tranny questions

rickztahone

rickztahone

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Hello everyone. I finally got my car back today after a month and a half in the shop. My tranny was reconstructed and it gave those mechanics a heck of a long time to get it done. Anyway, my concern has to do with the way in which I drive my car. I'm still unsure as to why it went out and would like to avoid it happening again. So my question is, in which gear do I need to drive in on a day-to-day basis? I always used D5 before it went out. I told the mechanic this and he said that was the reason it went out because D5 is overdrive. So, do i drive D4? Do I alternate gears depending on city or highway driving? If so, do I simply switch gears while driving or do I need to stop the vehicle and then do it? Sorry for the stupid questions but I'd hate to mess my tranny up twice. Btw, fixing my tranny cost me less than what the mechanic had to pay. he had to uphold his estimate price
 
rickztahone said:
I always used D5 before it went out. I told the mechanic this and he said that was the reason it went out because D5 is overdrive.
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He's right; and an idiot! D5 is using an overdrive gear, but that certainly did not ruin your trans. You'll need to know what part failed before you can make an educated guess as to what caused the failure.
 
:I​

Keep driving it in D5.. Our D5 would be like the GMs d with the circle around it.. They also have just the d which would be our D4.. (Sorry.. GM was the only example that I could think of right now.. I'm tired and I am going to bed) D5 still shifts through all the gears.. Like LS4me said, you would have to know what caused it to fail.
 
thank you both, but i'm still not sure if i should drive on D5. the only reason i like to drive on D5 is that on the highway the rpm's are much lower at cruising speed which saves me gas. when i had initially got my car back the first time that they "fixed" it, the tranny ran like $hit. at 70mph it would be past the 3 thousand rpm's which never happened before and i went through a tank of gas in 3 days. regardless, if it's bad for my transmission to drive in D5 then i will suck it up and drive it on D4. i forgot how much i liked my LS until i got behind the wheel of mine again today. i was driving tentatively for sure, but still... hopefully nothing bad happens. the mechanic had actually had my car longer for the year of 2010 than i had :rolleyes:
 
If you really want, if your going under 40-45 mph you can use d4 with out much loss to fuel mileage.. Anything higher and you should be in D5.

I have never used D4 and have done plenty of city > 40 mph.. Of course my tranny only has 63k... so maybe its gonna break soon, but I doubt it.
 
Not to say your mechanic doesn't know what he's talking about, but I'd def look around for a new guy. I've never in my life heard that driving in D5 all the time could ruin a tranny. I would think a lot of guys on this forum and nearly any other forum drive in overdrive quite a bit. As far as I know, there isn't much difference between driving in D4 or D5 except you get that extra gear in D5, which keeps the rpms lower at highway speeds and ultimately gives you better gas mileage. D4 is a bit more responsive around town too.

If overdrive was a major cause of damaged transmissions, A LOT more people would need new transmissions and I'm pretty sure car companies would issue some sort of warning about driving in OD - sounds kinda ridiculous...
 
I drive in D5 when i drive my LSE.. It gives me ok gas mileage 13-16 in the city!
 
honestly, i use sst most of the time. If I.m not using sst, it's in d5.
 
rickztahone said:
thank you both, but i'm still not sure if i should drive on D5. the only reason i like to drive on D5 is that on the highway the rpm's are much lower at cruising speed which saves me gas. when i had initially got my car back the first time that they "fixed" it, the tranny ran like $hit. at 70mph it would be past the 3 thousand rpm's which never happened before and i went through a tank of gas in 3 days. regardless, if it's bad for my transmission to drive in D5 then i will suck it up and drive it on D4. i forgot how much i liked my LS until i got behind the wheel of mine again today. i was driving tentatively for sure, but still... hopefully nothing bad happens. the mechanic had actually had my car longer for the year of 2010 than i had :rolleyes:
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Your welcome and lol.. I have never heard that and there is no TSB out there saying don't drive in overdrive.. He probably said drive it in 1st gear at 50 too.. So he could get it back again.. lol j/k
 
That's insane. It's an automatic, it's meant to be driven around in the highest drive gear unless circumstances dictate (e.g., you're on a mountain road or you're towing or you're shifting from 4 to 5 too many times because of the speed at which you're travelling or you have some other reason for wanting to stay out of OD).

Owners manual says:
Drive 5 (Overdrive)
The normal driving position for the best fuel economy. Transmission operates in gears one through five.
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I use D5 exclusively (when not using SST), and used overdrive exclusively on my Sable and Cavalier as well. Both of those cars had close to 150k when I got rid of them and not a single transmission issue with either.

Ask around, I bet most people don't even know what gears other than D mean. Heck, even Ford is removing most of the other options from the shifters on their new cars (you just get P R N D L) - saves them $3 per car!
 
You need a better/real mechanic. I wouldn't let that one change oil. Your engine and transmission will last longer if you keep it in D5. I have two LSes, one with about 120K miles and one with around 60K miles. I always drive in D5.
 
joegr said:
You need a better/real mechanic. I wouldn't let that one change oil. Your engine and transmission will last longer if you keep it in D5. I have two LSes, one with about 120K miles and one with around 60K miles. I always drive in D5.
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Tell me about it. I guess that is why he took so long to fix my transmission. First it was a selanoid and then electrical which he had to tow it out to another mechanic, hence the job costing him more than me.
 
I used to drive mine in D4 around town and up until 60mph, then I'd switch to D5. That's just personal preference because I hated the way the car up-shifted so quick around town while in D5.
 
IIRC our transmissions are actually only 3 speeds with overdrive.
1st gear is first gear.
2nd gear is 1st gear in overdrive.
3rd gear is 3rd gear.
4th gear is 4th gear.
5th gear is 4th gear in overdrive.

Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but I think thats how it works which means OD is used on 2nd gear all the time.
 
NYC LS8 said:
I used to drive mine in D4 around town and up until 60mph, then I'd switch to D5. That's just personal preference because I hated the way the car up-shifted so quick around town while in D5.
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Same thing here. I didn't know if it was just me that perceived the quick upshifts in D5. I like SST because I don't have to worry aboutthe lag time from pedal press until it downshifts as well.
 
I have a 2000 Lincoln LS with a 3.9L. I had my solenoid c replaced and a speed sensor. I now have D1-3 and no 4th but 5th at 4000 rpm's. I am being told by1 Ford dealership that it is electrical and the other Ford shop said it is a spring or servo.
What should I believe or who. They both have the same decoder, they were identical, and gave a 0795 code/solenoid c.
 
Billmac said:
I have a 2000 Lincoln LS with a 3.9L. I had my solenoid c replaced and a speed sensor. I now have D1-3 and no 4th but 5th at 4000 rpm's. I am being told by1 Ford dealership that it is electrical and the other Ford shop said it is a spring or servo.
What should I believe or who. They both have the same decoder, they were identical, and gave a 0795 code/solenoid c.
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How many times are you going to bring this up?
 
Billmac said:
I have a 2000 Lincoln LS with a 3.9L. I had my solenoid c replaced and a speed sensor. I now have D1-3 and no 4th but 5th at 4000 rpm's. I am being told by1 Ford dealership that it is electrical and the other Ford shop said it is a spring or servo.
What should I believe or who. They both have the same decoder, they were identical, and gave a 0795 code/solenoid c.
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Okay, first I assume that you mean P0795. The letter in front of the code is important, and shouldn't be left off if you want good help.
The problem could be electrical or mechanical, but I'd go with "the other Ford shop" because when this code comes up on a Jaguar S-type, it is often the spring. You may find it in three or four pieces.

Experience, training, intelligence, and attitude are all more important than what scan tool is used.
 
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