AllGOnoSHOW
Well-Known Member
My guess is that if you drive responsibly and not rice around you won't use anymore gas really unless you are keeping it up in higher RPM's in 3rd gear which if that is the case you need to put it back into D4
Transmission Question
- Thread starter nhldogg
- Start date
RedRyder
Save the manuals
At speeds where you’re turning 3k and higher rpm’s, yes it would use more gas. But iirc at 45mph in 3rd you should be around the mid 2k’s or so which isn’t high. And also if you’re going over hills and there are lights, etc., having it in 4th is a waste and just harder on the auto as it will shift needlessly, in these conditions I would keep it in 3rd if I’m maintaining speeds of 40-45 mph. I drove a road like this on my way to work for a few years and always kept it in D3.
If the road is basically flat and there aren’t many lights, etc, then 4th is fine. But no matter what the road, if I wasn’t going over 35-40 mph, I would always keep it in D3. Even if it did use more gas, it was better than making those tranny internals work harder than they have to. It was somewhat of a PITA, but it beat buying a new tranny.
Among other things I drained & filled the fluid every 6 months or 6k miles (never flush), I never got on it until 2nd if I got on it at all, I would have the car at full stop before touching the gear lever, and after I shifted, I would wait a couple seconds for the car to get in gear. I drove it meticulously and methodically, and my trans was still fine at 133k miles when it was removed. It had the normal quirks like jerking a bit when shifting from P to R, and N to D, and on slowing down to a stop it would always jerk a little from 2 to 1. But it never got worse, it just kept going.
Narftastic
Well-Known Member
damn thanks for that info chris, so basically if im going to be driving under 45 to leave it in d3?
RedRyder
Save the manuals
Yeah I think it was 45, might have been 40. Been awhile. Just look at your rpm’s and if they’re around 2500 then it’s fine. If it’s closer to 3k, that’s fine too, just may use a little more gas. Either way you won’t hurt the car and you’re still better off imo. If you’re going over 45, then I’d have it in D4. Unless the road is super hilly and you’re stopping/going a lot then I might keep it in D3 until the road opens up more.
All that I did with my car to make the tranny last could have been coincidence, maybe I just got a “good” one. But I strongly feel maintenance and your driving habits directly affect the life of parts on your car. I’m so anal about stuff I never even turn my fan speed all the way up, I’ll go 75% at most, lol.
All that I did with my car to make the tranny last could have been coincidence, maybe I just got a “good” one. But I strongly feel maintenance and your driving habits directly affect the life of parts on your car. I’m so anal about stuff I never even turn my fan speed all the way up, I’ll go 75% at most, lol.
Narftastic
Well-Known Member
ok, so i just got back home i drove in d3 and i did feel like it was a little bit easier on the tranny, it wasnt jerking as bad as it did in d4. so let me get this strait if i drive in d3 under 40 or 45 then ill use the amount of gas i normally would correct?
it might buy you a little as wi th any trans cooler, but as I remember when researching this the flaw was actually the design of the transmission itself. there's a few places out there that have built out the v6 auto trams with heavy duty hardware and still had it fail within 40-60k...
