Page 345 of 479

Driving your vehicle
88 5
Driving at night
Because night driving presents more
hazards than driving in the daylight,
here are some important tips to
remember:
• Slow down and keep more dis-
tance between you and other vehi-
cles, as it may be more difficult to
see at night, especially in areas
where there may not be any street
lights.• Adjust your mirrors to reduce the
glare from other driver's head-
lights.
• Keep your headlights clean and
properly aimed on vehicles not
equipped with the automatic head-
light aiming feature. Dirty or
improperly aimed headlights will
make it much more difficult to see
at night.
• Avoid staring directly at the head-
lights of oncoming vehicles. You
could be temporarily blinded, and it
will take several seconds for your
eyes to readjust to the darkness.
Driving in the rain
Rain and wet roads can make driving
dangerous, especially if you’re not
prepared for the slick pavement.
Here are a few things to consider
when driving in the rain:
• A heavy rainfall will make it harder
to see and will increase the dis-
tance needed to stop your vehicle,
so slow down.
• Keep your windshield wiping
equipment in good shape. Replace
your windshield wiper blades when
they show signs of streaking or
missing areas on the windshield.
OVI053046NOVI059045
Page 386 of 479

Maintenance
Engine compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Maintenance services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5
• Owner’s responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5
• Owner maintenance precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5
Owner maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-7
Scheduled maintenance service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9
• Normal maintenance schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-10
• Maintenance under severe usage conditions. . . . . . . 7-14
Explanation of scheduled maintenance items . . . 7-16
Engine oil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-19
• Checking the engine oil level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-19
• Changing the engine oil and filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-20
Engine coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-21
• Checking the coolant level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-21
• Changing the coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-23
Brake fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-24
• Checking the brake fluid level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-24
Power steering fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-25
• Checking the power steering fluid level . . . . . . . . . 7-25
• Checking the power steering hose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-26
Washer fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-26
Air cleaner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-27
• Filter replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-27
Climate control air filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-29
• Filter inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-29
• Filter replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-29
Wiper blades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-31
• Blade inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-31
• Blade replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-31
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-35
• For best battery service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-35
• Battery capacity label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-36
• Battery recharging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-37
• Reset items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-38
Tires and wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-39
• Tire care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-39
• Recommended cold tire inflation pressures . . . . . . 7-39
• Checking tire inflation pressure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-40
• Tire rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-41
• Wheel alignment and tire balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-42
• Tire replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-42
• Wheel replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-44
• Tire traction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-44
• Tire maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-44
• Tire sidewall labeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-44
• Low aspect ratio tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-48
7
Page 416 of 479

731
Maintenance
WIPER BLADES
Blade inspection
✽NOTICE
Commercial hot waxes applied by
automatic car washes have been
known to make the windshield diffi-
cult to clean.
Contamination of either the wind-
shield or the wiper blades with for-
eign matter can reduce the effective-
ness of the windshield wipers.
Common sources of contamination
are insects, tree sap, and hot wax
treatments used by some commer-
cial car washes. If the blades are not
wiping properly, clean both the win-
dow and the blades with a good
cleaner or mild detergent, and rinse
thoroughly with clean water.Blade replacement
When the wipers no longer clean
adequately, the blades may be worn
or cracked, and require replacement.
CAUTION
To prevent damage to the wiper
blades, do not use gasoline,
kerosene, paint thinner, or other
solvents on or near them.
1JBA5122
CAUTION
To prevent damage to the wiper
arms or other components, do
not attempt to move the wipers
manually.
CAUTION
The use of a non-specified
wiper blade could result in
wiper malfunction and failure.