2003 Cadillac DeVille Owner's Manual - Page 99

Here are examples for using THIRD (3) instead of AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE (@). When driving on hilly, winding roads. When towing a trailer, so there is less shifting between gears. When going down a steep hill. SECOND (2): This position gives you more power. You can use SECOND (2) on hills. It can help control your speed as you go downsteep mountain roads, but then you would also want use your brakes off and on. to Nofice: Don't shift into SECOND (2) unless you are going slower than 65 mph (105 km/h), or you can damage your engine. Performance Shifting (DTS Only) When your vehicle detects a change in driving conditions, it will automatically initiate the appropriate performance shift mode. When this occurs, the gear display on the instrument panel cluster will change to indicate that the transaxle has shifted to a different gear. For example, the gear display on the cluster may indicate 3 or 2 even though the gearshift is still in AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE (@ ). Once the performance shift mode ends, the gear display on the instrument panel cluster will return to normal. Shift Lock Release This vehicle is equipped with an electric shift lock release system. The shift lock release is designed to do the following: Prevent the ignition key from being removed unless the shift lever is in PARK (P), and prevent movement of the console shift lever (DTS only) out of PARK (P) unless the ignition is in a position other than OFF. The shift lock release is always functional except in the case of a dead battery or low voltage (less than 9 V) battery. FIRST (1): This position gives you even more power than SECOND (2). You can use it on very steep hills, or in deep snow or mud. (If the shift lever is put in FIRST ( l ) ,the transaxle won't shift into first gear until the vehicle is going slowly enough.) Notice: If your front wheels won't turn, don't try to drive. This might happen if you were stuck in very deep sand or mud or were up against a solid object. You could damage your transaxle. Also, if you stop when going uphill, don't hold your vehicle there with only the accelerator pedal. This could overheat and damage the transaxle. Use your brakes to hold your vehicle in position on a hill. 2-30