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Note the first three characters. They represent the World Manufacturer Identification, or WMI. For your Aurora, the WMI is 1G3; "1" for United States, "G" for General Motors" and "3" for Oldsmobile.

Characters four and five describe the car line and series: "GS" or "GR" for Auroras.

Look at character six to determine the body type, such as "5" for four-door sedan.

Character seven describes the restraint system. For instance, "1" means the vehicle has manual seat belts.

Character eight identifies the engine type.

The ninth character is a check digit used to verify the VIN.

Characters 10 and 11 identify the model year and assembly plant, respectively.

The final six characters represent the production sequence number.

Go to the Mitchell Support web page to view the range of VIN characters and explanations for features such as body type and restraint system.

Locate the engine block code. This series of seven to eight digits begins with a letter and is stamped directly on the engine. Look behind the distributor on the passenger side of the block if it is a six- cylinder GM motor. On a small block GM V8, it is stamped in front of the cylinder head on the passenger side. The code is stamped above the timing chain cover on big block V8 engines.

Wipe any grease or dirt off the code to make sure you read each digit correctly. Check that you can see the entire engine block stamp.

Look at the first digit, which will be a capital letter. This letter ers to the plant that manufactured the engine. There are seven different GM plant codes: F for Flint, H for Hydramatic, K for St. Catherines, Ontario, M for GM of Mexico, S for Saginaw Service, T for Tonawanda and V for Flint.

Read the next four digits in the code, which will be all numbers. This ers to the date that the engine was cast. The first two numbers are the month, and the last two are the day. For example, if the numbers read 0107, then the engine was cast on January 7.

Look at the remaining portion of the code. This will be two or three digits, and could include both numerals and letters; typically it is three capital letters. Find your suffix in a GM engine code erence. For example, if your code is "CMP," then the erence indicates this is a 305 engine with 240 horsepower. It was built for a 1991 Pontiac Firebird and included the L98 automatic transmission and tuned port injection. If there is more than one entry for your suffix code, then use the engine block casting date code to identify the year of the engine and identify the correct suffix entry.

Examine the top driver side portion of the dashboard, through the windshield, and locate the stamped metal plate containing the 17-digit VIN code.

Write the VIN code down on a piece of paper. The insurance and titling documentation also lists the vehicles VIN code.

Examine the first number in the VIN code sequence. The first number represents the country of origin; Canadian models use a number "2," while U.S. models use a number "1" at the beginning of the VIN code. The "G" in the second code position affirms that the General Motors Corporation produced the vehicle.

Examine the fourth code position. The letter "A" signifies that the vehicle features manual safety belts, while the letter "B" designates automatic seatbelts.

The fifth through eleventh digit positions within the code represent the vehicles model type, body style, engine type, model year and assembly plant location, in respective order. The remaining digits within the VIN code represent the vehicles unique production number.

Navigate to the OldsGmail.com website and enter your vehicles 17-digit VIN code into the search box (See Resources). Click on the "Submit" button to view specific information concerning your vehicle. You may also contact the service department of a local Oldsmobile dealership and have a customer service professional decode the vehicles VIN code for you.