r ... ..,.. The 1995 Buick Century Owner’s Manual HowtoUsethisManual ................................................................ viii This section tells you how to use your manual and includes safety and vehicle damage warnings and symbols. Seats and Restraint Systems .............................................................1-1 This section tells you how to use your seats and safety belts properly.It also explains the “SRS” system. Featuresandcontrols ..................................................................2-1 This section explains how to start and operate your Buick. Comfort Controls and Audio Systems..................................................... 3-1 This section tells you howto adjust the ventilation and comfort controls and how to operate your sound system. YourDrivingandtheRoad .............................................................. 4- 1 Here you’ll find helpful information and tips about the road and how to drive under different conditions. ProblemsontheRoad .................................................................. 5-1 This section tells you what todo if you have a problem while driving, such asa flat tire or engine overheating, etc. Service and AppearanceCare ............................................................ 6-1 Here the manual tells you how to keep your Buick running properly and looking good. Maintenanceschedule .................................................................. 7-1 This section tells you whento perform vehicle maintenance and what fluids and lubricants to use. Customer Assistance Information ........................................................8- 1 This section tells you howto contact Buick for assistance and how to get service publications. Italso gives you information on “Reporting Safety Defects” on page8-4. Index ................................................................................ 9-1 Here’s an alphabetical listing of almost every subject in this manual.You can use it to quickly find something you want to read. i We support voluntary technician certification. GENERAL MOTORS, GM and the GM Emblem, WE SUPPORT VOLUNTARY TECHNlCiAN 1 BUICK, and the BUICK Emblem are registered CERTIFICATIONTHROUGH trademarks of General Motors Corporation. Narlonal Insill~1:sfor AUTOMOTIVE This manual includes the latest information at the time it SERVICE EXCELLENCE j was printed. We reserve theright to make changes in the .- product after that time without further notice. For vehicles first sold in Canada, substitute the name “General Motors of Canada Limited” for Buick Motor For Canadian OwnersWho Prefer a Division whenever it appears in this manual. French Language Manual: Please keep this manual in your Buick, so it will be there Aux proprietaires canadiens: Vous pouvez vous procurer if you ever need it when you’re on the road. If you sell un exemplaire de ce guide en francais chez votre the vehicle, please leave this manual in it so the new concessionaire ou au DGN Marketing Services Ltd., owner can use it. I500 Bonhill Rd., Mississauga, OntarioL5T 1C7. Litho in U.S.A. 0Copyright General Motors Corporation 1994 Part No. 25620610 A Second Printing All Rights Reserved ii iii “valve-in-head” engine, a light, powerful and reliable engine which would eventually influence the entire automotive industry. William C. Durant was instrumental in promoting Buicks across the country using his Durant-Dort Carriage Co. outlets and salespeople asthe nucleus of a giant distribution system. He knew the Buick as a “self-seller”. If automobiles could be this good, he thought, maybe it was time to switch from the horse and buggy business to automobiles. At the 1905, New York Auto Show, Durant took orders for 1,000 Buicks before the company had Walter Marr and Thomas Buick built 40. On Buick’s Buick’s chief engineer, Walter L. Marr (left), and success, Durant created a Thomas D. Buick, son of founder David Dunbar Buick, holding company, drove the first Flint Buick in a successful Flint-Detroit September 16, 1908. He round trip in July 1904. called it General Motors. David Buick was building gasoline engines by 1899, and Marr, his engineer, apparently built the first autoto be called a Buick in 1900. However, Buick traditionally dates its beginnings to 1903. That was the year the company was reorganized, refinanced and moved from William C. (Billy)Durant Detroit to Flint. Buick has always been a product innovator. Buick engineers developed the iv Durant also created racinga team that won 500 racing Buick drew plenty of attention because itcould climb trophies in 1909 and 1910, including successes at : hills and run through mud like no other car. Buick’s Indianapolis two years before theIndy 500 began. endurance and reliability were world famous. The successof Buick engineswas visible not only on During World War I, Buick builtLiberty aircraft engines the race track, butin endurance tests across thecountry as well as Red Cross ambulances so successful that one and around theworld. Buick was the only car to Buick ambulance was awarded the Croix de Guerreby complete a 1,000-mile Chicago-to-New York race in the French government. 1906. And a Buickwas the first carto travel across As a builderof premier automobiles, Buick was hard hit South America, driven from Buenos Aires,Argentina, by the Great Depression.However, new General over the Andes to Santiago, Chile 1914. in Manager, Harlow H. Curtice createdpopular new models including the Specialand the Roadmaster. Buick sales soon flourished. 1911 Model 21 Touring Car on BuickS Test Hill First Buick Factory V In World War 11, Buick built aircraft engines, tanks and A high-compression V-8 engine was introduced in 1953, other military hardware. This post-war period brought And Buick’s famous vertical pillar “toothy” grille, great styling and engineering changes which resulted (introduced in 1942), became more massive in the in increased sales. The torque converterautomatic post-war era. transmission, Dynaflow, was introduced in the 1948 Roadmaster. Buick’s famous “portholes” came along in 1949. I953 Shylurk Motor Trend magazine named the 1962 Buick Special, “Car of the Year”. The first production V-6 engine was 1949 Roadmaster used in the Special. vi 1962 Buick Special Ed Mertz, General Manager, Buick Motor Division Built inside the walls of the old buildings in Buick’s Our mission is simple: former Flint complex, which formed the cornerstone “Buick will provide Premium American Motorcars of General Motors Buick City, is a state-of-the-art backed with services that exceed our customers’ assembly facility with more than 200 robots and other expectations, throughoutthe purchase, ownership, high-tech equipment. It was completed in the fall service and repurchase experience.” of 1985. Buicks are SUBSTANTIAL. Buicks are, and will continue to be, premium American motorcars with smooth power, high performance, rich Buicks are DISTINCTIVE. detail and comfortable accommodation. Buicks are POWERFUL. Buicks are MATURE. vii How to Use This Manual Many people read their owner’s manual from beginning to end when they first receivetheir new vehicle. This will help you learn aboutthe features and controls for your vehicle. In this manual, you’ll find that pictures and words work together to explainthings quickly. Index A good place to look forwhat you need is theIndex in In the gray caution area, we tell you what the hazard is. the back of the manual. It’s an alphabetical list of all Then we tell you what to do to help avoid orreduce the that’s in the manual, and the page number where you’ll hazard. Please read these cautions.If you don’t, you or find it. others couldbe hurt. You will also find a circle with a slash through it in this Safety Warnings and Symbols book. You will find a number of safety cautions in this book. This safetv svmbol means We use a box with gray background and the word 11dd CAUTION to tell you about thingsthat could hurt you if “Don’t,’’ “Don’t do this,” or you were to ignorethe warning. “Don’t let this happen.” viii Vehicle Damage Warnings In the notice area, we tell you about something that can damage your vehicle. Many times, this damage would Also, in this book you will find these notices: not be covered by your warranty, and it could becostly. But the noticewill tell you what to do to help avoid the damage. When you read other manuals,you might see NOTICE: CAUTION and NOTICE warnings in different colors or These mean thereis something that in differentwords. could damage your vehicle. You’ll also see warning labels on your vehicle. They use yellow for cautions, blue for noticesand the words CAUTION or NOTICE. ix Vehicle Symbols These symbols Here are some are used on other symbols ~ These are some of the symbols you may find on your vehicle. warning and you may see: indicator lights: For example, These symbols These symbols These symbols FUSE these symbols are important have to do with are on some of ENGINE are used on an for you and your lights: your controls: COOLANT original battery: your passengers TEMP -- F- whenever your vehicle is WINDSHIELD CAUTION driven: WIPER BAllERY POSSIBLE A CHARGING I-1 INJURY SYSTEM DOOR LOCK RADIO UNLOCK VOLUME PROTECT TURN EYES BY SIGNALS e 9 BRAKE (0) SHIELDING WINDSHIELD AIR FASTEN SEAT & DEFROSTER RADIATOR CONDITIONING CAUSTIC COOLANT BELTS a BAHERY ACID COULD TRUNK 6 CAUSE HAZARD WINDOW FUEL RELEASE BURNS WARNING DEFOGGER FLASHER A ENGINE OIL t AVOID PRESSURE Wb LIGHTER SPARKS OR VENTILATING n FLAMES FAN TEMP 477 OIL HORN )tr SPARK OR ,111, FLAME FOG LAMPS COULD $0 ANTI-LOCK (@) EXPLODE BRAKE SPEAKER BAHERY b X Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems Move the lever under the front seat to the left to unlock it. Slide the seat to where you want it then release the lever to lock. Try Seats and Seat Controls to move the seat with your This section tells you about the seats -- how to adjust body, to make sure the seat them, and also about folding seats, reclining front is locked into place. seatbacks. and head restraints. Manual Seat 1-1 Power Seat (Option) Center Control (C): Move the seat forward or back by holding the control to the right or left.