Pontiac 1993 Firebird User manual

1993
PONTIAC
Firebird
OWNER'S MANUAL

1993 Owner’s Manual
Firebird Table of Contents
Introduction HOW to Use This Manual . rn rn 3
Part 1 Seats & Safety Belts. . rn m rn m 9
Part 2 Features & Controls . rn rn rn . rn . rn . 45
Part 3 ComfortControls & AudioSystems .I07 -
Part 4 Your DrivingandtheRoad. . . 129
Part 5 Problems on the Road . . rn m 181
Part 6 Service & Appearance Care 215
Part 7 MaintenanceSchedule 279
Part 8 CustomerAssistanceInformation 307 J
Including “Reporting Safety Defects” on page 312.
Part 9 Index .......... mm............... 323
Service Station Information last Page
Printed in U.S.A.
Part No. 10193572 B
Second Printing

Please keep this manual inyour Pontiac, so it will be there if you ever need it when you’re on the road. If you
sell
the vehicle, pleaseleavethis manualin it so the new owner can useit.
This manual includes the latest informationat the timeit was printed. We reserve the right to make changes in
the product afterthat time withoutfurthernotice. For vehicles first sold in Canada, substitute the name
“General Motors
of CanadaLimited” for Pontiac Division whenever it appearsin this manual.
For Canadian Owners Who Prefer aFrenchLanguage Manual
Am propri6taires canadiens: Vous pouvez vous procurerun exemplairede ceguideen francaischez votreconcessionaire
ou au DGN MarketingServicesLtd., 1500 Bonhill Rd., Mississauga, Ontario L5T 1C7.
Published by Pontiac Division
General Motors Corporation General Motors,
GM and the GM emblem, Pontiac
and thePontiac emblem,and Firebird and the
Firebirdemblem areregistered trademarks
of
General Motors Corporation.
0 Copyright 1992 General Motors Corporation, Pontiac Division. AU RightsReserved.

1
L
How to Use l%is
Manual
Many people read their owner’s manual
from beginning to end when they first
receive their new vehicle. This will help
you learn about the features and controls
for your vehicle. In this manual, you’ll
find that pictures and words work
together to explain things quickly.
Index: A good place to look for what
you need is the Index in back of the
manual. It’s an alphabetical list of all
that’s in the manual, and the page
number where you’ll find it.
Parts 1-8: Each part of this manual
begins with a brief list of its contents,
so
you can often find at a glance if a part
contains the information you want.
How to Use This Manual
This part tells you how to use your
manual
and includes safety and vehicle
damage warnings and symbols.
Part 1: Seats & Safety Belts
This part tells you how to use your seats
and safety belts properly.
Part 2: Features & Controls
This part explains how to start and
operate your Pontiac
.
Part 3: Comfort Controls & Audio
Systems
This part tells you how to adjust the
ventilation and comfort controls and
how to operate your sound system.
3.99

How to Use This Manual
Part 4 Your Driving and the Road
Here you’ll find helpful information and
tips about the road and how to drive
under different conditions.
Part 5: Problems on the Road
This parttells you what to do if you
have a problem while driving, such as a
flat tire or engine overheating.
Part 6: Service & Appearance Care
Here the manual tells you how to keep
your Pontiac running properly and
looking good.
Part 7: Maintenance Schedule
This part tells you when to perform
maintenance and what fluids and
lubricantsto use.
Part 8: Customer Assistance
Information
This part includes important information
about reporting safety defects and gives
you details about the “Roadside
Assistance” program. You will
also find
customer satisfactionphone numbers
(including customer satisfaction numbers
for the hearing and speech impaired), as
well as the mediationlarbitration
procedure. We’ve also included ordering
information for servicepublications in
this part.
Service Station Information
This is a quick reference of service
information.
You can find it on the last
page of this manual.
These mean there is something
that could hurt you or other
people.
Safeiy Warnings and Symbols
You will find a number of safety
cautions in this book.
We use yellow
and the word CAUTION to tell you
about things that could hurt youif you
were to ignore the warning.
In the yellow caution area, we tell you
what the hazard is. Then we tell
you
what to do to help avoid or reduce the
hazard. Please read these cautions.
If
you don’t, you or others could be hurt.
.I .4

I 31
You will also find a red circle with a
slash through it in this
book. This safety
symbolmeans “Don’t,” “Don’t do
this,” or “Don’t let this happen.”
NO TIC€
I
Vehicle llamage Warnings
Also, in this book you will find these
blue notices.
In the blue notice area, we tell you
about something that can damage your
vehicle. Many times, this damage would
not
be covered by your warranty, and it
could be costly. But the notice will tell
you what
to do to help avoid the
damage.
When you read other manuals, you
might see CAUTION and NOTICE
warnings in different colors
or in
different words.
In this manual, we’ve
used the familiar words and colors that
Pontiac has used
for years.
You’ll also seewarning labels on your
vehicle. They use the same colors, and
the words CAUTION or NOTICE.
c
5.9 9

How to Use This Manual
Vehicle Symbols
These are some of the symbols you will
find on your vehicle. For example, these
symbols are used on an original battery:
Caution Possible Injury
Protect Eyes
by Shielding
Caustic Battery Acid
Could Cause Burns
Avoid Sparks or Flames
Sparks
or Flame Could
Explode Battery
Theqe symbols are important for you
andyourpassengerswheneveryourThesesymbolshaveto
do withyour
vehicleisdriven:lights:
Fasten Safety Belts
Door LocWUnlock
These symbols have to do with your
lights:
Master Lighting Switch
Turn Signal Direction
Hazard Warning Flasher
Headlight High Beam
Parking Lights
Fog Lights
Courtesy Lights

These symbols are on some of your
controls: These symbols are used
on warning and
indicator lights:
Windshield Wiper
Windshield Washer
Windshield Defroster
Rear Window Defogger
Ventilating Fan
Engine Coolant
Temperature
Battery Charging System
I3
Engine Oil Pressure
Brake
Anti-Lock Brake System
(Canada)
Here are some other symbols you may
see:
Fuel
1
I
Hood Release
Hatchback Release
Lighter
Horn
Speaker
b

Notes

Part 1
Here YOU’II find information about
the seats inyour Pontiac and
how
to use your safetybeltsproperly .
You can also learnabout some
things
safety you should
belts
.
not do with
Seats & Safety Belts
..............................................
Seats andSeat Controls 10
SafetyBelts: They’re forEveryone ..................................... 15
Why Safety Belts Work .............................................. 16
SafetyBeltReminderLight ........................................... 20
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly ..................................... 20
Here Are Questions Many People Ask about Safety Belts - and the Answers ... 19
Children .......................................................... 33
Child Restraints 35
LargerChildren .................................................... 41
43
....................................................
SafetyBelt Extender ................................................
Checking Your RestraintSystems ...................................... 43
Replacing Safety Belts after a Crash .................................... 43

Seats & Safety Belts
Seuts and Seat Con&&
This section tells you about the seats -
haw to adjustthem, and also about
reclining hnt seatbacks, satback latches
and the folding rear seatback.
Manual Front Seat
I CAUTION:
Four- Way Mawal Seat (OPT~N)
To move the driver’s seat forwardor
1 backward, lift the lever under the left
front
of the seat. To tilt theentire seat, lift
the lever underthe right front of the seat.
You can lose control of the
vehicle
if you try to adjust a
manual driver’s seat while the
vehicle is moving. The sudden
movement could startle and confuse
you, or make you push a pedal when
you don’t
want to. Adjust the
driver’s seat only when the vehicle
I is not moving. I
Move the lever under the front seat to
unlock it. Slide the seat to where you
want it. Then release the leverand try to
move the seat with your body, to make
sure
the seat is locked into place.

Six- Way Power Seat (0~~10~)
The driver’s seat has three controls on
the left side.
The front control makes the frontof the
seat
go up and down.
The back control makes the back of the
seat
go up and down.
The center control makes the wholeseat
go up and down or forward and
backward.
I’
Fully Articulating Sport Seat
(OPTION)
[f your Pontiac hasthese seats, the
driver’s seat has the four-way manual seat
adjuster,See “Four-Way Manual Seat”
earlier in this
part. The passenger seat has
the two-way manual seat adjuster.
See
“Manual Front Seat” earlier in this part.
To adjust the thighsupport,pull up on the
front of your seat cushion andmove the
support to the position you want.
To
release the support, continue pulling up.
To engage it again, push down firmly.
The switch pads on the outer sides of the
;eats “inflate” and “deflate” parts
of
your seatback.
11 ==.

Se’ats & Safety Belts
The two buttons that have “dots” inflate
and deflate the outer parts of the seatback.
To inflate, push the raised button. To
deflate, push the indented button.
The two buttons without “dots” inflate
and deflate the lumbar (lower
part of the
seatback)support.
To inflate,push the
raised button.
To deflate, push the
indented button.
Reclining Front Seatbacks
To adjust the seatback, lift the lever on the
outer side
of the seat. Release the lever to
lock the seatback where you want it. Pull
up on the lever, and the seat will go to its
original upright position.
But don’t have
the seatback reclined
if your vehicle is
moving.

sitting in a reclined position when your vehicle is in motion can be
dangerous. Even if you buckle up, your safety belts can’t do theirjob when
you’re reclined
like this.
The shoulder belt can’tdo itsjob because it won’t be against your body. Instead,
it will be
in front of you. In a crash you could go into it, receiving neck or other
injuries.
The lap belt can’t do itsjob either. In a crash the belt could
go up over your
abdomen.The belt forces would be there, not at your pelvic bones. This could
cause serious internal injuries.
For proper protection when the vehicle is
in motion, have the seatback upright.
Then sit well backin the seat and wear
your safety belt properly.
I
I

Seats & Safety Belts
-R
111
...
14
FroN Seatback Latches
The frwm seatbacks foid forward to let
people get into- the back sat. To fold a
seatback forward, push the seatback
toward the rear as you lift this latch.
Then the seatback
will fold forward.
When you return the seatback
to its
original position, make sure the seatback
is locked. The latch
must be down for thc
seat towork properly.
If the seatback isn't locked,
L it could move forward in a
1
sudden stop or crash. That could
cause injury
to the person sitting
.'
scatback to be sure it is locked.
:re. Always press rearward on the

Folding Rear Seatback
The rear seatback in your Pontiac folds
hwn to provide more storage space.
To fold the seatback down:
1. Pull forwardonbothlevers.
2. Foldtheseatbackdown.
To raise the seatback:
1. Pull it uptothe locked, upright
2. Be sure both latches hold the seatback
position.
in place. Have them fixed if they
don’t.
Safety Belts: They’re
for E vervone
tl-- --4----
This part of the manual tells you how to
11, ,\
Don’t let anyone ride where
they can’t weara safety belt
some things you should not do with safety
I I
you,re not wearing a safety belt,
belts. And
it explains the Supplemental your injuries can be
much worse.
InflatableRestraint, or “airbag”system. I I
you can hit things inside the vehicle
use safety properly-It You properly.Ifyouare in a crash and
or be ejected from it. You can be
seriously injured or killed. In the
same crash, you might not be
if you
are buckled up. Always fasten your
safety belt, and check that your
passengers’ belts are fastened
properly too.

Seats & Safety Belts
This figure lights up when you turn the
key to
Run or Start when your safety belt
isn’t buckled, and you’ll heara chime,
too.
It’s the reminder to buckle up.
In many states and Canadian provinces,
the law says to wearsafety belts. Here’s
why:
They work.
You never know if you’ll be in a crash. If
you do have a crash, you don’t know if it
will be a bad one.
A few crashes are very mild. In them, you
won’t get
hurt even if you’re not buckled
up. And some crashes can be
so serious,
like being
hit by a train, that even buckled
up a person wouldn’t survive. But most
crashes are
in between. In many of them,
people who buckle up can survive and
sometimes walk away. Without belts they
could be badly hurt or killed.
After
25 years of safety belts in vehicles,
the facts are clear.
In most crashes
buckling up does matter
... a lot!
WhySafety Belts Work
When you ride in or on anything, you go
as
fast as it goes.
For example,
if the bike is going 10 mph
..I
16

Nhen the bike hits the block, it stops. But
he child keeps going! rake the simplest “car.”Suppose it’s just
I seat on wheels.
Put someone on it.

Seats & Safety Belts
Get it up to speed. Thenstop the “car.”
The rider doesn’tstop. The person keeps going
until stopped by
something.
In a real vehicle, it could be the
windshield
...
or the instrument panel ...

x the safety belts!
With safety belts, you slow down as the
vehicle does.
You get more time to stop.
You stop over more distance, and your
strongest bones take the forces. That’s
why safety belts make such good sense.
Here Are Questions
Many People
Ask about
Safety Belts
- and the
Answers
Q: Won’t I be trapped in the vehicle
after an accidentif I’m wearing a
safety belt?
wearing a safety belt or not. But you
can easily unbuckle a safety belt, even
if you’re upside down. And your
chance of being conscious during and
after an accident,
so you can
unbuckle and get out, is much greater
if you are belted.
A: You could be - whether you’re
Q: Why don’ttheyjust put in air bags
so people won’thave to wear safety
belts?
Restraint systems, are in some
vehicles today and will be
in more of
them in the future. But they are
supplemental systems only
- so they
work
with safety belts, not instead of
them. Every “air bag” systemever
offered for sale
has required the use of
safety belts. Even if you’re in a
vehicle that has“air bags,’’ you still
have to buckleup to get the most
protection. That’s true not only
in
frontal collisions,but especially in
side and othercollisions.
A: “Air bags,” or Supplemental Inflatable