Cold weather shifting

[chris_eitniear]

Hi everyone,

I've got an '01 LeSabre with 69K on the odometer. I bought the car last summer so this is the first winter I've driven it. I've noticed that the car doesn't shift into OD in cold weather until I've driven it for about eight miles. The temp gauge comes up to the center of the normal range, and according to the DIC the coolant temp is 183 degrees when it finally shifts into OD.

I don't know if this is normal for these cars or not. I have 2 Pontiacs that I know shift into OD at 140 degrees, one with a 3.8L and one with a 3.4L, but I don't know if there's maybe a difference in the programming between Pontiac and Buick that would account for the difference, or if there's a sensor or something that needs to be changed. What I do know is that as soon as the really cold weather hit, my gas mileage dropped from a good 25 mpg to the 20-21 mpg range. If this is normal, I can accept that, but if not, I'd like to fix it, so any input would be greatly appreciated.

[polarzak]

I have had mine from new and this is completely normal. My MPG always goes down in the winter, and the overdrive (torque lock) always kicks in later as the tranny has to warm up to a specific temp. Perhaps a tech might provide additional info, but mine has been like this since day one.
Congrats on a nice car, it will last years if you take care of it.

[chris_eitniear]

Thanks for the reply, polarzak. As long as I know its normal, I won't worry about it.