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Manually changing gears in Auto trans

5K views 15 replies 14 participants last post by  Aaron_EF8 
#1 ·
Can manually changing the gears in an auto transmission affect the wear or damage it in someway. I have shifting b/w 3rd & 4th gears in my EL XR8 without any trouble. Just wondering if there is any harm in doing this
 
#2 ·
Hey Thomas,

I'm no expert but I read somewhere that it does cause undue wear over a period of time. How much would be hard to tell. If your downshifting as part of your braking procedure they reckon it is cheaper to replace pads than a box but hey, sometimes it's fun to manual change the auto!
 
#4 ·
Sometimes downshifting is handy...otherwise brakes may overheat and fade. (obvious, but i thought i might mention it any way)
i don't see how manually shifting between 3rd n 4th will increase wear at all...unless you forget to change...alot
 
#5 ·
Shifting between 3rd and 4th is no problem - around town, you don't really even need 4th. Shifting back to second at speeds under around 80km/h is also OK, but going back to first a lot can cause problems. I use mine asa manual every time i drive - but always between 2, 3 and 4. I only ever go back to 1 when I am towing the boat up a reasonable hill.
 
#6 ·
i have a 3spd auto. I get so bored driving i always change the gears between 2nd and 3rd. I herd it is bad to put it into 1st unless u are taking off from a stop. I always when slowing down gear down to second, then when taking off i change it to 3rd when i feel the revs are high enough. I mean, if u dont have a manual, u can atleast prentend you have one.
 
#9 ·
The only "extra" wear would be from the torque coming FROM the wheels causing the gears in the box to be loaded in the opposite side of the teeth to what they normally which is acceleration - if you know what I mean. hmm tricky to try & explain what I'm thinking.

Changing down to 1st while decelerating would put a lot of extra load in that direction of the gearsets normally the gearsets would only be under load when accelerating in 1st - not when decelerating. You have to remember that the trans doesn't normally do downshifts until you drop below a certain speed - and even then only once you begin to accelerate again does it shift down.

But to be perfectly honest I don't think changing manually would be a problem in any modern trans - except maybe the downshift to 1st - and only then cos of the load coming from the wheels when it wasn't probably designed to be taking that.
 
#10 ·
I've always changed gears manually on my auto's and have never had a problem related to this.

I just replaced my auto after stuffing something unrelated but the place that swapped it for me pulled my transmission all the way down while I watched (only took 15mins). They inspected all the gearsets and bands as is was dismantled and considering the gearbox had 200k kays on it, it was still looking very healthy.

The new box is in and I'm changing gears manually still.

A theory I have is that being an electronic gearbox they dont change gears (up or down) unless certain parameters are met and therefore if its happy to change back to 1st because I tell it to, then there isn't a problem.
 
#11 ·
It does cause undue wear to the planetary gears, they are prone to being noisy in these boxes, and downshifting them will cause more wear, but as for the clutches when you manually change the gears there is higher oil pressure applied to the clutches by the transmission so it should lower clutch and band wear. I haven't found it to hurt them, although i did have an EL that when i pulled it back at 100km's an hour it would make a bit of a weird noise for a second kind of like clutches were grinding or something, but once again it never seem to hurt it.
 
#12 ·
the old 3 speed it shouldent hurt i have been told it kills 4speeds i normaly only manual shift in the wet and use the brakes lightly and find i can drive it harder in to roundabouts ect ect or i manual shift when blowing aways commies will ask the transmission bloke when i ask him about the noise my pump is makeing and will report back
 
#13 ·
I thought the '4th' gear in those cars was the stall converter dis-engaging?
Has anyone looked to see if there is 4 gears on them?

If it is just the stallie then it shouldn't make any difference to the auto going from 4th to 3rd, if there is a gear then there is a chance for wear.

My dad made a very good point to me one day when i down shifted the auto while braking... "use the brakes, it costs $60 for a new set of brake pads... $2000 for a new tranny".
 
#14 ·
xdc351 said:
I thought the '4th' gear in those cars was the stall converter dis-engaging?
Has anyone looked to see if there is 4 gears on them?

If it is just the stallie then it shouldn't make any difference to the auto going from 4th to 3rd, if there is a gear then there is a chance for wear.
Do you mean the torque converter clutch locking up not disengaging i.e. lowering the revs slightly with the positive drive? I don't think so - pretty sure they're a proper 4 spd with a lock-up as extra for fuel economy & lowering the heat in the trans.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Yep, it is a proper overdrive 4th gear, here are the ratios for a bit of usless information.

1st----2.39:1
2nd----1.45:1
3rd----1.00:1
4th----0.68:1
Reverse----2.09:1

That's why it makes sense to leave it in 3 around town and only use D on the highway.

And if you want to change gears, get a manual transmission. :)

cheers
 
#16 ·
I thought the '4th' gear in those cars was the stall converter dis-engaging?
Has anyone looked to see if there is 4 gears on them?
Yeah there is a proper 4th gear. In the AU FTe cars, the steering wheel button gear changing auto's had 5 speeds indicated on the dash, 5th being the converter lockup.
 
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