Engine braking...which gear(s)?

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FlipTrac_511

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Which gear does engine braking (?) occur? Was it 1st, 2nd, or either? Also, is it harmless to manually (down)shift to either gear on the fly? I used to do this every now and again on my old Ranger 3.0 to decrease speed on the highway when I spotted a patrol car/bike and didn't want my brake lights attracting them. The Ranger never broke down on me or anything but it was highly neglected and I did notice some slipping on rare occassions.



Anyhow, I won't be downshifting on the freeways in my Trac but I'd like to minimize braking when going downhill on some roads.
 
Lets look at the big picture. A brake job will cost less than $100.00. A tranny will cost $3,000.00.



Which would you rather wear out brakes or tranny?



I guess I see no advantage of downshifting your tranny, on an automatic, to save your brakes.





Tom
 
The rule is whatever gear you used to go up the hill is the same gear you use to go down the hill. Unless these are steep hills with low speed limits you're talking about, running in a lower gear might be too slow, and there is no way to force a gear other then 1 or 2 that I know of.
 
Of course I'm trying to avoid breaking anything especially the trans. If it's detrimental to the transmission, why does the feature even exist on our 4.0s? What are its proper applications anyway? Must the driver park the Trac first, before manually shifting to either first or second gear? Thanks!



Tiger, yes the roads have low speed limits but if you're not constantly riding the brakes, your speed will pick up momentum pretty quickly. And yes I'm only concerned with 1st and 2nd gear.
 
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The braking is not done by the tranny. It is the coupling of the tranny pushing against the engine.





Tom
 
What your doing is using the torque converter back wards, The Fluid coupling as stated above is what is slowing you down.... The converter has a "sprag" gear in it, when the converter goes from drive to driven, the sprag has a 1 way clutch that locks and uses the tranny fluid to try to raise the engine RPM and since the engine has no air flow from your foot, it slows the truck down.



This creates heat in the transmission and extra wear on the clutches.



In an emergency it is ok, but I know too many people that did ti on a daily basis and guess what, they cooked the tranny.....



Best thing if you need a constant slow down is to simply use a lower gear on the tranny, Put the truck in (2) or take the O/D off and let it work that way....



Any gear will engine brake on our trucks, it is the speed your going to allow the gear ratio to work for you...

 
I downshift all the time, put over 100k on several cars, never hurt anything. It is extremely hilly where I live, steep ones too. On the highway just switch off the OD if you see a cop.

That said, I've always changed the tranny fluid on my vehicles when I'm supposed to.

My wife steadfastly refuses to downshift out of OD on hills and the rotors on her Taurus are warped pretty much all the time. Gawd knows what the brake fluid looks like.
 
Larry, Under 160 is Great, 160-170 is normal, 200+ is towing and above would be hot...



Normal not towing should be 160-170



Todd Z
 
My opinion is that people with automatic transmissions that live in states without snow, never take their vehicle off-road and never tow anything could (and probably should) go their whole car's life without ever shifting into low-1, or low-2.



TJR
 
I have never shifted my vehicle into low 1 and only low 2 when in snow for extra traction. I live in a hilly area.





Tom
 
OK, I'm going to pour through my collected data. I'm still trying to troubleshoot the tranny before I have to take it in. It seems to only start screwing up after it warms up. I'm thinking the old fluid might have alot to do with it.
 
I use this technique not to reduce wear of the brakes, but to keep them from fading too much on mountain roads.



Trac_511 - for my '01, "2" puts the transmission in second gear for moving from a stop on low friction surfaces. You can use this for driving too, but keep an eye on the RPM. "1" is as it seems, except for when driving at freeway speeds. At freeway speeds, shifting to 1 will place the transmission in third gear until the speed gets down to about 30 MPH, then it will down shift to first. This is in the Owner's manual.

 
Thanks everyone, for the feedback. Will avoid 'forcing' engine braking now that I know it's not for 'normal' use.
 

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