Any Tips For Automatic Tranny Maintenance

**jiggs84** · January 7th, 2005 10:56 AM

[QUOTE=av8or5]This was taught to us in driving school back in High School sa tate.

3. Only use (2) and (1) if you need ENGINE BRAKE. So accelerating from 0 to whatever speed, don't do it manually..remember...its an automatic. Those two gears are meant to slow down the vehicle on an downhill slope.
4. Try to avoid shift from D to N if the wait is not that long. Just use your brake. This stresses out your gears if you always switch gears from D to N (remember clutch free sya)
5. If you want to SPEED up, just step on the accelarator pedal. The tranny will downshift to the proper gear. To give more power, you have the option to turn off the overdrive.
6. Some auto tranny has sports mode or normal mode. Sports mode=longer speed to gear ration while normal mode=short speed to gear ratio (that means you save on gas).
7. Remember if the overdrive is off, you will consume more gas. (just look at your counters, if the OD is off, it lights up, if OD is on no indicator)
QUOTE]

thanks. very well said pards. i guess these clears all conceptions and misconceptions on driving A/T.

on no. 5. to accelerate, its not right to push the pedal then release it. then push again, harder this time. it is better to just pushing the pedal continuously gaining speed? di ba maGAStos yun?

thanks again...

**philander** · January 7th, 2005 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by xam

sir jiggs,

..... but i believe its not a good habit to shift to N from D while approaching a stop or traffic light. and fuel saving, going steady with your speed and rpm should do the trick, but i guess that goes for all cars,MT and AT..

Oh no! I do this everytime... to save fuel....

**philander** · January 7th, 2005 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by av8or5

This was taught to us in driving school back in High School sa tate.

4. Try to avoid shift from D to N if the wait is not that long. Just use your brake. This stresses out your gears if you always switch gears from D to N (remember clutch free sya)

I'm GUILTY of this!

I should have know this earlier....

**need4speed** · January 7th, 2005 12:41 PM

a few more tips for you guys... i've had quite a bit of experience
with regards to A/T problems and maintenance.

in any case, in order to check your A/T level, you need 2 people to do this, one inside shifting the A/T to D (while stepping on the brakes of course), the other in front of the car under the hood and checking the ATF fluid. This is the proper way to check the fuel level.

#2, to check if your A/T is doing good, just smell the ATF, if it has a sweet smell then you're good. if it has a burnt smell, then it's time to have it checked.

#3 galant vr owners beware: A/T's for previous generations are weak and are prone to breaking down. so don't make it a habit to keep flooring it.

#4 go to a "certified" person to have it fixed. right now I only know one person. either the casa should do it or this person (by the name of Mr. Eric Lucas of Lucas A/T specialist in Lower Bicutan -- at least that was when I was still in the country, there might be other qualified people now). if a casa is full with A/T repairs, they bring it to him, so you might as well go to him instead. cheaper prices and good quality to boot. he came from Canada and is a highly proficient mechanic.
do not bring it to the run of the mill shops that use silicon to repair your A/T and the like, they ruined mine coz of it.

#5 if you notice that your shifting seems to be erratic or sliding, then you have a problem.

these are some of the things that I can recall, i'll post more if i can think of any more.

**rudy123** · January 7th, 2005 01:04 PM

QUOTE]

on no. 5. to accelerate, its not right to push the pedal then release it. then push again, harder this time. it is better to just pushing the pedal continuously gaining speed? di ba maGAStos yun?

thanks again...[/QUOTE]

Di ba as you push the pedal tumataas din ang rpm kaya dapat i-release
mo din (pero very soft lang para bumaba lang ang rpm without losing
speed)?

also, sorry for my ignorance, ang turo sa akin ng friend ko kapag naka-"on"
ang OD sabi nya nag-e-engage daw ang four wheels thereby gaining more
power. mali pala ang ginagawa ko since i turn off the OD kapag city driving (since hindi masyado kailangan ng power) at on naman kapag highway. di ba
yung OD para sa 4th at 5th gear?

**philander** · January 7th, 2005 01:08 PM

Is the O/D mode ON overdrives the current gear before it shitfs no the next gear?

**rudy123** · January 7th, 2005 03:16 PM

How to use overdrive

Generally speaking, overdrive (O/D) is the highest gear in the transmission. On most cars the automatic transmission has 3 speeds and Overdrive (forth speed). Overdrive allows the engine to have less rpm with higher speed in order to have better fuel efficiency. When you switch it on, you allow the transmission to shift into overdrive mode after the certain speed is reached (usually 30 - 40 mph depending on the load). When it's off, you limit transmission shifting by third speed.
In normal driving condition the overdrive should be always on.
You may need to switch it off if you drive in mountains area.
[The automatic transmission automatically shifts from OD to the 3-th gear when it feel more load. When it feels less load it shifts back to the O/D, but under certain conditions, e.g: driving uphill or towing a trailer, the transmission can not decide to stay in OD or to shift into 3-th speed and it starts to shift back and forth. That's the time you may switch it off and help the transmission to decide.] .
You also may need to switch it off when you want to slowdown using the engine braking, for example, driving downhill. [For more details, check your owner's manual]