Change Gears In Auto

[Lucian Devotta]

Hi,

I have a 2006 B/New Premio, it has done just under 17,000kms. It has a automatic gear box. Lately it hesitates to accelerate beyond 80kmph. When you press on the accelerator instead of the smooth jet sound it had before it now gives out a 'brrrr brrrr' sound and does not pickup as it used to do.

I took it to Toyota on Saturday, I was instructed as below

Probable diagnosis - Injections nozles etc may have corrosion deposits from petrol.

Probable Solution - Use a petrol additive to clean out the system

Further I was also told I have not used the gear box correctly. I was told I should shift 'up' or 'down' the gears to slow the car etc. I always put to drive and wait for the gears to change in its own pace. (I do not push it)

Please let me know are these correct? Should I follow these instructions?

[Devinda_Z]

Hi,

I have a 2006 B/New Premio, it has done just under 17,000kms. It has a automatic gear box. Lately it hesitates to accelerate beyond 80kmph. When you press on the accelerator instead of the smooth jet sound it had before it now gives out a 'brrrr brrrr' sound and does not pickup as it used to do.

I took it to Toyota on Saturday, I was instructed as below

Probable diagnosis - Injections nozles etc may have corrosion deposits from petrol.

Probable Solution - Use a petrol additive to clean out the system

Further I was also told I have not used the gear box correctly. I was told I should shift 'up' or 'down' the gears to slow the car etc. I always put to drive and wait for the gears to change in its own pace. (I do not push it)

Please let me know are these correct? Should I follow these instructions?

really??

can anyone clarify this?

isn't the point of having a slush box being able to stick it into "D" and just let it do its business??

[VVTi]

really??

can anyone clarify this?

isn't the point of having a slush box being able to stick it into "D" and just let it do its business??

I find it rather amusing that Toyota itself is saying this nonsense! There is no such thing as 'manually' shifting an 'auto'.

Sigh.....

First of all are you sure about the mileage in your car?

ATF needs to be changed circa 30-35k in SL. Earlier if possible. The hesitation and the 'non jet' sound could be that.

Get the ATF changed at some reputed place and do a Fuel System Cleaner and see.

Also, how you are driving the auto is correct. D is the general mode unless you are towing something or going up some steep hill with a full load. Colombo driving is just D. That's it.

[jaga]

My car doesn't have a overdrive button on the lever. It has D D3 and 2. Agent told me to engage to D3 while driving in the city. i.e. no overdrive is engaged.

[VVTi]

My car doesn't have a overdrive button on the lever. It has D D3 and 2. Agent told me to engage to D3 while driving in the city. i.e. no overdrive is engaged.

forget the OD button... just drive it in D... Peopel in SL make up rules along the way when it comes to driving an Auto... they make it sound like rocket science sometimes.

If you are that keen in constantly messing with the gear lever while driving, get a manual

[seeker]

My car doesn't have a overdrive button on the lever. It has D D3 and 2. Agent told me to engage to D3 while driving in the city. i.e. no overdrive is engaged.

You wouldn't happen to drive around in a "Power of Dreams", eh? Cos' I was told the same story at that place... I thanked the fellow & ignored the advice...

[Ruslan]

My car doesn't have a overdrive button on the lever. It has D D3 and 2. Agent told me to engage to D3 while driving in the city. i.e. no overdrive is engaged.

Well even i found out that later on. apparently it was the correct way. if the vehicle equip without an OD switch and got D 3 2 and L and lets say that your driving your car in heavy traffic it is said to be drive in 3. if not the gear box will not last long with the mechanical stress you put on with constant change of gears while its on D (With Overdrive). for vehicles with OD switch, you should always turned it off driving in heavy traffic. this is the correct way of driving with an ECT type Autoboxes. no idea how this works with CVT trannys.

and about Toyota ECT trannys. you should always use TYPE T-IV oil or Mobil ATF 3309

Edited December 9, 2008 by Ruslan

[seeker]

Well even i found out that later on. apparently it was the correct way. if the vehicle equip without an OD switch and got D 3 2 and L and lets say that your driving your car in heavy traffic it is said to be drive in 3. if not the gear box will not last long with the mechanical stress you put on with constant change of gears while its on D (With Overdrive). for vehicles with OD switch, you should always turned it off driving in heavy traffic. this is the correct way of driving with an ECT type Autoboxes. no idea how this works with CVT trannys.

and about Toyota ECT trannys. you should always use TYPE T-IV oil or Mobil ATF 3309

Machan, sorry for my ignorance, but doesn't the transition to O/D come into play only of the vehicle speed exceeds a certain speed? in my car, the final gearshift takes place around 70km/h... (as indicated by the feel and also reduction in RPM)

In heavy Colombo traffic, such speeds are usually not reached, hence, the gears will simply change between the first few only..

If we are talking hill country driving, of course then switching off O/D may make sense...

Experts, pls correct me if I'm wrong...

[mazdaspeed]

forget the OD button... just drive it in D... Peopel in SL make up rules along the way when it comes to driving an Auto... they make it sound like rocket science sometimes.

If you are that keen in constantly messing with the gear lever while driving, get a manual

Bloody well said VVTi.....

It's absolutly crazy how these goons come up with this kind of CRAP in the first place.

[Devinda_Z]

this thread can use someone like Maithri with the technical know how to put all these notions right and doubts to rest

[Ruslan]

Machan, sorry for my ignorance, but doesn't the transition to O/D come into play only of the vehicle speed exceeds a certain speed? in my car, the final gearshift takes place around 70km/h... (as indicated by the feel and also reduction in RPM)

In heavy Colombo traffic, such speeds are usually not reached, hence, the gears will simply change between the first few only..

If we are talking hill country driving, of course then switching off O/D may make sense...

Experts, pls correct me if I'm wrong...

I think when you driving in 3 (Without OD) you driving in different gear ratios. i have observe this in my car. when it's in D (With OD), Transmission shifts quicker to next gear and when it's in 3 (Without OD) takes more RPMs to shift to next gear. imagine when you drive your car in stop and go traffic and your Transmission keeps on shifting around 1 and 2 constantly (Guess it's bad for the Transmission). well let's ask from Maithri about this matter. maybe he's got a good explanation than us.

[Watchman]

I think when you driving in 3 (Without OD) you driving in different gear ratios. i have observe this in my car. when it's in D (With OD), Transmission shifts quicker to next gear and when it's in 3 (Without OD) takes more RPMs to shift to next gear. imagine when you drive your car in stop and go traffic and your Transmission keeps on shifting around 1 and 2 constantly (Guess it's bad for the Transmission). well let's ask from Maithri about this matter. maybe he's got a good explanation than us.

The OD simple disengages the Final gear on the A/T... nothing more nothing less...

And the RPM at which the gear changes is based on how rapidly you step on the gas.. if you're stepping on it and increasing the gas at a minimal rate the gears would change at lower RPMs. If you're stepping on it a bit harder the engine will rev up relatively higher before changing gears. And if you simply just full flat out and step n it, it3 will actually downshift a gear to get that extra umph and horsepower for a quick acceleration.

[Ruslan]

actually I'm talking about this...

D3 or 3 – This mode is found in Honda, Acura and Pontiac 4-speed automatics and only uses the first 3 gears. According to the manual, it is used for stop & go traffic, such as city driving. This mode is also found in Honda and Acura 5-speed automatics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_transmission

This is my Shifter..

[NPP]

in my vios i got P R N D 2 L with an OD switch

L- maximum engine breaking, u can feel it. dusnt shift to 2nd gear.

2- Moderate engine breaking, shifts to 2, no more.

D with OD off - shifts to 3 and no engine breaking; with OD on it shifts one further at the appropriate speed.

i heard it as this,

climbing a steep hill - drive on L since it will not try to shift to 2nd therfore no pressure on the tranny. If its on D it will try to shift cos of the rpm but there will be not enuf speed

going down a hill - drive on 2 and it will be easy to brake and control.

[Devinda_Z]

in my vios i got P R N D 2 L with an OD switch

L- maximum engine breaking, u can feel it. dusnt shift to 2nd gear.

2- Moderate engine breaking, shifts to 2, no more.

D with OD off - shifts to 3 and no engine breaking; with OD on it shifts one further at the appropriate speed.

i heard it as this,

climbing a steep hill - drive on L since it will not try to shift to 2nd therfore no pressure on the tranny. If its on D it will try to shift cos of the rpm but there will be not enuf speed

going down a hill - drive on 2 and it will be easy to brake and control.

now that sounds more like it

[jaga]

When I am driving at D mode at the traffic it shifts to the 4th gear even it reach to 50 km/hr if you remove the foot from the paddle and gently presh. Threfore it rapidly changes if the traffic is congested. So if you love your honda gear box better to drive at D3 when at the traffic.

[Ruslan]

When I am driving at D mode at the traffic it shifts to the 4th gear even it reach to 50 km/hr if you remove the foot from the paddle and gently presh. Threfore it rapidly changes if the traffic is congested. So if you love your honda gear box better to drive at D3 when at the traffic.

well it's a Corolla 122 Machan (Same Gear Box as Celica GT : U341E). differs than 121 (1500CC version) got the info (Drive in 3 in Stop ad go traffic) from Agents as well.

[Lucian Devotta]

Wow guys thanks, I wasn't able to login there are so many replies. One last help so do I change gears or not, what's the final?

mm well to answer. Yep sure about the mileage (personally got down). One thing I did forget to mention was at approx 15k Toyota did a tuneup and with it changed the plugs. Also after writing this mail I took it to a service station on Nawala road '3M?'. he had a look and said the throttle too can do with a bit of cleaning.

Note: I've always used super petrol

I'm totally confused to be honest. Where do I start is there something wrong in how I change gears. Do I actually need to do this cleaning?

please help

[Watchman]

hello i too have had a Auto Transmission issue pop up recently.

The vehicle's a '98 Grand Vitara. As of late when the vehicle's started in the morning and when you try to back out the driveway, the riverse gear does not engage even though the lever is on "R". At first you needed to rev the engine a bit and the gear would suddenly engage with a slight nudge. Now the situation has escalated and you need to rev up a fair deal before the gear engages, and this means the gear suddenly engages, giving you a bit of wheel spin and sending you rocketing back.

Has anyone had any experience with something like this?

Thanks

[Mani]

There is a lot of misinformation about this issue.

The hesitation to accelerate past a given speed has nothing to do with your transmission. It is something with in your engine. Based on what you described, I would suspect a dirty fuel filter or clogged injectors. I would also look into the fuel pick up which is located in the fuel tank. However, unless there was some dirt that got into the fuel tank, I doubt that fuel system is the culprit. The symptoms sounds a lot like fuel starvation.

There is a self diagnose system built into your car. You need to jump two connectors that is in the diagnostic port which is located either on your wire harness toward the fire wall inside the engine bay or it is just below your steering shaft. Refer to your owners manual to find out where you diagnostic port is. It will also show you which terminals you need to jump to activate the self diagnose. Once you activate the self diagnose feature it should flash a code which is generally your check engine light. If all is normal it will flash at a steady speed. If there is something wrong, then it will flash-pause-flash again. The way to identify the code is by counting the flash.

What I mean by this is: For example, if the check engine light flash steadily twice then pause and flash tree times, the error code will be 23 and so on.

Once this code is identified, you can refer to the repair manual or call a reputable Toyota mechanic to find out what that code means. This is one way to quickly identify if there is a sensor or something else is faulty. If you can't find someone reputable to give you the information on the error code, if there is one, just e-mail me the code information and I'll look it up for you. My e-mail addy is [email protected]

That said, don't listen to anyone who tell you to manually shift gears on your auto trans. It utter crap and made up useless BS. Your auto trans gears are shifted by electric solenoids. The point at which the gears are sifted is based on your engine load and speed.

Rush hour traffic in Los Angeles is some of the worst in the world. I drive my car daily about 100 miles to and from work doing 20-30mph stop and go traffic and never move the shifter from D at any point. I have put hundred of thousand miles over the years with zero issues or ever having to move the shifter manually.

Here is my initial impression.

1. Faulty water temperature sensor

2. Faulty throttle position sensor

3. Faulty speed sensor

3. Faulty ECU

This is assuming that you don't have any foreign matter in your fuel system.

Sample of what your diagnostic port should look like. Yours may be different but this will give you an idea as to what it look like.

Where the wire it pluged into.

This is if it's in the engine conpartment. May not be next to the fuse box but it'll look similar.

Good luck.

Edited December 11, 2008 by Mani