WARNING! (Continued)
conditions. You might lose control of the vehicle and
have a collision.
CAUTION!
Towing the vehicle, coasting, or driving for any other
reason with the transmission in NEUTRAL can cause
severe transmission damage.
Refer to “Recreational Towing” in “Starting And Op-
erating” and “Towing A Disabled Vehicle” in “In Case
Of Emergency” for further information.
DRIVE (D)
This range should be used for most city and highway
driving. It provides the smoothest upshifts and downshifts,
and the best fuel economy. The transmission automatically
upshifts through all forward gears. The DRIVE position
provides optimum driving characteristics under all normal
operating conditions.
When frequent transmission shifting occurs (such as when
operating the vehicle under heavy loading conditions, in
hilly terrain, traveling into strong head winds, or while
towing a heavy trailer), use the AutoStick shift control to
select a lower gear (refer to ⬙AutoStick⬙ in this section for
further information). Under these conditions, using a lower
gear will improve performance and extend transmission
life by reducing excessive shifting and heat buildup.
If the transmission temperature exceeds normal operating
limits, the transmission controller may modify the trans-
mission shift schedule, reduce engine torque, and/or ex-
pand the range of torque converter clutch engagement.
This is done to prevent transmission damage due to
overheating.
If the transmission becomes extremely hot, the ⬙Transmis-
sion Temperature Warning Light⬙ may illuminate, and the
transmission may operate differently until the transmission
cools down.
During cold temperatures, transmission operation may be
modified depending on engine and/or transmission tem-
perature as well as vehicle speed. This feature improves
warm up time of the engine and transmission to achieve
maximum efficiency. Engagement of the torque converter
clutch (and, for the nine-speed, shifts into 8th or 9th gear),
are inhibited until the engine and/or transmission is warm
(refer to the “Note” under “Torque Converter Clutch” in
this section). Normal operation will resume once the
temperature(s) have risen to a suitable level.
6
STARTING AND OPERATING 247
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