
Cadillac Escalade Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
13690472) - 2021 - CRC - 8/10/21
362 VEHICLE CARE
Vehicle Care
General Information
General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
California Proposition65 Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
California Perchlorate Materials Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
Accessories and Modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
Vehicle Checks
Doing Your OwnService Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
Hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
Engine Compartment Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
Engine Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
Engine Oil Life System . . . . . . . . . . . 369
Automatic Transmission Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
Engine Air Filter Life System . . . . 371
Engine Air Cleaner/Filter . . . . . . . . . 371
Cooling System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
Engine Overheating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Engine Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
Washer Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Brake Pad Life System . . . . . . . . . . . 378
Brake Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379 Battery - North America . . . . . . . . . 380
Four-Wheel Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Front Axle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Rear Axle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Park Brake and P (Park)
Mechanism Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Wiper Blade Replacement . . . . . . . 382
Glass Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Windshield Replacement . . . . . . . . 383
Gas Strut(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Headlamp Aiming
Front Headlamp Aiming . . . . . . . . . 384
Bulb Replacement
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
LED Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
Electrical System
Electrical System Overload . . . . . . 385
Fuses and Circuit Breakers . . . . . . 385
Engine Compartment Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
Instrument Panel Fuse Block . . . . 389
Rear Compartment Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
Wheels and Tires
Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
All-Season Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
Winter Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
Low-Profile Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395 All-Terrain Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Tire Sidewall Labeling . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Tire Designations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
Tire Terminology and
Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
Tire Pressure for High-Speed Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
Tire Pressure Monitor System . . . 402
Tire Pressure Monitor Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
Tire Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
Tire Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
When It Is Time for New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
Buying New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
Different Size Tires and Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
Uniform Tire Quality Grading . . . 410
Wheel Alignment and Tire Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
Wheel Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
Tire Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
If a Tire Goes Flat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
Tire Changing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Full-Size Spare Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424Jump Starting
Jump Starting - North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

Cadillac Escalade Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
13690472) - 2021 - CRC - 8/10/21
382 VEHICLE CARE
Warning (Continued)
vehicle in case it begins to roll. Be
ready to apply the regular brake at
once should the vehicle begin
to move.
Park on a fairly steep hill, with the
vehicle facing downhill. Keeping your
foot on the regular brake, set the
parking brake.
.To check the parking brake's
holding ability: With the engine
running and the transmission in
N (Neutral), slowly remove foot
pressure from the regular brake
pedal. Do this until the vehicle is
held by the parking brake only.
.To check the P (Park) mechanism's
holding ability: With the engine
running, shift to P (Park). Then
release the parking brake followed
by the regular brake.
Contact your dealer if service is
required.
Wiper Blade Replacement
Windshield wiper blades should be
inspected for wear or cracking.
For the proper type and size, see
Maintenance Replacement Parts 0452.
Caution
Allowing the wiper arm to touch
the windshield when no wiper blade
is installed could damage the
windshield. Any damage that occurs
would not be covered by the vehicle
warranty. Do not allow the wiper
arm to touch the windshield.
Front Wiper Blade Replacement
To replace the wiper blade assembly:
1. Pull the windshield wiper assembly away from the windshield.
2. Press the button in the middle ofthe wiper arm connector, and pull
the wiper blade away from the arm
connector.
3. Remove the wiper blade.
4. Reverse Steps 1–3 for wiper blade replacement.
Rear Wiper Blade Replacement
To replace the rear wiper blade:
1. With the rear wiper in the off position, open the liftglass to
access the rear wiper arm/blade.

Cadillac Escalade Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
13690472) - 2021 - CRC - 8/10/21
VEHICLE CARE 385
Electrical System
Electrical System Overload
The vehicle has fuses to protect
against an electrical system overload.
Fuses also protect power devices in
the vehicle.
Replace a bad fuse with a new one of
the identical size and rating.
If there is a problem on the road and
a fuse needs to be replaced, there are
some spare fuses and a fuse puller in
the left instrument panel fuse block.
The same amperage fuse can also be
borrowed. Choose some feature of the
vehicle that is not needed to use and
replace it as soon as possible.
Headlamp Wiring
An electrical overload may cause the
lamps to go on and off, or in some
cases to remain off. Have the
headlamp wiring checked right away if
the lamps go on and off or remain off.
Windshield Wipers
If the wiper motor overheats due to
heavy snow or ice, the windshield
wipers will stop until the motor cools
and will then restart.
Although the circuit is protected from
electrical overload, overload due to
heavy snow or ice may cause wiper
linkage damage. Always clear ice and
heavy snow from the windshield
before using the windshield wipers.
If the overload is caused by an
electrical problem and not snow or
ice, be sure to get it fixed.
Fuses and Circuit Breakers
The wiring circuits in the vehicle are
protected from short circuits by a
combination of fuses and circuit
breakers. This greatly reduces the
chance of damage caused by electrical
problems.
{Danger
Fuses and circuit breakers are
marked with their ampere rating.
Do not exceed the
specified amperage rating when
replacing fuses and circuit breakers.
Use of an oversized fuse or circuit
breaker can result in a vehicle fire.
You and others could be seriously
injured or killed.
{Warning
Installation or use of fuses that do
not meet GM’s original fuse
specifications is dangerous. The
fuses could fail, and result in a fire.
You or others could be injured or
killed, and the vehicle could be
damaged.

Cadillac Escalade Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
13690472) - 2021 - CRC - 8/10/21
490 INDEX
Transmission (cont'd)Temperature Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Transportation Program, Courtesy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464
Trip Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Turn and Lane-Change Signals . . . . 153
U
Uniform Tire Quality Grading . . . . . . 410
Universal Remote System . . . . . . . . . . 145 Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Updates Map Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
USB Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Using the Navigation System . . . . . . 180
Using the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Using This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
V
Vehicle Alarm System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Automatic Hold Light . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Canadian Owners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Identification Number (VIN) . . . . . 454
Load Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Vehicle (cont'd)
Personalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Remote Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Speed Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
Vehicle Ahead Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Vehicle Care
Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
Vehicle Data Recording and Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
Vehicle Hold
Automatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Vehicle Hold (AVH) Automatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Vehicle Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Vehicle Positioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Vehicle Security
Steering Column Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Ventilation, Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Visors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Voice Recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Voltmeter Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
W
Warning Brake System Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Warning (cont'd)
Caution and Danger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Warning Lights, Gauges, and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Warnings Hazard Flashers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Washer Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Wheels
Alignment and Tire Balance . . . . . 411
Different Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
When It Is Time for New Tires . . . . 407
Where to Put the Restraint . . . . . . . . . 82
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Windshield
Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Wiper/Washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Winter Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
Wiper Blade Replacement . . . . . . . . . . 382
Wipers
Rear Washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Wireless Charging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111