Checking and Filling Hood
Releasing the engine hood
The engine hood is released from inside the vehi
cle .
Fig. 1 81 Dr ive r foo twell: re lease leve r
Fig. 1 82 Roc ke r sw itc h und er the hood
M ake sure the w iper arms are not raised u p from
the w indshield. Otherwise the pa int co uld be
damaged .
• Wi th the d river's door open, p ull th e leve r un
der the instrumen t panel i n the direction of the
ar row
r::;, fig. 181 .
• Raise the hood sl ight ly c:;, A -
• Press the rocker switc h under the hood upward
c;, fig . 182. This releases the catch.
• Open the hood.
_& WARNING
Hot engine coo lant can bur n you .
- To reduce the risk of be ing burned, never
open the hood if yo u se e or hear steam or
coolant escaping from the eng ine compart
me nt. W ait unt il no steam o r co olant ca n be
Checking and Filling
seen or hea rd before carefully opening the
hood .
Working in the engine compartment
Be especially careful whenever you work in the
engine compartment.
Whenever you must perf orm any work in the
engine compartment , for example checking and
filling different fluids , the re is a risk of injur y,
burn s and accidents. To prevent personal injury
always observe the following WARNINGS. The
eng ine compartment of any veh icle is a hazard
ous area
c:;, A .
_& WARNING
To he lp avoid injury, before you check any
th ing under the hoo d:
-T urn off the engine .
- Sw itch off the ignit ion.
- Apply the parking brake.
- Move selector lever to P (Pa rk).
- Always let the en gine cool down. Ho t com-
ponents wi ll burn skin on con tact .
-
-To reduce the ris k of b eing bur ned, never
open the hood if you see or hear steam o r
coo lant escaping from the engine compart
ment. Wa it until no steam or coolant can
be
seen or hea rd before carefully opening the
hood.
- Keep children away from the engine com
partment .
- Never sp ill fluids on hot engine compo
nents. They can cause a f ire.
- Never touch the radiator fan . The auxiliary
electric fan is temperature contro lled and
can switch on suddenly.
- Never open the coo lant reservoir cap when
the engine is st ill warm. The coolant system
is pressuri zed and hot coolant could sp ray
out.
- Protect your face, hands and arm from
steam or hot engine coolant by plac ing a
thick rag over the cap when yo u open the
coolant reservoir .
203
,&_ WARNING
-The cooling system is under pressure and
can get very hot. Reduce the risk of scalding
from hot coolant by following these steps.
- Turn off the engine and allow it to cool
down.
- Protect your face, hands and arms from
escaping fluid and steam by covering the
cap with a large, thick rag.
- Turn the cap slowly and very carefully in a
counter-clockwise direction while applying light, downward pressure on the top of
the cap.
- To avoid being burned, do not spill ant i
freeze or coolant on the exhaust system or
hot engine parts. Under certa in condi
tions, the ethylene glycol in engine cool
ant can catch fire.
- Antifreeze is poisonous. Always store anti
freeze in its original container and well out
of the reach of children.
- If you drain the coolant, it must be caught
and safely stored in a proper container
clearly marked "poison" .
(D Note
-Do not add coolant if the expansion tank is
empty. Air could enter the cooling system
and damage the eng ine. If this is the case,
do not continue driving. Seek professional
assistance.
- Coolant pollutes the environment and could
cause an engine fire. Excess coolant will be
forced out through the pressure relief valve
i n the cap when the engine becomes hot .
- If, in an emergency, only water can be add ed, the correct ratio between water and an
tifreeze
¢ page 209 must be restored as
soon as possible.
@ For the sake of the environment
Drained coolant should not be reused. Always
dispose of used coolant while observing all
environmental regulat ions.
-
Checking and Filling
Radiator fan
The radiator fan switches on automatically by it
self .
An auxiliary electric radiator fan switches on and
off depending on coolant temperature and other
vehicle operating conditions.
After you switch the engine off, the auxiliary fan
can continue running for up to 10 minutes -even
with the ignition off. It can even switch on again later by itself ¢&. , if
- the temperature of the engine coolant rises due
to the heat build-up from the engine in the en gine compartment, or
- the engine compartment heats up because the
vehicle is parked in intense sunlight.
A WARNING
--
- To reduce the risk of personal injury never
touch the radiator fan .
- The auxiliary electric fan is temperature
controlled and can switch on suddenly even
when the engine is not running .
- The auxiliary radiator fan switches on auto
matically when the engine coolant reaches a
certa in temperature and will continue to run
until the coolant temperature drops.
Brake fluid
Checking brake fluid level
Fig. 187 En g in e compar tment: cover on the b rake fluid
rese rvoir
Before you check anything in the engine compart
ment,
always read and heed all WARNINGS
¢ & in Working in the engine compartment on
page 203 . .,.
211
