Auto tranny shift lock

[987687]

Is there any way to make the auto tranny stay in gear?

It's annoying the crap out of me. Say I'm driving along at 2.5k RPMs and just want to accelerate a little bit. It doesn't need to downshift and rev up like it's going to take off. In a manual I wouldn't downshift just to accelerate a little bit. Why can't it just hold in whatever gear it's in?

 

The tranny shifts and works just fine (how it was designed to work...) I just wish it would work more sensibly. Maybe the only fix is for the weather to hurry up and get warm so I can do a 5mt swap...

 

 

EDIT: 98 GT

Edited February 26, 2011 by 987687

[NorthWet]

On earlier years (92-ish) you could affect shift points some by adjusting the TPS. If the TPS is currently adjusted properly, this might cause more problems than it solves, but if it is misadjusted returning it to spec might help.

 

AFAIK, my OBD-I vehicle seems to use the TPS opening angle just for the tranny. I do not know about OBD-II.

[987687]

On earlier years (92-ish) you could affect shift points some by adjusting the TPS. If the TPS is currently adjusted properly, this might cause more problems than it solves, but if it is misadjusted returning it to spec might help.

 

AFAIK, my OBD-I vehicle seems to use the TPS opening angle just for the tranny. I do not know about OBD-II.

 

The TPS is fine, checked it with my scangauge and it operates properly.

It's probably working just fine, and I don't like the auto tranny....

[subaruplatt]

Do a couple drain and fills and drive in the city in third gear.

[987687]

On slow roads I've been leaving it in 3rd, otherwise it's just way annoying.

Yes, I do need to do some flushes, it might help the torque bind too.

 

Is it bad for the tranny to shift down through the gears when I'm coming to a stop to engine brake like I do on MTs?

I've never had an auto before....

[Manarius]

On slow roads I've been leaving it in 3rd, otherwise it's just way annoying.

Yes, I do need to do some flushes, it might help the torque bind too.

 

Is it bad for the tranny to shift down through the gears when I'm coming to a stop to engine brake like I do on MTs?

I've never had an auto before....

If you're not going over 45, then leaving it in 3rd is fine. The car won't be jumping in and out of TC-lock (which is what you describe) and your gas mileage won't suffer (since locking the TC at that low speed won't affect your MPG). Is there a way to fix that? Less gas pedal and the car won't jump out of gear as often. Although, with the 4 there isn't much torque to be had which is why it jumps so frequently.

 

Personally, I think shifting the tranny manually when it's unnecessary is bad for the car. The transmission already shifts down to 3rd for you when you slow down in order to get some engine brake, but because of the amount of flex between the engine and transmission, a "real" engine brake scenario would most likely be impossible or very hard on the auto since it wasn't designed to be shifted like a manual.

[MilesFox]

i would say that manually shifting through the gears will let fluids move through all of the valves more frequently, this helping to prevent sticky valve bodies.

 

The 1st gen 4eat has a manual mode that will hod the gear you are in while shifting. I shift manually in in-town driving, because sometimes you need to drop down a gear, even though the kickdown will do it, but you can respond more quickly to downshift to maneuver in traffic (milwaukee's northside ghettos) instead of mashing the pedal and waiting the 3 seconds to downshift to let off the gas pedal once it does.

 

If there was harm in manually shifting an auto trans, why does it let you.

 

Just dont go dropping it into 1st at 45mph. I will drop down into 2nd for engine braking. sometimes i will go down into 1st from speeds within 20mph, say, when the abs wigs out on me and the car wont stop.

[987687]

i would say that manually shifting through the gears will let fluids move through all of the valves more frequently, this helping to prevent sticky valve bodies.

 

The 1st gen 4eat has a manual mode that will hod the gear you are in while shifting. I shift manually in in-town driving, because sometimes you need to drop down a gear, even though the kickdown will do it, but you can respond more quickly to downshift to maneuver in traffic (milwaukee's northside ghettos) instead of mashing the pedal and waiting the 3 seconds to downshift to let off the gas pedal once it does.

 

If there was harm in manually shifting an auto trans, why does it let you.

 

Just dont go dropping it into 1st at 45mph. I will drop down into 2nd for engine braking. sometimes i will go down into 1st from speeds within 20mph, say, when the abs wigs out on me and the car wont stop.

 

Thanks! I was hoping to hear something like this! I just wanted to make sure I'm not destroying the transmission by making it downshift for braking.

[Manarius]

i would say that manually shifting through the gears will let fluids move through all of the valves more frequently, this helping to prevent sticky valve bodies.

 

The 1st gen 4eat has a manual mode that will hod the gear you are in while shifting. I shift manually in in-town driving, because sometimes you need to drop down a gear, even though the kickdown will do it, but you can respond more quickly to downshift to maneuver in traffic (milwaukee's northside ghettos) instead of mashing the pedal and waiting the 3 seconds to downshift to let off the gas pedal once it does.

 

If there was harm in manually shifting an auto trans, why does it let you.

 

Just dont go dropping it into 1st at 45mph. I will drop down into 2nd for engine braking. sometimes i will go down into 1st from speeds within 20mph, say, when the abs wigs out on me and the car wont stop.

The 4EAT has a manual mode for times when it is necessary. Just because you want to does not count as a necessity. Besides, the manual mode will only hold 1st or 2nd, not 3rd. Manual mode is irrelevant in 3rd. It's meant for situations where you need less torque (2nd) or 50-50 split all the time (holding 1st). It's not designed to be shifted like that.

 

Even then, his 98 LGT doesn't even have manual mode, so it makes the whole "use" irrelevant. The automatic is automatic for a reason. The gears are a side thought. The transmission was not designed with "shifting" in mind or D would have been last, not first. There's absolutely no reason to downshift an automatic to do engine braking. The transmission does it already with 3rd and doing it unnecessarily just puts more wear and tear on the linkage used to change gear that isn't even designed to be shifted like that in the first place!

Edited February 27, 2011 by Manarius

[987687]

Why would they let you shift it if it wasn't designed to do so?

It doesn't engine brake as well if I don't shift it down, and I hate riding the brakes.

I guess since I learned to drive on a stick, and have only driven autos when I was driving a rental or my friend's car, I'm used to being able to engine brake and shift when I like.

 

Just trying to figure a bit out about this auto thing my car has so I don't kill it between now and when I get the parts for an MT swap. I normally wouldn't buy an auto, this car was just too good a deal to pass up.

[NorthWet]

I am more with Milesfox on this: The transmission was not designed not to be shifted.

 

Confusing? It was also not designed to be shifted.

 

Didn't help? The transmission was designed to do a job, to serve a purpose. That purpose included people who just put a handle-thingy in "D", and others that move the shift lever into whatever position suits their purpose. In some ways it will last longer left in "D" (less shock-load) and in some ways it will last longer manually shifted (quicker, more positive engagement of its friction surfaces to limit wear).

 

I think "shift vs Drive" falls into the same class of thought as, "How many angels can fit on the head of a pin?" Compared with other issues (lfuid/maintenance, keeping the ATF cool, type of driving, etc) it is relatively unimportant.