Caution – GMC 2004 Canyon User Manual

Page 263

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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.

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) (or the
manual transmission out of gear and the parking brake
applied) for a few minutes before turning the engine
off. If you do get the overheat warning, see Engine
Overheating
on page 5-28.

Parking on Hills

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CAUTION:

You really should not park your vehicle, with a
trailer attached, on a hill. If something goes
wrong, your rig could start to move. People
can be injured, and both your vehicle and the
trailer can be damaged.

But if you ever have to park your rig on a hill, here’s
how to do it:

1. Apply your regular brakes, but don’t shift into

PARK (P) yet, or into gear for a manual
transmission. When parking uphill, turn your
wheels away from the curb. When parking downhill,
turn your wheels into the curb.

2. Have someone place chocks under the trailer

wheels.

3. When the wheel chocks are in place, release the

regular brakes until the chocks absorb the load.

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