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Neutral drops are really best avoided. I got two out of my Oldsmobile before grenading the transmission. Thats a very similar 400 series GM box than is used in a number of the Jags as well. 2nd gear is the issue as its reverse rotation of the "drum" and to shift into or out of 2nd going up or down the trans has to fully stop and then spin up the other way. Theres a lot of forces going on there and abusing it too much at the same time kills it. You need to be carefull how you do burnouts in '400 boxed cars for the same reason.
inhibitor switch prevents you starting in anything but P or N. CHeck it works... My Olds has no inhibitor and will start in gear. Luckily it was only a hedge in front of me when I discovered this...
I tend to left foot brake in autos. Its a habit i have got in from driving a few which were shonky runners.
There is some engine braking in an auto. Not as much as a manual but there is some and shifting down will also induce engine braking.
I have also been advised a few time to set the handbrake BEFORE putting the car in Park. This means the brake takes the load if the car is on a hill, not the trans. Also lessens the risk of that nasty clunk when you select drive.
Autos are great. I prefer them. Especially with a V8 up front...
Once you know your car you can control it pretty well from the loud pedal and you know when it will shift up/down.
Most autos will also give part throttle down shifts as well, its only usually the older ones (or broken ones!) which won't.
Dodgy upshifts are often caused by a problem with the vacuum hose to the trans. A chap I know picked up a car real cheap because the auto box was trash but all it needed was the vacuum hose replacing. 50p later, fully working trans.
Slippage or otherproblems can also be down to incorrect fluid level. I fell into this trap when I first went into autos. Trans fluid level is checked with trans hot (drive for 10-15 minutes before checking) and the car at normal idle in park or neutral (check which your owners manual recommends). If you check the fluid with the engine off and the fluid cold you'll never get enough fluid in the box!
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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[threadjack]Rmad- don't buy a delica, they rot like fook round the front chassis legs, subframes, steering box mounts, you get the idea[/threadjack]
with older auto's I was always told not to manually downshift them, certainly capri boxes self destruct after doing this for a while.
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MWF
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,945
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I love driving my dads Volvo.
I always put it in snow mode because the modern auto box simply isn't american-auto-like enough imo.
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Auto's = a big fat MEH from me.
Even in a Range Rover I'd prefer a manual shift.
The only auto I've had was the Sceptre, which was fine for dawdling round town, scaring grannies, but on a bit of proper road it just removes all the fun.
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Jan 31, 2007 10:35:01 GMT
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ah, the only auto you have had doesn't have the power...
I love the feeling of the thing spooling up the trans with 480 lb of torque ready for action... Thats the ticket...
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Jan 31, 2007 10:36:09 GMT
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[with older auto's I was always told not to manually downshift them, certainly capri boxes self destruct after doing this for a while. I hear peopole say this but I think its an old wives take. Would they put the function there if it wasn;t to be used? |
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Jan 31, 2007 11:07:01 GMT
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I used to thrash the hell out of Borg Warner on my 1850HL, great autobox that was - fantastically clean and sharp shifts, nice kickdown too - engine had a fair punt so could spool up quite nicely, suprise some people from the lights at least ;D I drove that thing like a manual, hahaa....Fantastic around town and for cruising as well  |
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Jan 31, 2007 13:06:56 GMT
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Autos in big thirsty cars are normally teh win. However I drove a mini automatic once and it was the worst car I have ever driven, i'd rather get pushed naked down a sandpaper slide with my nuts tucked under my @ss than drive one of those every day. utterly horrible.
I'm sure old LJK setright wrote an article about how to drive an automatic car 'properly'. I'm sure it involved travelling at 120mph whilst smoking some full strength cigs, but will have been a great read. I bought a load of early 90's CAR mags off eBay and I think i saw it in one of those.
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1972 Fiat 130 1985 Talbot Alpine 1974 Lancia Beta Saloon 1975 + 1986 Mazda 929 Koop + Wagon 1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica 1977 Toyota Carina TA14 BEST CAR EVER!!!!!!!! 1979 Datsun B310 Sunny 4-dr 1984 Audi 200 Quattro Turbo 1983 Honda Accord 1.6 DX GONE1989 Alfa 75 2.0 TS Mr T says: TREAT YO MOTHER RIGHT! |
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Stu
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,913
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Jan 31, 2007 13:35:36 GMT
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Auto's can be fun even without loads of power. My Mk1 Golf is an auto, 1500cc and about 70bhp but it's a very lightweight car. You do definitely adopt a different driving style in an auto, perhaps it's the whacking great carbs on mine but I drive it 'yank style' - ie. one arm out of the window, very relaxing, occasional bursts of acceleration to make a nice woof noise from the engine, good fun!  I tend to just keep it in 'D' unless I stop for a long time at a junction in which case I shift to 'N' and stick the handbrake on. You adapt to it really quickly and it soon feels odd to have to bother with a clutch and gearstick when you get in your other car! |
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'89 BMW E30 325i Sport, '04 MINI Cooper S, '09 Volvo V70 D5
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Jan 31, 2007 13:37:10 GMT
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So, can the box be in park when the engine is running at idle? Or should you switch off before putting in park, and move out of park before starting?
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Jan 31, 2007 13:40:15 GMT
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Yea you can run the engine in park - you're supposed to start it in park preferably, as it prevents you flying off anywhere ;D Oh and you can't start automatics in drive, or any of the 1/2/3/R combinations as it should be inhibited and will result in nothing happening if you turn the key. You also can't bump-start an auto, so don't try  |
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Last Edit: Jan 31, 2007 13:40:46 GMT by Lewis
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Jan 31, 2007 13:48:14 GMT
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stopping process...
brake to a halt on the footbrake. Apply handbrake. Put lever in P. turn off engine.
Starting process...
(with lever in P) start engine, apply foot brake, select D, release handbrake, release foot brake, accelerate...
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Jan 31, 2007 14:08:48 GMT
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don't forget the weird autos that you get on dafs, I forget the name of them but they run off rubber bands basically. they're meant to be very fun. My mum used to have a 1400 Rover 100 (metro to everyone here) It was an auto but had a similar type of transmission to dafs, not like on larger cars. It was like driving a go-kart. very nippy and great accelleration. The mum-in-law has a W reg auto micra. very VERY slow. milk float like infact. Horrible. Ive heard that the type of gearbos used in the metro is used on several modern autos nowadays.
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1987 Maestro 1.6 HL perkins diesel conversion 1986 Audi 100 Avant 1800cc on LPG 1979 Allegro Series 2 special 4 door 1500cc with vynil roof. IN BITS. HERITAGE ISSUES.  |
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Stu
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,913
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Jan 31, 2007 14:19:23 GMT
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Daf was 'variomatic' was it not? Like a CVT sort of thing?
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'89 BMW E30 325i Sport, '04 MINI Cooper S, '09 Volvo V70 D5
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Jan 31, 2007 14:21:05 GMT
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Was not 'variomatic' theorectically just as fast in reverse as forwards, due to the band thingy...?
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Jan 31, 2007 14:26:22 GMT
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Was not 'variomatic' theorectically just as fast in reverse as forwards, due to the band thingy...? Variomatic, thats it! Yes, they would go as fast in reverse as they would forward. |
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1987 Maestro 1.6 HL perkins diesel conversion 1986 Audi 100 Avant 1800cc on LPG 1979 Allegro Series 2 special 4 door 1500cc with vynil roof. IN BITS. HERITAGE ISSUES. |
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Jan 31, 2007 15:55:36 GMT
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i driv my first auto on saturday too, to london.
it didnt enjoy being left in drive when sitting in traffic so i put it in neutral everytime, it was a £150 scorpio and i was 100m away from home so played it safe ;D
i left foot brake naturally so i used a foot for each pedal.
much prefer actual manuals though, couldnt manage to get this thing over 5000 rpm no matter how hard i snapped on the pedal ;D
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Jan 31, 2007 16:07:46 GMT
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On many autoboxes you can adjust the shift points for part and what shift as well as kick down at full or part throttle. Also your engine may not be able to rev over 5000...
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Jan 31, 2007 16:42:47 GMT
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,962
Club RR Member Number: 71
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Jan 31, 2007 16:59:45 GMT
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LOL Me neither - Park every time ;D |
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