Button on shifter

[MONEYMARK23]

I have a button on the shifter of my '98 that says "power" and something else. I've never pushed it because I don't have the manual for the car and I didn't want to screw anything up. Does anybody with a manual know what this button is for? I figure I've had the car for over a year now maybe I should start figuring these things out.

[bLACk AurOrA]

that button is really neat. its a power transmission. it let the car rev higher on acceleration. i drive with mine on all the time. so you can go on ahead and push that button now

[JimW]

At WOT it makes no difference with the shifting of gears, however it does delay the shifting by at 200 RPM any other time.

[stevensolds]

me too stays in power all the time. nevr had it in normal since i got it

[erw38]

stevensolds said:

me too stays in power all the time. nevr had it in normal since i got it

That's one thing that hurts your gas mileage

[stevensolds]

how?

[Roice]

It raises the shift points and jacks up the trans line pressure. Higher shift points means more time spent in lower gears, means lower fuel economy on the whole.

Yeah, I use it a lot too.

[auroralover]

I leave mine in power mode all the time, and average 23-25 mpg in mixed driving. I like it in power mode; always have to be ready.........

[Custom88]

auroralover said:

I leave mine in power mode all the time, and average 23-25 mpg in mixed driving. I like it in power mode; always have to be ready.........

how does the your gas mileage compare between your classic and your 3.5?

[stevensolds]

23mpg....oh man i wish i could get that. i gotta figure out how to get some better mileaeg here.

getting my fuel injectors flushed wednesday i hope that helps

[JimW]

Psst Steven...methinks it yer O2 sensor.

Back on track....I never have mine on, 3.71 gearing is quite enough...heh, besides, during sprited (ie WOT) driving the power button does nothing.

[stevensolds]

I am getting them checked to see if they are running right first Jim (O2 sensors). I cant just go and replace them and hope that helps, they are $300 installed

[scottydl]

My shifter button stays on "Normal" for sure, I'm already obsessed with increasing my gas mileage as much as possible. I switched it to "Power" once, on the way to the hospital when my wife was in labor.

I'm tired of this winter fuel mix, and ready for the summer stuff (despite the current prices)... I only got around 23.5mpg on a 300+ mile all-highway trip last week, and I *know* my Aurora ought to do better than that.

[stevensolds]

yeah i think the summer stuff should do better with mine too. i guess i will try it in normal for a little why see if it helps. but i doubt it.

Scotty if you drive a lot this car aint the best for gas mileage

[bLACk AurOrA]

i get anywhere from 22mpg to 28mpg. mine goes down cause i leave it running parked alot. like letting it warm up in the morning. also. i feel stupid having to ask this but... what is WOT?

[erw38]

WOT is wide open throttle

didn't we go over this once already recently?

[Custom88]

erw38 said:

WOT is wide open throttle

didn't we go over this once already recently?

I was thinking that too I just couldn't remember which post it was in.

[Aurora40]

I thought it was short for "w00t!", like the sound you make when you go to wide open throttle...

[MONEYMARK23]

I wanna know too what WOT is and also for Steven, my Aurora was just getting about 18 mpg average then I replaced the fuel filter, got a tranny tune up and an oil change now it's up to 23.6 and I do a lot of city driving. But this is for everyone: do you notice any definite power from having the button pushed or is it just because it says "power" that you feel better?

[scottydl]

MONEYMARK23 said:

But this is for everyone: do you notice any definite power from having the button pushed or is it just because it says "power" that you feel better?

The latter... at least for me. IMO, a 200rpm difference in shift points will not make a huge difference in how it feels/accelerates, but it will certainly affect your fuel economy over time.

[96_Aurora]

I leave mine in Normal all the time. 16 MPH in city driving (so I have a heavy foot), less in Power mode. With super-unleaded now pushing 95.5 cents/litre, can't afford to use power mode.

Chris

[bLACk AurOrA]

i dunno why i asked what WOT is twice? i think maybe i forgot where i posted it and asked again. o well i know now.

[stevensolds]

You get 23MPG in your 1995 with 200k on it??? WOW man. My DIC says as of right now, 11.8MPG Average. HORRIBLE. But i do a lot of WOT, especialyl when merging onto the freeways. Gotta love the ppl around here, they dont use blinkers, rear end ppl when on cell phones...just gotta love it.

I never pull out onto the highway slow like a lot of morons do. I always put the pedal to the floor and get out in front of everyone.

Black Aurora, do you do mostly highway, a mix, or pure city driving? I have been doing all city recently. I dont drive to work or school so most of the time its either maybe just 2 or 3 minutes of 55mph driving then back to the town again. But during those 2 or 3 min on the highway i stay 75-80mph

[MONEYMARK23]

stevensolds said:

My DIC says as of right now, 11.8MPG Average. HORRIBLE.

11.8? Is your car running right? There may be something causing it to get such poor gas mileage. Even when mine was at it's worst with me driving in the city all of the time the lowest its ever been was 17.9. I thought that was bad. I replaced the fuel filter and it worked wonders for my mpg. Most people don't follow this but you should get your fuel filter replaced every 30K miles. Most people never get it done until their fuel pump goes.

[Letitroll98]

MONEYMARK23 said:

11.8? Is your car running right? There may be something causing it to get such poor gas mileage.

Yeah. It's called his right foot. Needs a transplant from a 90 year old lady.

[JimW]

To easy to blame it on aggressive driving, its a combination:

Hard Driving including:
Possible bad O2 sensors
Bad fuel filter
Fouled plugs
Dirty Injectors
Improper tire inflation/tread wear
Winter Gas.
Incomplete modifications

I'm really getting frustrated reading above everyone ripping on everyone elses driving style.

[stevensolds]

LOL Jim dont get frustrated i dont. Guess what i drove really easy today. Had the shifter button in Normal for once. I didnt really notice that much of a difference. But i also did what Custom88 said, is to coast as much as you possibly can before hitting the brakes. That made the DIC go up to 15.7MPG, something i havent seen in ages.

Yeah i thought about the injectors. They were just cleaned today. Let me tell you, it defintely performs better but no gas mileage increase. They showed me the bucket where all the crap came out of. There was a lot of gum and some black filth that was carboned up on the injectors.

Also they cleaned my sticky TPS. The pedal moves a lot more freely now, i like it. They did some other thing too, i forget what it was. It was $95. Seems worth it, i guess.

Also...they checked the O2 sensors. They read perfectly fine. I am glad.

Oh and another thing. I had my fuel filter replaced when i got it, and i had new plugs/wires.....no problems there. I have inflated my tires to the proper pressure. However i did accidently overinflate the left rear a bit more.

The Winter gas is the killer, or at least partially to blame i think. I cant wait til they get the summer juice goin, hehe.

Thanks Jim and everyone else for your suggestions. Gonna try coasting a lot more now.

OH YEAH, i also got my 1500 mile auto-rx stage done today and had my oil & filter changed! the car idles so much smoother and everything now. There is a major difference, its easy for me to tell. No more squeaky noises on cold starts either, the motor was making some very strange noises for a while there, and it was clattering. But not anymore.