Safety Precautions - Chevrolet Spark Owner's Manual

7–2 SERVICE AND VEHICLE CARE

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

When performing any inspection or main-
tenance work on your vehicle, take pre-
cautions to reduce the risk of personal
injury or damage.
General precautions to observe when per-
forming vehicle service:
• Do not work on the engine while it is
hot.
WARNING
The catalytic converter and other ex-
haust components while engine is
running can get very hot.
Touching the related parts while en-
gine is running can result in severe
burns.
• Never get under the vehicle while it is
supported by a jack. If it is necessary
to work under the vehicle, use safety
stands.
• Keep smoking materials, flames, and
sparks away from the battery, all fuel,
and fuel-related parts.
• Never connect or disconnect the bat-
tery or any transistorized components
while the ignition switch is ON.
• When connecting the battery cables,
pay special attention to their polarities.
Never connect a positive cable to a
negative terminal, or a negative cable to
a positive terminal.
• Remember that the battery, ignition
cables, and your vehicle wiring carry
high current or voltage. Be careful not
to cause a short circuit.
• Make sure there is proper ventilation
whenever you have the engine running
in an enclosed space such as a garage
.• Keep used oil, coolant, and other flu-
ids out of reach of children and pets.
• Do not dispose of empty oil and fluid
containers, or those containing used oil
or fluid, with your household waste.
Use only locally authorized automotive
waste disposal facilities.
• If it is necessary to check under the
hood while the engine is running, take
care to avoid unexpected and sudden
movements of your vehicle. For a
manual transaxle, place the shift lever
in neutral and apply the parking brake
firmly.
• To avoid the possibility of personal
injury, always turn the ignition OFF and
remove the key before working under
the hood, unless the procedure specifi-
cally requires to do so. If the procedure
requires you to work under the hood
while the engine is running, remove
loose clothing and jewelry that can be
caught in moving parts and cause
personal injury.