1997 GMC Sonoma Owner's Manual - Page 79

Leaving Your Vehicle With the Engine Running (Automatic Transmission Models Only) It canbe dangerous to leave your vehicle with the engine running.Your vehicle could move suddenly if the shift leveris not fully in PARK (P) with the parking brake firmly If you have four-wheel set. drive with a manual transfer case shift lever and your transfer caseis in NEUTRAL (N), your vehicle will be free toroll, even if your shift lever is is in PARK (P). So be sure the transfer case in a drive gear not in NEUTRAL (N). And, if you leave the vehicle with the engine running, it could overheat andeven catch fire. You or others could be injured. Don't leave your vehicle with the engine running unless you have to. If you have to leave your vehicle with the engine running, be sure your vehicle is in PARK (P) and your parking brake is firmly set beforeyou leave it. After you've moved the shift lever into the PARK (P) position, hold the regular brake pedal down. Then, see if you can move the shift lever away from PARK (P) without first pulling it toward you (or pressing the button on a console shiftlever). If you can, it means that the shift lever wasn't fully locked into PARK (P). Torque Lock (Automatic Transmission) If you are parkingon a hill and you don't shift your transmission into PARK (P) properly, the weight of the vehicle may put too much force on the parking pawl in the transmission. You may find it difficult to pull the shift lever out of PARK (P). Thisis called "torque lock." To prevent torque lock, set the parking brake and then shift into PARK (P) properly before you leave the driver's seat. To find out how, see "Shifting Into PARK (P)" in the Index. When you are ready to drive, move the shift lever out of PARK (P) before you release the parking brake. If torque lock does occur, you may need to have another vehicle push yours a little uphill to take some of the pressure from the parking pawl in the transmission, so you can pull the shift lever out of PARK (P). -- 2-31