayed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Flash-to-Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
High-Beam On Light . . . . . . . . . . 5-23
High/Low Beam Changer . . . . . . 6-2
Heated and Ventilated Front Seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Heated Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18
Heater Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-18

Black plate (8,1)Chevrolet Traverse Owner Manual - 2012
i-8 INDEX
O
Object Detection SystemMessages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Off-Road Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Oil
Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-8
Engine Oil Life System . . . . . 10-10
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-34
Pressure Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-22
Older Children, Restraints . . . . . 3-38
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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-25
Operation, Infotainment System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Ordering
Service Publications . . . . . . . . 13-16 Outlets
Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
Overheated Engine Protection
Operating Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-19
Overheating, Engine . . . . . . . . . . 10-17
Overview, OnStar
®. . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1
P
Parade Dimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Park Shifting into . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-19
Shifting out of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-20
Park Tilt Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-19
Parking Assist, Ultrasonic . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33
Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-27
Brake and P (Park)Mechanism Check . . . . . . . . 10-25
Over Things That Burn . . . . . . . 9-21
Passenger Airbag Status Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-16
Passenger Compartment Air
Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12
Passenger Sensing System . . . 3-31 Perchlorate Materials
Requirements, California . . . . . 10-3
Personalization Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-40
Phone Bluetooth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-46
Power
Door Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
Outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
Protection, Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8
Retained Accessory (RAP) . . . 9-19
Seat Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Steering Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-19
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-20
Pregnancy, Using Safety
Belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-21
Privacy Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID) . . . . . . . 13-20
Program
Courtesy Transportation . . . . 13-13
Proposition 65 Warning, California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3

Black plate (10,1)Chevrolet Traverse Owner Manual - 2012
i-10 INDEX
Safety Defects ReportingCanadian Government . . . . . . 13-18
General Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-18
U.S. Government . . . . . . . . . . . 13-17
Safety Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
Safety System Check . . . . . . . . . . 3-22
Satellite Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8
Scheduling Appointments . . . . . 13-12
Sealant Kit, Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-57
Seats Adjustment, Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Head Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Heated and Ventilated Front . . . 3-8
Lumbar Adjustment, Front . . . . . 3-4
Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Power Adjustment, Front . . . . . . 3-4
Rear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
Reclining Seatbacks . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Third Row Seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11
Securing Child Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-54, 3-56
Security Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-23
Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Security, OnStar
®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2 Service
Accessories and
Modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Doing Your Own Work . . . . . . . . 10-4
Engine Soon Light . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
Maintenance Records . . . . . . .11-14
Maintenance, General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-1
Parts Identification Label . . . . . 12-1
Publications Ordering Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-16
Scheduling Appointments . . . 13-12
Vehicle Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37
Servicing the Airbag . . . . . . . . . . . 3-36
Shift Lock Control Function Check, Automatic
Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-24
Shifting Into Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-19
Out of Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-20
Sidemarker and Stoplamps
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . 10-26
Signals, Turn and Lane-Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
Spare Tire
Compact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-73 Specifications and
Capacities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-2
Speedometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
StabiliTrak Indicator Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Start Assist, Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Start Vehicle, Remote . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Starter Switch Check . . . . . . . . . 10-24
Starting the Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-17
Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
Fluid, Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-19
Wheel Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Wheel Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Storage Areas Armrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Cargo Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Cargo Management System . . . 4-4
Center Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Convenience Net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Floor Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Glove Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Instrument Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Roof Rack System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Storing the Tire Sealant
and Compressor Kit . . . . . . . . . 10-64