Hi,
Driving an automatic is no doubt easier than driving a stick shift and therefore can be said to be less susceptible to misuse. However one does see certaain
cars with bad A/T’s even though the mileage is not very high. Assuming that the
maintenance schedules have been adhered to, I think it only leaves out driving habits as a possible cause. I have a few questions which are perhaps
interrelated.
1.Can someone please inform me of ways to avoid putting undue strain on one’s
A/T and prolonging its life. (ie besides driving it very hard or flooring the
gas pedal everytime, which I think are things to naturally avoid)
2. The Tachometer in a car with a stick shift does help in making proper
decisions regarding shifting etc — what are the corresponding things one would do with an automatic? (varying accelerator pressure etc?)
3. What if you are unlucky enough not to have a tachometer at all?
Assume that its a car with a standard P R N D 1 2 transmission
Thanks for all the help in advance. I sincerely hope this is not a subject
which has been covered in a FAQ or a previous thread.
Prakash.
Prakash L ADITHAM (padi…@hubcap.clemson.edu) wrote:
: 1.Can someone please inform me of ways to avoid putting undue strain on one’s
: A/T and prolonging its life. (ie besides driving it very hard or flooring the
: gas pedal everytime, which I think are things to naturally avoid)
Automatic transmissions tend to die unnatural deaths due to heat. If you
are concearned the best thing I know of to do is add a transmission
cooler. Many different types and sizes are available in aftermarket
land.
As far as habits to avoid, the one that comes to mind is the (mis)use
of overdrive. NEVER tow in overdrive, and if you are driving in an
area that has a lot of grades you should just take it out of overdrive
and put it in third. This gear will cool the tranny much better than
when in OD.
Some past studies have shown that AT’s are the most neglected part of
an auto with respect to maintainance. So at least learn how to check
you fluid for color and smell. If your tranny has been overheated
the fliud will be on the brown side, rather than pink. Comparing it
to a small amount of new fluid is a good method. Also, the fluid may
smell burned.
–
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Steve D’Amelio
dame…@bedford.progress.com
2.05 intake, 1.71 exhaust, 292 duration, 560 lift, 351ci, 10:1 comp. Arr,arr…
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Shift to neutral at long lights. The AT heats up when you are sitting with
it in drive and the brake on.
You’ll also notice a decrease in vibration if you have a 4cyl.
Paul Brewer
p…@cco.caltech.edu
’87 Porsche 924S 26K miles (with an automatic. yes, thats weird. )
In article <31jmkm$…@gap.cco.caltech.edu>,
Paul J. Brewer <p…@cco.caltech.edu> wrote:
>Shift to neutral at long lights. The AT heats up when you are sitting with
>it in drive and the brake on.
Well, I’ve heard just the opposite: every time you shift an automatic into
gear from P or N, it sends a jolt through the drive train, putting lots of
stress on CV joints as well as the transmission. If you’re going to be
sitting still long enough for overheating to be a problem, you may as
well just shut off the engine (before it starts overheating).
rwf
–
Raymond W. Foster Internet: fost…@indiana.edu
Indiana University, Bloomington IN USA
In article <paditha.775684168@hubcap>, padi…@hubcap.clemson.edu (Prakash L ADITHAM) writes:
> Hi,
> Driving an automatic is no doubt easier than driving a stick shift and therefore can be said to be less susceptible to misuse. However one does see certaain
> cars with bad A/T’s even though the mileage is not very high. Assuming that the
> maintenance schedules have been adhered to, I think it only leaves out driving habits as a possible cause. I have a few questions which are perhaps
> interrelated.
> 1.Can someone please inform me of ways to avoid putting undue strain on one’s
> A/T and prolonging its life. (ie besides driving it very hard or flooring the
> gas pedal everytime, which I think are things to naturally avoid)
Avoid putting both feet on the gas and brake hard simoltaneously.(Some folks
here use this technique to do rubber burning on AT, Some magazine
talked about this technique to pass when driving a 300Z).
If your tranny is overloaded(tow heavy weight etc), try shift out of drive
if you are going to stop for a while like infront of light or railroad crossing.
> 2. The Tachometer in a car with a stick shift does help in making proper
> decisions regarding shifting etc — what are the corresponding things one would do with an automatic? (varying accelerator pressure etc?)
My officemate has a truck whose speedometer is broken. He use the Tachometer
to estimate his speed.
You can watch the Tachometer to realize the unused area of each gear with
your AT. Than draw one of the two conclusions:
1. Feel happy about the tranny never wear in that area.
2. Assure that you cannot use those gear/rpm/power combination. Even
if you find a use of them, they are excluded by your AT.
> 3. What if you are unlucky enough not to have a tachometer at all?
Most people with AT don’t. Most of them don’t care.
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
> Assume that its a car with a standard P R N D 1 2 transmission
> Thanks for all the help in advance. I sincerely hope this is not a subject
> which has been covered in a FAQ or a previous thread.
> Prakash.
fost…@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu (Ray Foster) writes:
> Well, I’ve heard just the opposite: every time you shift an
> automatic into gear from P or N, it sends a jolt through the
> drive train, putting lots of stress on CV joints as well as
> the transmission.
I can certainly see how that would be a problem if the drivetrain
components were made of oleomargarine, but they aren’t. Compared
to the stresses and loads that the drivetrain is subjected to in
the course of everyday driving, those that arise from shifting
between park and neutral are insignificant. (This reminds me of
the time a young woman I used to fly with saw someome jumping up
and down on the horizontal stabilizer of a parked C-130, just horsing
around. "Won’t that damage the stabilizer?" she asked nervously.)
Besides, all "Park" is is Neutral with a locking pawl for
immobilizing the drivetrain. There’s nothing magic about it.
> If you’re going to be sitting still long enough for overheating
> to be a problem, you may as well just shut off the engine (before
> it starts overheating).
This reminds me of a scheme for increasing fuel efficiency that
rears its ugly head from time to time: shutting off the engine
at red lights. In fact, Toyota experimented with a system to
do this automatically back in the late Seventies; they mau have
even put it into production for the home market. Anyway, one
aspect of this that I’ve never seen acknowledged is the increased
wear and tear on the starter motor. Not that it would lead to
catastrophic failure of the starter or anything similarly dramatic,
but it stands to reason that making a habit of this would shorten
the life of this component significantly.
Personally, given the expense of replacing a starter, not to mention
the inconvenience of doing so at a random time (and the hassle of
probably getting stranded someplace when it happens, plus towing
expenses if your car has an automatic or is too heavy to push-start),
I think I’d rather just use a little more gas, thank you.
Geoff
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Geoff Miller + + + + + + + + Sun Microsystems
geo…@purplehaze.Corp.Sun.COM + + + + + + + + Menlo Park, California
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In article <paditha.775684168@hubcap> padi…@hubcap.clemson.edu (Prakash L ADITHAM) writes:
!Hi,
!Driving an automatic is no doubt easier than driving a stick shift and therefore can be said to be less susceptible to misuse. However one does see certaain
!cars with bad A/T’s even though the mileage is not very high. Assuming that the
!maintenance schedules have been adhered to, I think it only leaves out driving habits as a possible cause. I have a few questions which are perhaps
!interrelated.
!
!1.Can someone please inform me of ways to avoid putting undue strain on one’s
!A/T and prolonging its life. (ie besides driving it very hard or flooring the
! gas pedal everytime, which I think are things to naturally avoid)
Yeah, don’t put your auto in Neutral while you rev it up to 7k and then throw
it into D to get max acceleration!
I’ve done this to my 82 Celica GT, but reved it up to 5k, then dropped to D.
Those were my college daze trying to race a Nissan 200SX. The Celica is
still running strong and no signs of problems with the transmission. Sezs
alot about my Japanese made Celica – they’re great!
Gary
In <31jmkm$…@gap.cco.caltech.edu> p…@cco.caltech.edu (Paul J. Brewer) writes:
>Shift to neutral at long lights. The AT heats up when you are sitting with
>it in drive and the brake on.
>You’ll also notice a decrease in vibration if you have a 4cyl.
I disagree. You’ll wear it out more shifting in and out of gear than you would
just sitting still in Drive.
Graham
’69 Volkswagen Squareback
(with a primitive fully automatic transmission)
—
Graham E. Thomas * Nacho, Nacho Man!
Georgia Institute of Technology * I wanna be, a Nacho Man!
Internet: grah…@oit.gatech.edu * - Homer Simpson
In <31mchr$…@jethro.Corp.Sun.COM> geo…@purplehaze.Corp.Sun.COM (Geoff Miller) writes:
>This reminds me of a scheme for increasing fuel efficiency that
>rears its ugly head from time to time: shutting off the engine
>at red lights.
Volkswagen sells a Golf model in Europe with this system. I believe the
starter motor is beefed up to cope with the tremendous stress that it is
subjected to. The Eco Golf will even shut itself off while coasting I think,
and then start up automatically when the gas pedal is pressed. It’s a
pretty sophisticated system and it works pretty well, but it’s expensive.
–
Graham E. Thomas * Nacho, Nacho Man!
Georgia Institute of Technology * I wanna be, a Nacho Man!
Internet: grah…@oit.gatech.edu * - Homer Simpson