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5
STARTING AND OPERATING
STARTING PROCEDURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
NORMAL STARTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
IF ENGINE FAILS TO START . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
AFTER STARTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION IGNITIONINTERLOCK SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
KEY IGNITION PARK INTERLOCK . . . . . . . . 136
BRAKE/TRANSMISSION INTERLOCK SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
SIX-SPEED AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION . . 137
GEAR RANGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
AUTOSTICK® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 OPERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
GENERAL INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
DRIVING ON SLIPPERY SURFACES . . . . . . . . . 142 ACCELERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
TRACTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
DRIVING THROUGH WATER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 FLOWING/RISING WATER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
131
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SHALLOW STANDING WATER . . . . . . . . . . . 143
POWER STEERING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 POWER STEERING FLUID CHECK . . . . . . . . 144
PARKING BRAKE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM (ABS) . . . . . . . . . 146
ELECTRONIC BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEM . . . . 147 ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM (ABS) . . . . . . . 147
TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM (TCS) . . . . . . 148
BRAKE ASSIST SYSTEM (BAS) . . . . . . . . . . . 148
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) . . 149
ESC ACTIVATION/MALFUNCTIONINDICATOR LIGHT AND ESC OFF
INDICATOR LIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
TIRES — GENERAL INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . 151 TIRE PRESSURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
TIRE INFLATION PRESSURES . . . . . . . . . . . 151
RADIAL-PLY TIRES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
TIRE SPINNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
TREAD WEAR INDICATORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
LIFE OF TIRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
REPLACEMENT TIRES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
TIRE CHAINS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
TIRE ROTATION RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . 155
TIRE PRESSURE MONITOR SYSTEM (TPMS) . . 155 PREMIUM SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
FUEL REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
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METHANOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
ETHANOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
CLEAN AIR GASOLINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
MMT IN GASOLINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
MATERIALS ADDED TO FUEL . . . . . . . . . . . 160
ADDING FUEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 FUEL FILLER CAP (GAS CAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
LOOSE FUEL FILLER CAP MESSAGE . . . . . . 161
VEHICLE LOADING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 VEHICLE CERTIFICATION LABEL . . . . . . . . 161
GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT RATING(GVWR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
GROSS AXLE WEIGHT RATING (GAWR) . . . . 162
OVERLOADING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
LOADING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
TRAILER TOWING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
RECREATIONAL TOWING (BEHIND MOTORHOME, ETC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
TOWING THIS VEHICLE BEHIND ANOTHER VEHICLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
RECREATIONAL TOWING – ALL MODELS . . 163
133
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STARTING
PROCEDURES
Before starting your vehicle, adjust
your seat, adjust the inside and out-
side mirrors, fasten your seat belt, and
if present, instruct all other occupants
to buckle their seat belts.WARNING!
When leaving the vehicle, alwaysremove the key fob from the igni-
tion and lock your vehicle.
Never leave children alone in a
vehicle, or with access to an un-
locked vehicle. Allowing children
to be in a vehicle unattended is
dangerous for a number of rea-
sons. A child or others could be
seriously or fatally injured. Chil-
dren should be warned not to
touch the parking brake, brake
pedal or the shift lever.
Do not leave the key fob in or near
the vehicle, and do not leave the
ignition in the ACC or ON/RUN
position. A child could operate
power windows, other controls, or
move the vehicle. AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION
The shift lever must be in the PARK or
NEUTRAL position before you can
start the engine. Apply the brakes be-
fore shifting to any driving gear.
NOTE:
The ignition switch must be in the
ON position, and you must press
the brake pedal before shifting out
of PARK.
NORMAL STARTING
NOTE:
Normal starting of either a cold or
a warm engine is obtained without
pumping or pressing the accelera-
tor pedal.
Turn the ignition switch to the START
position and release it as soon as the
starter engages. The starter motor will
continue to run, and it will disengage
automatically when the engine is run-
ning. If the engine fails to start, the
starter will disengage automatically in
10 seconds. If this occurs, turn the
ignition switch to the LOCK position,
wait 10 to 15 seconds, then repeat the
“Normal Starting” procedure. IF ENGINE FAILS TO
START
WARNING!
Never pour fuel or other flam-
mable liquids into the throttle
body air inlet opening in an at-
tempt to start the vehicle. This
could result in a flash fire causing
serious personal injury.
Do not attempt to push or tow
your vehicle to get it started. Un-
burned fuel could enter the cata-
lytic converter and once the en-
gine has started, ignite and
damage the converter and vehicle.
If the vehicle has a discharged
battery, booster cables may be
used to obtain a start from a
booster battery or the battery in
another vehicle. This type of start
can be dangerous if done improp-
erly. Refer to “Jump Starting” in
“What To Do In Emergencies” for
further information.
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If the engine fails to start after you
have followed the “Normal Starting”
procedure, it may be flooded. To clear
any excess fuel, push the accelerator
pedal all the way to the floor and hold
it. Then, turn the ignition switch to
the START position and release it as
soon as the starter engages. The
starter motor will disengage auto-
matically in 10 seconds. Once this
occurs, release the accelerator pedal,
turn the ignition switch to the LOCK
position, wait 10 to 15 seconds, then
repeat the “Normal Starting” proce-
dure.CAUTION!
To prevent damage to the starter,
wait 10 to 15 seconds before trying
again.
AFTER STARTING
The idle speed will automatically de-
crease as the engine warms up. AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION
CAUTION!
Damage to the transmission may oc-
cur if the following precautions are
not observed:
Shift into PARK only after the ve-
hicle has come to a complete stop.
Shift into or out of REVERSE
only after the vehicle has come to
a complete stop and the engine is
at idle speed.
Do not shift between PARK, RE-
VERSE, NEUTRAL, or DRIVE
when the engine is above idle
speed.
Before shifting into any gear,
make sure your foot is firmly
pressing on the brake pedal.
NOTE:
You MUST press and hold the
brake pedal while shifting out of
PARK.
WARNING!
It is dangerous to move the shift lever out of PARK or NEUTRAL if
the engine speed is higher than
idle speed. If your foot is not
firmly pressing on the brake
pedal, the vehicle could accelerate
quickly forward or in reverse. You
could lose control of the vehicle
and hit someone or something.
Only shift into gear when the en-
gine is idling normally and when
your foot is firmly pressing on the
brake pedal.
(Continued)
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WARNING!(Continued)
Unintended movement of a ve-
hicle could injure those in and
near the vehicle. As with all ve-
hicles, you should never exit a ve-
hicle while the engine is running.
Before exiting a vehicle, always
apply the parking brake, shift the
transmission into PARK, and re-
move the ignition key. Once the
key is removed, the shift lever is
locked in the PARK position, se-
curing the vehicle against un-
wanted movement. Furthermore,
you should never leave children
alone in a vehicle, or with access
to an unlocked vehicle. Allowing
children to be in a vehicle unat-
tended is dangerous for a number
of reasons. A child or others could
be seriously or fatally injured.
Children should be warned not to
touch the parking brake, brake
pedal or the shift lever.
(Continued)
WARNING!(Continued)
Do not leave the key fob in or near
the vehicle, and do not leave a
vehicle equipped with Keyless
Enter-N-Go in the ACC or ON/
RUN mode. A child could operate
power windows, other controls, or
move the vehicle.
AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION IGNITION
INTERLOCK SYSTEMS
These systems prevent the key fob
from being removed unless the shift
lever is in PARK. They also prevent
shifting out of PARK unless the igni-
tion switch is in the ON/RUN position
and the brake pedal is applied.
KEY IGNITION PARK
INTERLOCK
This vehicle is equipped with a Key
Ignition Park Interlock which re-
quires the shift lever to be placed in
PARK before the ignition switch can
be turned to the LOCK/OFF position.
The key fob can only be removed from
the ignition when the ignition is in the LOCK/OFF position and once re-
moved the shift lever is locked in
PARK.
NOTE:
If a malfunction occurs, the system
will trap the key in the ignition
cylinder to warn you that this
safety feature is inoperable. The
engine can be started and stopped,
but the key cannot be removed un-
til you obtain service.
BRAKE/TRANSMISSION
INTERLOCK SYSTEM
This vehicle is equipped with a Brake
Transmission Shift Interlock (BTSI)
that holds the shift lever in the PARK
position unless the brakes are applied.
To move the shift lever out of the
PARK position, the ignition switch
must be turned to the ON/RUN or
START position (engine running or
not) and the brake pedal must be
pressed.
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SIX-SPEED AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION
The shift lever position display (lo-
cated in the instrument panel cluster)
indicates the transmission gear range.
You must press the brake pedal to
move the shift lever out of the PARK
position (refer to “Brake/
Transmission Shift Interlock System”
in this section). To drive, move the
shift lever from PARK or NEUTRAL
to the DRIVE position.
The electronically-controlled trans-
mission provides a precise shift sched-
ule. The transmission electronics are
self-calibrating; therefore, the first
few shifts on a new vehicle may be
somewhat abrupt. This is a normal
condition, and precision shifts will de-
velop within a few hundred kilome-
ters.
Shifting from DRIVE to PARK or RE-
VERSE should be done only after the
accelerator pedal is released and the
vehicle is stopped. Be sure to keep
your foot on the brake pedal when
moving the shift lever between these
gears.The transmission shift lever has
PARK, REVERSE, NEUTRAL,
DRIVE, and AutoStick® shift posi-
tions. Manual shifts can be made us-
ing the AutoStick® shift control (refer
to “AutoStick®” in “Starting And
Operating” for further information).
Moving the shift lever to the left or
right (-/+) while in the AutoStick®
position (below the Drive position)
will manually select the transmission
gear, and will display the current gear
in the instrument cluster as 6, 5, 4, 3,
2, 1.
GEAR RANGES
DO NOT race the engine when shift-
ing from PARK or NEUTRAL into
another gear range.
PARK
This range supplements the parking
brake by locking the transmission.
The engine can be started in this
range. Never attempt to use PARK
while the vehicle is in motion. Apply
the parking brake when leaving the
vehicle in this range.
When parking on a level surface, you
may place the shift lever in the PARK
position first, and then apply the
parking brake.
When parking on a hill, apply the
parking brake before placing the shift
lever in PARK, otherwise the load on
the transmission locking mechanism
may make it difficult to move the shift
lever out of PARK. As an added pre-
caution, turn the front wheels toward
the curb on a downhill grade and
away from the curb on an uphill
grade.
Shift Lever
137