Lada Niva Driver s Manual Jason Chapman
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After negotiating a deep (0.5 m) ford, check before a trip for water in the power transmission
units. Do it by loosening the drain plugs until drops appear. Oil drops indicate that there is no
water in the unit.
Do not overload the car in excess of the specified limits. Overloading results in damage of the
front suspension elements, bending of the rear axle beam, premature wear of the tyres,
vibration of the body end loss of road stability. The mass of the load on the roof luggage
carrier (including that of the carrier) should not excess 50 kg with the payload not exceeding
400 kg.
Elastic suspension of the car absorbs vibrations when driving speedily on bad roads. Sharp
jolts, how ever, may cause deformation of the lower wishbone shafts and damage other parts
of the Therefore, when driving roads, do not speed up and avoid striking the curb-stones.
Do not lock the differential at the moment of slipping of both wheels of one of the car
driving axles. Lock the differential in advance, taking into consideration the road conditions.
Upon negotiating the difficult sections, unlock the differential since driving along good roads
with the differential locked running gear. on such shortens the life of the power
transmission mechanisms, and increases the tyre wear and fuel consumption; when
braking. the car may go skidding. The differential locking is in dictated by the warning lamp
on the instrument panel.
The engine, gearbox, transfer case, front and rear axles of the Ear should be lubricated only
with the oils recommended by the Manufacturer (refer to Appendix 2). The use of oils of
other grades will result in premature failure of said units and mechanisms.
The engine is designed to run on gasoline with an octane number not lower than 91.
Operation on gasoline with lower octane numbers is not allowed. Red-orange tinted gasoline
AN-93 is ethylated. Ethylated gasoline is poisonous, therefore keep it off the hands, skin,
clothes and upholstery. Any operations which could result in penetration of ethylated
gasoline or its vapours into the mouth are particularly intolerable.
Never use the starter to move the car from rest. Move off only in the 1st gear. If the engine
fails to run after three attempts to start it, check the fuel system or ignition system, and
eliminate the cause of poor engine starting.
Do not apply the starter with the engine running, since that may lead to breakage of the
starter pinion or flywheel teeth.
Never race the engine to the speed bringing the tachometer pointer in the red zone of the
scale. If the tachometer pointer is found within the yellow zone, the engine speed approaches
the maximum permissible limit (the edge of the red zone).
Bear in mind that exhaust gases are poisonous. Therefore, the premises where the engine is
started and warmed up should be properly ventilated.
Do not operate the car with the low engine oil pressure warning lamp glowing.
Lighting up of this lamp is permissible at the minimum idling speed. On increasing the engine
speed, the lamp must go off. Glowing of the lamp at the engine service speeds indicates