Pontiac 1993 Grand Am User manual

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1993 '
PONTIAC I
Grand Am
OWNER'S MANUAL

1993 Owner’s Manual
Table of Contents
Pontiac Grand Am
Introduction HowtoUse this Manual .............. .3
Part 1 Seats &SafetyBelts. ................ .7
Part 2 Features & Controls ............... .43
Part 3 ComfortControls & AudioSystems. ...
Pert 4 Your Driving andthe Road .......... .I~I
L
Part5 ProblemsontheRoad .............. 16s
Part 6 Service & AppearanceCare ......... 197
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Part 7 MaintenanceSchedule. ............ 259
Part 8 CustomerAssistanceInformation .... 27s
Part9 Index ........................... 293
Includes“ReportingSafetyDefects”onpage 284 c
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Service Station Information .... Last Page
Printed in USA
10202167 B
Second Printing ..

‘t,
...
Important Notes About this Manual
Please keep this manual in yourPontiac, so it will be there if you ever need it when you’re on the road. If you sell
the vehicle, please leave this manual in it so the new owner can use it.
This manual includes the latest information at the time itwas printed. We reserve the right to make changes inthe
product after that time without furthernotice.
Note to Canadian Owners
For vehiclesfmt sold in Canada, substitute the name “General Motorsof Canada Limited” for Pontiac Division
whenever
it appears in this manual.
For Canadian Owners Who Prefer a French Language Manual:
Aux proprietaires canadiens: Vous pouvez vous procurer un exemplairede ce guide en francais chez votre
concessionaire ouau
DGN Marketing Services Ltd., 1500 Bonhill Road, Mississauga, Ontario L5T 1C7.
Published by Pontiac Division
General Motors Corporation
The word Pontiac, the Pontiac emblem and the
name Grand Am are registered trademarks of
General Motors Corporation.
The word Delco is a registered trademark of General
Motors Corporation.
0 Copyright 1992 General Motors Corporation, Pontiac Division. All rights reserved.
2

How to Use this Manual
Using Your 1993 Pontiac
Owner’s Manual
Many people read their owner’s manual
from beginning to end when theyfirst
receive their new vehicle.This will help
you learn about the features andcontrols
for your vehicle. In this manual, you’ll
find that pictures and words work
together to explain things quickly.
There are nine parts with color-tabbed
pages
in this manual. Each part begins
with a brief list of contents,
so you can
usually tell at a glance if that part
contains the informationyou want.
You can bend the manual slightly to
reveal the color tabs that help you find a
part.
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 tostart and
operate your Pontiac.
Part 3: Comfort Controls & Audio
Systems
This part tellsyou how to adjustthe
ventilation andcomfort controls and
how to operateyour audio system.
Part 4: Your Driving and the Road
Here you’ll find helpful information and
tips about the road and how todrive
under differentconditions.
Part 5: Problems on the Road
This part tells you what to do if you
have a problemwhile driving, such as
a
flat tire or engine overheating. ’
Part 6: Service & Appearance Care
Here the manual tells you how to keep
your Pontiac runningproperly and
looking good.
Part 7: Maintenance Schedule
This part tells you when to perform
vehicle maintenance and whatfluids and
lubricants
to use.
Part 8: Customer Assistance
Information
This part tellsyou how to contact
Pontiac for assistanceand how to get
servicepublications. It also gives you
information on
Reporting Safety Defects.
Part 9: Index
Here’s an alphabeticallistingof almost
every subjectin thismanual. You can
use
it to quickly find somethingyou
want toread.
Service Station Information
This is aquick reference of service
information.You can findit
on the last
page
of this manual.
3

How to Use this Manual
SaSty WarningsandSymbolsVehicleDamageWarnings
You willfinda number of safety You will also finda red circlewitha Also, inthisbook you willfindthese
cautions in this book. We use yellowslash throughit in this book. This safetybluenotices:
and the word
CAUTION to tell you symbol means:
about things thatcould hurt you if you
were to ignorethe warning.
I Don’t
I
A‘ It could hurt you or other 1 ,
I hescLean there is something
PLUplC.
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I
Don’t do this
Don’t
let this happen
In the yellow caution area, we tell you
what the hazard is. Then we tellyou
what todo to help avoid
or reducethe
hazard. Please readthese cautions.If
you don’t, youor others could
be hurt.
am.
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8
These mean there is something that
could damage your vehicle.
In the blue noticearea, we tell you
about something that can damage your
vehicle. Many times, this damage would
not be coveredby 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 colorsor in
different words. In this manual,we’ve
used the familiar words and colors that
Pontiac has used for years.
You’ll also see warning labelson your
vehicle. They use the same colors, and
the words CAUTIONor NOTICE.

Vehicle Symbols
These are some of the symbolsyou will These symbols are importantfor you
find on your vehicle. For example,these
and your passengers whenever your
symbols are used on an original battery: vehicle is driven:
Caution Possible Injury
Protect Eyes by Shielding
Caustic Battery Acid
Could Cause Burns
Avoid Sparks or Flames
Spark or Flame
Could
Explode Battery
@
Door LocWUnlock
rhese symbolshave to do with your
lights:
Turn Signal Direction
Hazard Warning Flashers
Headlight High Beam
Parking Lights
Fog Lamps
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How to Use this Manual
Vehicle Symbols (CONT.:)
These symbols are on some of your
controls:
Windshield Wipers
Windshield Washer
Windshield Defroster
Rear Window Defogger
Ventilating Fan
Power Window
These symbols are used on warningand Here are some other symbolsyou may
indicator lights: see:
Engine Coolant
Temperature
Battery Charging
System
Fuel
Engine Oil Pressure
Brake
Anti-Lock Brakes
Fuse
(0)
Speaker
(@I
Hood Release
...
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Part I '
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NO02
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Here you^ find information about
the seats in your Pontiac. and how to
use your safety belts properly . You
can also learn about some things
you should
not do with safety belts .
Seats & Safety 6elts
Seats and Seat Controls .............................................. 8
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly .................................... 17
DriverPosition .................................................... 18
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
.................................... 22
Right Front Passenger Position
....................................... 22
Rear Seat Passengers
............................................... 23
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides
..................................... 26
Center Passenger Position
........................................... 28
Smaller Children and Babies
......................................... 29
Child Restraints
................................................... 30
Safety Belt Extender
............................................... 40
Replacing Safety Belts After a Crash ................................... 40
SafetyBelts .......................................................
Children ......................................................... 29
LargerChildren
................................................... 38
7 m..

Seats & Safety Eelts
Seats und Seat Controls Manual Fmnt Seat
This section tellsyou about the seats-
how to adjust them-and also about
recliningseatbacksandheadrestraints.
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You can lose controlof the
- L 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 is not moving.
Move the control lever under the front
of the seat to unlockit. Slide the seat to
where you want it. Then release the
lever and try
to move the seat with your
body, to make sure the seat is locked
into place.
DDD
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Manual 4- Way Adjustable Seat
(OPTION)
There are two levers at the frontof the
seat. The left lever adjusts the seat
forward andback. The right lever
adjusts the angle
of the front of the seat.
To Adjust the Seat’s Forward and
Rearward Movement:
Lift the left lever up and adjust the seat
forward
or back. Then release the lever
and try to move the seat to becertain
that
it is locked in place.
To Raise or Lower the Front of the
Seat:
Lift the right lever, and lean forwardor
backward.
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Power Seat Controls (opTIoN)
To adjust the power seaton some
models:
Front Control (A): Raise the front of
the seatby holding the switch up. Lower
the front
of the seatby holding the
switchdown.
Center Control (B): Move the seat
forward
or back by holding the control
to the front or back.
Move the seat higherby holding the
control
up. Lower the seat by holding
the controldown.
Rear Control (C): Raise the rear of the
seat by holding the switch
up. Lower the
rear of the seat by holding the switch
down.
Manual Lumbar Support
Turn the knob on the side of the driver’s
seat clockwiseto increase
support to the
lower back.
Turn the knob counter-
clockwiseto decreasethe
support.

Seats & Safety 6elts
Manual Reclining Seatback
To adjust the seatback, lift the leveron
the outer side
of the seat andmove the
seatbackwhere
you want it. Release the
lever to lock the seatback.
Pull
up on the lever and the seat will go
to an upright position.
Don’t have a seatback reclined,
however, if
your vehicle is moving.
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dIV
Sitting in a reclined position when your vehicle is in motion can be
- b dangerous. Even if you buckle up, your safety belts can’t dotheirjob
when you’re
reclined like this.
The shoulder belt can’t do 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.
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The lap belt can’t do its job either. In a crash the belt could go up Over your
abdomen.
The belt forces wouldbe 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 back
in the seat and wear your safety belt properly.
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Head Restraints
Head restraintsare fixed on some
vehicles and adjustableon others. Slide
an adjustable head restraint up or down
so that the topof the restraint isclosest
to the top of your ears.
This position reduces the chanceof a
neck injury in acrash.
On some models, the head restraintstilt
forward and rearward
also.
Front Seatback Latches
(2-DOOR MODELS)
The front seatback folds forwardto let
people getinto the back seat. Your
seatback willmove back and forth
freely, unless youcome to a sudden
stop,Then it will lock into place.
There's one time the
front seats may not
fold withoutsomehelp from you. That's
if your vehicleis parked facingdown a
fairly steephill.
To fold a front seatback forward, push
the seatback toward therear seat as you
lift this latch. Then the seatback will
fold forward. The latcH must be down
for the seat towork properly.
Easy-Entry Seat
(2-DOOR MODELS)
The right front seatof your vehicle
makes it easy to getin and out of the
rear seat.
When you tilt the right front seatback
fully forward, the whole seat will slide
forward.
After someone getsinto the rear seat
area, move the right front seatbackto
its originalposition. Then move the
seat rearwarduntil it
locks.

Seats & Safety 6elts
Easy-Entry Seat (CONT.)
4
If an easy-entry right fronl
seat isn’t locked, it can move.
In a suddenstopor crash, the
person sitting there could be
injured. After you’ve used it, be
sureto push rearward
on an easy-
entry seat
to be sure it is locked.
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To get out, again tiltthe seatback fully
forward.
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Split Fold-Down Rear Seat
(OPTION)
To Open:
Pull forwardon the seat tab.
To Close:
Push the seatback up to itsoriginal
position.
N
Push the seatback solidly up againstthe
back plate toensure inertial latch will
hook and lock securely during sudden
stops.
Safety Belts:
They’re For Everyone
This partof the manual tells you how to
use safety belts properly. It also tells you
some things you should not do with
safety belts.

Don’t let anyone ride where
they can’t wear a safety belt
properly.
If you are in a crash and
you’re not wearinga safety belt,
your injuries can be
much worse.
You can hit things inside the
vehicle or be ejected from it.You
can be seriously injuredor 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.
This figure lights up whenyou
turn the
key to
Run or Start when your safety
belt isn’t buckled, and you’ll hear a
chime, too. It’s the reminder to buckle
up. In many states and Canadian
provinces, the law saysto wear safety
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 bea bad one.
A few crashes are very mild. In them,
you won’t gethurt even if you’re not
buckled up.
And some crashes can be so
serious, like being hit by a train, that
even buckled upa person wouldn’t
survive. But most crashesare 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 factsare clear. In mostcrashes
buckling up does matter.
. . a lot!
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Seats & Safety
6elts
I4
Why Safety Belts Work
When you ride in or on anything, you
go as fast as it goes.
1. For example, if the bike is going
10 mph (16 km/h), so is the child.
14
2. When the bike hits the block, it
stops.
But the child keeps going!
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3. Take the simplest “car.” Suppose
it’sjust a seat
on wheels.

4. Put someone on it.
Ir
5. Get it up to speed. Then stop the
“car.” The rider doesn’t stop.
7. or the instrumentpanel.. .
I 8. or the safety belts!
6. The person keeps going until
stopped
by something. In a real
vehicle,
it couldbe the
windshield..
.
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.
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Seats & Safety 6elts
Here Are Questions Many People
Ask About Safety Belts-
and the Answers
Q: Won’t I be trapped in the vehicle
after
an accident if I’m wearing a
safety belt?
wearing a safety belt or not. But you
can easily unbucklea safety belt,
even if you’re upside down. And
your chanceof being conscious
during and after an accident,
so you
can unbuckle and getout, is much
greater if you are belted.
A: You could be-whether you’re
16
Q: Why don’t theyjust put in air
bags
so people won’t have to wear
safety belts?
Inflatable 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”
system ever offered for sale has
required the useof safety belts. Even
if you’re in a vehicle that has “air
bags,” you still have to buckle up to
get the most protection. That’strue
not only in frontal collisions, but
especially in side andother
collisions.
A: ‘Airbags,” or Supplemental
Q: If I’m a good driver, and I never
drive far from home, why should
I
wear safety belts?
if you’re in an accident-even one
that isn’t your fault-you and your
passengers can be hurt. Beinga good
driver doesn’t protect you from
things beyond your control, such as
bad drivers.
Most accidents occur within
25 miles
(40 km) of home. And the greatest
number of serious injuries and deaths
occur at speedsof less than
40 mph
(65 km/h).
Safety belts are for everyone.
A: You may be an excellent driver, but

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Safety Belt Warning Llght
When the key is turned to Run or Start,
a chime will come on for about eight
seconds to remind people to fastentheir
safety belts, unless the driver’s safety
belt is buckled. The safety belt light
will
also come on and stay on for about a
minute. If the driver’s belt
is buckled,
neither the chime nor the light
will
come on.
A
If your s&ty belt light ever
comes on or stays on after the
hnt doors are closed and the
driver‘s belt is buckled, We your
vehicle €ked.
If you don’t, you might not have
the protection you’d need in a
crash.
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How to Wear Safety Belts
31
T
si
Properly-Adults
~~
his section is only for people of adult
ze.
i There are special things to
1 how about safety belts and
children, And there are different
des for babies andsmaller
children, If a child will be riding
in your Pontiac, see the Idex
under Children aptd Sufety Belts.
Eollow those rules for everyone’s
protection.
First, you’ll want toknow which
restraint systems your vehicle has.
We’ll
start with the driverposition.
’17
...

Seats & Safety 6elts
1
Vehicles First Sold in Canada
Was your Pontiac first sold, when new,
in Canada? (If it was, astickeron the
driver’sdoor will say “conforms to
all
applicableCanada motor vehicle. .. ’7
etc.) If so, then the rest of Part 1 does
not apply to your vehicle.
To learn how to use your safety belts,
please read the
Owner’s Manual
Safety Belt Supplement.
It comeswith
every new Pontiac first sold inCanada.
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Driver Position
This section describes the driver’s
restraint system.
Automatic Lap-Shoulder Belt
This safety belt is called “automatic”
because you don’t haveto buckle up
when you getintoyour vehicle.

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And you don’t have to unbuckle when
you get out.
Just get into your vehicle. Then close
and lock the door. Adjust the seat (tosee
how, see the
Index under Seat Controls)
so you can sit up straight.
The lap belt should be worn as low on
the hips as possible. Ina crash, this
applies force tothe strong pelvic bones.
And you’d be less likely to slide under
the lap belt.
If you slid underit, the belt
would apply force at your abdomen.
This could cause serious or even fatal
injuries. The shoulder belt should go
over the shoulder andacross the chest.
These partsof the body are best able to
take belt restraining forces.
The safety belt
locks if there’s a sudden
stop
or a crash.
It’s possible that an automatic belt could
keep you from fully openinga door.
That can happen
if the door was
slammed shut veryhard. Just close the
door all theway, then slowlyopen it. If
that doesn’t
fix it, then your Pontiac
needs service.
We hope you will always keep your
automatic belt buckled. However,
you
may need to unbuckleit in an
emergency.
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