Vauxhall Meriva Owner's Manual

Also see for 2010 Meriva: Owner's manual

Contents

Vauxhall Meriva Owner's Manual Manual pdf 137 page image

133Driving and o perationDriving hintsThe first 600 mil esDrive your vehicle at v arious speeds. Donot use full throttle. Never allow the eng ineto labour at low revs.Drive moderately . In all gea rs, only depressthe accelerator pedal around 3/ 4 of the w aydown.Do not drive faster than three quarters ofmax imum speed.Do not brake unnecessarily hard for thefirst 125 miles (200 km ).During the first drive smoke ma y developbecause of wax a nd oil eva pora ting on theexhaust system. Park the vehicle in theopen for a while after the first drive andavoid inhaling the fum es.Fuel and engine oil consum ption is higherthan norm al during the running-in period.Never coa st with engine not runningMany 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 toyourself and others.Brake servo unitWhen the engine is not running, the brakeservo unit is no longer effective once thebrake peda l has been depressed once ortwice. Braking effect is not reduced , butsignificantly greater force is required forbraking.Electri c power steering 3If the power assisted steering fails whenbeing towed with the engine switched off,the vehicle can still be steered, butconsidera bly more forc e is req uired.Dr iving in mountainous terrai n or with atrailer/cara vanThe cooling fan is electrically operated. Itscooling p ow er is therefore independent ofthe engine speed.Since a considerable amount of heat isgenera ted at high engine speeds and lessat slower speeds, do not shift d ow n whenclimbing hills whilst the v ehicle is still copingwith the gradient in the higher g ear.Driv ing wi th a roof loa dDo not exceed the perm issible roof load3 221. For reasons of safety, distribute theload evenly and sec ure it properly withreta ining straps. Adjust tyre p ressure toload c onditions. Do not drive fasterthan 75 mph (120 km/h). Check andretig hten the straps frequently. Observ ecountry-sp ecific regula tions.Sw itching off the engi neWhen y ou switch off, fans in the eng inecompa rtm ent may continue running for atime to cool the engine.If the engine temperature is very high, e.g.after driving in mountainous terrain: allowthe engine to id le for approx im ately twominutes in order to prevent heatacc um ulation.Vehicles with turbocharged engine 3After running at high eng ine speeds or higheng ine loads, operate the engine brieflyat a low load or run in neutral forapp rox . 30 second s before switching off inorder to protect the turbocharger.