Seals, valve bodies, main pumps, one way clutches in the staters......... Bad things happen when main line pressure doubles or more at speed.....
Truck shifting advice (automatic)
like i said above, ive seen a S10 and Caravan blow their trannys when downshifted accidentally. ive done it at somewhat slow speeds and you can feel how bad it is on the tranny
Tell me more about your truck....... Over sized tires??? Lift kit??? anything like that? Different PCM programming, maybe a trans tune????
BONE stock with the exception of a train horn kit.
its a 2010 tundra crewmax limited with the 5.7 engine
4wd (used in 2)
automatic 6 speed tranny with all the goodies from their comercials
has tow haul, gay fake manual sport mode which only limits the gear your set in, EX-redline in first and never shift up, but if your in 3rd, it will use 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, but no higher.
Been in 2 minor accidents with no mechanical damage, only damage to the bed, fixed properly and fixed extremely well.
shift colum looks like this
P
R
(down) N
S------ D
(up)
you're that guy.
45 deg slope = 100% grade.
ie, you are full of sh1t.
ie, you are full of sh1t.
In all honesty, sounds like tis jsut a steep hill in which you should hit slower int ehf rist place so it doesnt slam into first. That, or know the feelign when its going to shift to first, and back off the throttle when it does, the more your on the accelerator, the harder its going to shift.
How long is this hill?? seriously a 45 degree hill is friggin STEEP, not saying you wont see them, hell there are a few down the road from me, but a 45 degree is steeper than a boat launch ramp, and most any vehicle shouldnt be able to make it up that in anything but first.
I think your slam into first really isnt a slam, just hitting a rather low gear and the feeling may just be the nature of the beast for this one.
As for the sensitivity of yoru accelerator..... Welcome to drive by wire systems. Youll get used to it as you drive it more.
it's the eiger.
Good to know, as i said, it may be 30, but lookin at it, its steep, and the steepness isnt the problem, its the stop sign at the top. Would this "problem" be much different if it was 25-30 degrees?
The problem is in your head.
I just don't see a reasonably new automatic working any less than perfect under normal operating conditions. Driving along the street is nothing that this truck shouldn't be able to handle. Even if the hill is steep. It has a huge V8 and can probably tow around 10,000 pounds. If you have it in tow/haul mode...then it might shift into first with some force, but not if you just put it in normal drive.
I just don't see a reasonably new automatic working any less than perfect under normal operating conditions. Driving along the street is nothing that this truck shouldn't be able to handle. Even if the hill is steep. It has a huge V8 and can probably tow around 10,000 pounds. If you have it in tow/haul mode...then it might shift into first with some force, but not if you just put it in normal drive.
Last edited:
Get a new bumper and drive like a man.
Real men don't stop. But real men do pull out.
Real men don't stop. But real men do pull out.
No, even a 25-30 degree hill is pretty damn steep to see.
I just think most of it is in your head and your foot. leave i out of tow mode, and just slow down for the hill........ Between the DBW throttle, and the six speed trans your getting a pretty big reduction in first so it probably does feel like a slam, mostly because withthe DBW, foot still or not the throttle changes during the shift.... so reguardless its like your letting off and hitting the gas again.... Just how that system works.
get a girlfreind who doesnt live on a hill.
I will admit this, I assumed I was doing no damage to my transmission, under the assumption that the electronics would protect the transmission and engine as they do with so many other things on a car these days. So after you called me out, I sent a link to this thread, to two of my friends, followed it up to a phone call to each, tranny guy #2 picked up the phone.
1. is an ASE certified technician who rebuilds transmissions on the side. He doesn't "just do trannsmissions" in his garage and hack them together, he's been doing them for years and is very good at what he does. I'll leave it at that, because I don't care to get into any sort of "credentials" pissing match with you.
2. A prototype technician in the automotive industry here in the "D". Education to back up his daily job. He also rebuilds transmissions on the side. Did 3 plow truck transmissions for my brother, explained EXACTLY why each transmission failed. (All on new 2003+ trucks). Saved my brother a TON of money by fixing only what failed unlike the tranny shop who wanted to do nothing short of a complete rebuild. Again, he knows his **** and has a great local reputation.
Tranny guy #2's response......first he LOL'd.
Then he said "mainline pressure through the roof?" LOL.
Premature wear? Maybe, but nothing significant. He then went on to explain that downshifting like this to use engine breaking while towing although not as effective as with a manual, is perfectly fine with an automatic. The only way a trans can have its pressure go through the roof is most likely from a faulty part IE: a bad EPC, stuck pressure regulator valve, stuck boost valve.... Downshifting will not cause anyone of these to fail. All of the trans you listed have an EPC solenoid (electronic pressure control) that is regulated via voltage from the ecm. Smaller transmissions can possibly receive a little undo stress on some hard parts from downshifting like this if towing a significant amount of weight. When I downshift like that, I try and do it around 45-50, but that is just my opinion. Is my opinion correct? I dunno, but from my experiences that is what I am comfortable with.
So with that said, I still maintain my opinion that on most of todays newer cars with electronically controlled engines and transmissions you aren't doing any damage.
I respect that you know a fair amount about cars, I'm sure you know some things I don't and vice versa. But in this instance you can say what you want, I am going to go with what I just discussed with my friend. If trans guy #1 returns my call and has conflicting information than it is what it is.
This I totally agree with. Further than this just being in his head, if this little "hill" is causing a transmission failure (down the road) because of a slightly harsh downshift than you've got bigger concerns.
This hill (which isnt all that tall) i can guarentee you is more than 11 degrees, if you do want to see some of the hairy roads i drive on, google piermont NY, the local shop is over there and the roads are nutty. if you had a 3 story house, your basement could have a deck on 1 side, and your 2nd floor would have no window, maybe ill take out the go-pro later, its nutty what people will live on
Dirtymike, thanks for the advice, dont necessarily understand all of it, but i understand it more than before.
did you ask your friends about shifting into first at speed or just down shifting in general? because you seem to always forget that part which i originally mentioned about shifting into first at speed will be bad. you seem to dance around that question and bring up the fact that accelerating from a stand still is fine so downshifting into first would be fine too.
That is exactly what I asked both of them. Told both of them I put the gear selector in first at 60, the TRANNY chose to go into second until the car was going slow enough to safely go into first.
I did it thousands of times engine breaking, towing a load in my 99 silverado that I sold with 185k on the original engine and trans.
I am not dancing around anything. I admitted i assumed it was fine based on what I knew about transmissions. I asked someone I consider to be an expert, he agreed. He rebuilds tons of transmissions at least 3-5 per week on the side. He is a prototype tech he tested transmissions at certain points in his career. If I was doing something that he felt would cost me a transmission I am pretty sure he would tell me to stop, or call me an idiot. Neither of which he did.
The only reason I brought up the fact that if I put the gear selector in 1st, and take off from a stop, do not touch the gear selector and it still shifts into second as when the engine reaches redline was to further illustrate the point that just putting the gear selector in first does not make the transmission go into first gear.
Last edited:
FWIW, if i am going down a hill, and i press the brakes, MY TRUCK (and the 4runner and camry) will downshift and hold the speed like a jakebrake. Its designed to do so, that said, its not 1st at a buck10, but it will almost always downshift and hold it (and i LOVE this feature) You wont notice it until you have it, but its real nice, makes driving even easier.
No, you can't guaruntee that, because my 96 s-10 is where I learned that this took place, my truck was bought new in feb of 1996, it was sold in 2004 with over 200k on it, and lived through myself, and 3 other brothers beating the **** out of it, with Zero transmission failures.
does that clear it up?
I've noticed this in a lot of the newer cars as well, the one I noticed it most in is one of my brothers work trucks that had the allison trans in it. Nice feature.
"Canton Avenue, a short cobbled street in Pittsburghs Beechview neighbourhood attains a whopping 37%, or 20.3°, gradient, making it the steepest public road in the United States and, quite possibly, the world."
I wouldn't be surprised if it were close to 20 degrees, but it's really hard to estimate...we always tend to think that things are steeper than they are.
Hey - do us a favor, get one of these, measure, then get back with us. You're full of $hit on this one.
I've seen driveways WAY steeper than a 37% grade.....but that's not a street.
I've driven up way steeper, like a 90 degree incline. I don't remember it, but my mom always tells me that I driven her up a tree before.
*rimshot*
Mayb not 45 degrees, but i find it hard to believe that any road isnt steeper than 20, i took a few pics on my way to school today, the pictures (like any) dont do it justice.
If you want to see a place the roads are NUTTY steep, google earth dobbs ferry NY, its just across the TZ bridget on the NY side, its hard to believe the place actually exists, some of those roads might actually be 45 degrees
Just a few hills near my house
^ one of the steeper sections, most of the roads are only 10-15 degrees, but parts of them get nutty steep. (unfortunately alot of my pics did not come out, nor was i able to take pics of some of the crazier **** due to traffic. Check out the real-estate on "tweed blvd" in piermont NY, some of the driveways could work as hill climbs
^this is the average slope of most of the hills around here, fun to drive too, scenic.
I am not here to start a pissing match with you, but ill say that not every road is documented, especially these roads, half of them look home-made, you dont have to believe me, although i do encourage you to google earth piermont NY and Dobbs ferry (across the river)
pictures make hills looks flat apparently. who woulda thunk it
did the best i could, i figured it would happen, but what can ya do, wasnt able to find a topographical map with the streets on it. o well, its just the internet. That said, i do appreciate the help i have gotten so far.
can't figure out your own bar height, can't figure out how to drive up a hill. Sheesh mandown was paralyzed for a while and he wasn't asking us how to do stuff.
I can drive up the hill, have been for a long time, but im trying to figure out why some of hte time the truck downshifts violently, the truck is fine, i just wanted to find out what i can do to prevent it, i plan on keeping the truck for a long time, didnt realize it was "normal"
Goddammit. Get one of those things and tell us EXACTLY how steep each of those hills is. They are not more than 20 degrees. You are full of $hit.
To put some of the grade stuff in perspective:
A few miles away from the Windham WC site on the back side had a long fluctuating climb where it started drizzling and the pro tour peloton had to resort to walking their bikes up some stretches. It was clean pavement and had average of 12% grade.
Just think about if you could actually ride up these "hills." Pics and standing pedestrians can change a perceived angle, but I'll assumed those porches are indeed built level and I
A few miles away from the Windham WC site on the back side had a long fluctuating climb where it started drizzling and the pro tour peloton had to resort to walking their bikes up some stretches. It was clean pavement and had average of 12% grade.
Just think about if you could actually ride up these "hills." Pics and standing pedestrians can change a perceived angle, but I'll assumed those porches are indeed built level and I