Driving Hints - Vauxhall Meriva Owner's Manual

Driving hints

The first 600 mil es
Drive your vehicle at v arious speeds. Do
not use full throttle. Never allow the eng ine
to labour at low revs.
Drive moderately . In all gea rs, only depress
the accelerator pedal around
down.
Do not drive faster than three quarters of
max imum speed.
Do not brake unnecessarily hard for the
first 125 miles (200 km ).
During the first drive smoke ma y develop
because of wax a nd oil eva pora ting on the
exhaust system. Park the vehicle in the
open for a while after the first drive and
avoid inhaling the fum es.
Fuel and engine oil consum ption is higher
than norm al during the running-in period.
Never coa st with engine not running
Many units will not function in this situation
(e. g. brak e serv o unit, power steering 3).
Driving in this manner is a da nger to
yourself and others.
Brake servo unit
When the engine is not running, the brake
servo unit is no longer effective once the
brake peda l has been depressed once or
twice. Braking effect is not reduced , but
significantly greater force is required for
braking.
3
/ of the w ay
4
Electri c power steering 3
If the power assisted steering fails when
being towed with the engine switched off,
the vehicle can still be steered, but
considera bly more forc e is req uired.
Dr iving in mountainous terrai n or with a
trailer/cara van
The cooling fan is electrically operated. Its
cooling p ow er is therefore independent of
the engine speed.
Since a considerable amount of heat is
genera ted at high engine speeds and less
at slower speeds, do not shift d ow n when
climbing hills whilst the v ehicle is still coping
with the gradient in the higher g ear.
Driving and o peration
Driv ing wi th a roof loa d
Do not exceed the perm issible roof load
3 221. For reasons of safety, distribute the
load evenly and sec ure it properly with
reta ining straps. Adjust tyre p ressure to
load c onditions. Do not drive faster
than 75 mph (120 km/h). Check and
retig hten the straps frequently. Observ e
country-sp ecific regula tions.
Sw itching off the engi ne
When y ou switch off, fans in the eng ine
compa rtm ent may continue running for a
time to cool the engine.
If the engine temperature is very high, e.g.
after driving in mountainous terrain: allow
the engine to id le for approx im ately two
minutes in order to prevent heat
acc um ulation.
Vehicles with turbocharged engine 3
After running at high eng ine speeds or high
eng ine loads, operate the engine briefly
at a low load or run in neutral for
app rox . 30 second s before switching off in
order to protect the turbocharger.
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