Driving On Grades

Reduce speed and shift to a lower gear before you start down a long or steep downgrade. If you don’t shift down, you might have to use your brakes so much that they would get hot and no longer work well.

You can tow in DRIVE (D). You may want to shift the transmission to THIRD (3) or a lower gear, under heavy loads or hilly conditions.

When towing at high altitude on steep uphill grades, consider the following: Engine coolant will boil at a lower temperature than at normal altitudes. If you turn your engine off immediately after towing at high altitude on steep uphill grades, your vehicle may show signs similar to engine overheating. To avoid this, let the engine run while parked (preferably on level ground) with the automatic transmission in PARK (P) for a few minutes before turning the engine off. If you do get the overheat warning.

    See also:

    If a Crash Occurs
    Here is what to do if you are involved in a crash. • Check to make sure that you are all right. If you are uninjured, make sure that no one else in your vehicle, or the other vehicle, is injure ...

    Vehicle Messages
    Messages displayed on the DIC indicate the status of the vehicle or some action that may be needed to correct a condition. Multiple messages may display one after the other. The messages that do not ...

    Torque Lock
    Torque lock is when the weight of the vehicle puts too much force on the parking pawl in the transmission. This happens when parking on a hill and shifting the transmission into P (Park) is ...