I feel dumb, but......

[wilsonwilson]

Okay this is my first auto. with a auto transmision. and after hearing all the horror stories, and all the people who seem to consitantly rebuid their trannys @ 95k have me worried.

I have 135k on my, origional tranny, seems to run really good. the only problem is sometimes its hard to get out of park, you can shift from there, but getting it out of park takes more force than i care to give somtimes.

anyway my question is.

Overdirve or Drive?, it must sound stupid but i've always driven a manual. I live in just about the flatest place you will ever see, and have yet to tow anything.


Which is better for tranny life?

thanks

 

[jimbo74]

this has been discussed a lot before.... drive for city or towing...od for freeway only.... just change the filter and fluid at the correct intervals and it should be fine

 

[Mustangc1923]

Originally posted by jimabena74
this has been discussed a lot before.... drive for city or towing...od for freeway only.... just change the filter and fluid at the correct intervals and it should be fine

My brilliant stepfather told me to always drive in od could this help for the bad gas mileage i get??

 

[jimbo74]

od gets better gas mileage but cuases the vehicle to act weird and hunt for gears while driving on the street.... this isnt really a bad thing but i would rather pay more for gas than have to replace a tranny due accelerated wear becuase of the gear i selected...

 

[Alec]

jim is partially right, depends on the transmission.

In a normally functioning transmission, it's best to just leave it in OD all the time unless in high-stress mountains or when towing. In simple terms, D is 3rd gear and OD is 4th. D has a 1:1 gear ratio, while OD has a .78?:1 gear ratio. This means that on the highway, OD will reduce your cruising rpms. Due to it's gear reduction, OD doesn't provide much power and thus the transmission will shift back into 3rd when passing, towing, etc. This may sometimes cause a 'gear hunt' where the transmission will repeatedly shift in and out of OD looking to be happy.

As long as your tranny isn't 'gear hunting' excessively, leave it in OD. You'll get better highway mileage and cause less wear on the motor.

 

[Byrd91]

I'm surpised no one has mentioned this but I'm going to guess that your problem with shifting out of park always happens on a hill, even a slight one. The best way to prevent this, and what I always do is set the e-brake before you shift into park. You'll notice that you no longer roll forward or backward a little bit after letting of the brake when you are in park. I don't know if its actually bad for the transmission, but I just don't like the feeling of having to jerk the shift lever to get it out of park. And remember e-brake before you shift into park, not after you've shifted into park and let off the brake.

Oh yeah, I use D for city and town driving and I have 200K on my original tranny.

 

[wilsonwilson]

thanks, guys, and thanks for the E brake idea. I to hate having to crank the thing to get it out of park.

I have been driving in OD since i bought it, and for last couple of days have been in D, seems like i have more low end tourqe in D??

or am I crazy