Neutral Gear Faster Than Drive Gear

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Nah, I wanted to know, too. I think when we're in lower gear we take off faster but it doesn't give more torque like Chris said.

 

I must of wrote it wrong, are you saying the automatic wont shift when its in the 3 slot or 2L slot? When I go up hill and I put it into the 3rd slot (what I call a lower gear) it will shift, or at least I remember it shifting automatically. I don't use it that much in that gear.

I would consider it giving the truck more "torque" or more of a mechanical advantage since it is in a lower gear, or what I consider a lower gear. It sure is a lot easier going up hill on the road, and seems like it has more torque over the 4D gear or slot. And I'm not saying more toque over the stock specs, just when going up hill versus the "higher gear" or 4D slot.

 

I never knew this about being in neutral. I didn't think it really did anything but I never would really do it because I just figured it would be bad.

 

what about when used on trails.. or for me runnin thro the desert quick... lol

 

If your going through the desert fast than you can keep it in D slot, or 3 slot. If your on trails going uphill than you can put it into the 2L slot or 3 slot. It all depends on how steep the road your going up. A lower number "or gear" for hill that is steeper.

 

coo... thanks fellas appreciate the info... tim i hope u got something outta of it as well...

 

The reason the truck goes faster in neutral than in drive is because while in drive our trucks use the engine to brake while coasting. As far as downshifting into the lower gears with automatics, if your tranny is searching between drive and the next lower gear while going up a hill, then shift down a gear to avoid the tranny overheating. While offroading, I personally shift down into the lower gears going up steep hills, but switch back into drive or 4th gear as soon as possible. I mainly use the lower gears for engine breaking while going down hills on pavement and while off road instead of constantly useing the brakes. If the grade is really steep going down while offroad, I shift into 1st or 2nd gear and hit the down hill assist switch.

 

ay is engine breaking bad..?? and what exactly is it doing..?? sorry for the newb questions lol

 

agree, former friend destroyed the transmission on a 99 Neon R/T sport, and on a 2007 Nissan Frontier SE 4X4 by messing with the gears like that on an auto tranny.

 

Well yeah because when your in the lower number slots "or gears" it is not needed to go fast so it wont shift into the higher gears.

 

Because you are coasting....

Keeping it in Drive and you let off the gas, the resistance in the engine (engine braking) slows you down.

 

I live in the mountains and it's a 20min drive downhill to reach the city, lots of turns. I select '3' or '2' and use the engine to brake, if I didn't do this I would be changing pads every month. I don't see the need to select these gears when going uphill, I just give it more gas and the tranny downshifts.

 

Way back when, automatic transmissions had both a front oil pump and a rear oil pump, the rear one being driven by the output shaft, so coasting in Neutral wouldn't do any harm. The practice was known as "Hillbilly Overdrive", and many thought it improved fuel economy. In reality, though, it didn't save much gas at all, and it was illegal in most, if not all, states. As an aside, when slush boxes had rear oil pumps, it was possible to push start the car just like with a manual tranny as long as you could get it up to 30 mph before putting it in gear.

I believe it was around the 60's or 70's when manufacturers quit putting rear oil pumps in their transmissions, and that's when coasting in neutral became a really bad idea. The engine is driving the front and only oil pump at idle speed, but the transmission parts, particularly the planetary gear sets, are turning at whatever speed the vehicle is traveling. Moreover, with the tranny being in neutral, transmission fluid isn't being routed to where it's needed for proper lubrication. It doesn't take much of that before things start binding up and coming apart.

On the matter of gear selection with an automatic, I sure wish manufacturers would go back to single speed gearing in the lower gears. If, for example, you put the selector in "2", the tranny will still start out in 1st gear before shifting to 2nd. There are times, however, when it's better to start in a higher gear to prevent wheel spin. To my mind, "2" and "3" should be just that, 2nd and 3rd, with the shift sequence starting with 1st only in "4" and "D". I suspect, however, that I can only dream on that one.

 

Not a newb question at all IMO.
Engine braking is generally good. What is happening is that when you take your foot off the gas, the engine no longer drives the wheels and instead the drive wheels can turn the engine. Above a certain RPM, the engine controls probably even turn the fuel off and you just have a big piston air pump. It takes work to pump and that slows the truck down. It is more noticeable on my Taco because the transmission control seems to be pretty aggressive about down shifting when coasting.

This saves your brake linings. An extreme example is when towing or carrying heavy loads in hilly country. We were in WV this summer and following a Suburban towing a trailer over a pass. As soon as we got over, I could smell hot brake linings. Further down the hill, I saw smoke starting to come from the Suburban's wheel wells. Before we got to the bottom, smoke was billowing from the wheel wells. That driver was an idiot and should have shifted to a lower gear to let the engine provide some braking. He wasn't going that fast, but I dare not pass him because I had every expectation that his brakes would fail (they did not) and I did not want to be in front of him when that happened.

 

3 questions

Could putting the engine in neutral for no more than like 3-6 seconds while coasting hurt much?

What about putting the engine in neutral when stopped, say at a long red light? I wouldn't think it would do anything bad because the tranny isn't spinning right?

I once read that manual shifting in the automatics is electronically controlled and won't go down the gear if it's going to over rev the engine, does this apply to not shifting upwards when necesarry the engine will automatically shift up to prevent damage or will it just ping off the limiter until you shift it up?

 

Thanks Chris
I never thought about being in an emergency situation and then forgetting to do that in the heat of the moment.