MaxRod33

iTrader: (2)

Hey guys,

On the 2003 Max's, we can shift between 3rd and 4th on the auto's right, without harming the transmission? Or is it not good for the car to make that shift?

I also see that we have a gated shifter, so it would also be easy to shift between the other gears...would this be bad for the transmission though, like on most automatic cars? Or is it programmed to do so, like the 2004 models?

skandalouz

iTrader: (2)

probably better to let it shift on its own... i sometimes use the gate shifter when i'm at the track or something because it yields slightly better results... but other than that... i never mess with it

PWRLFT

Check out your owners manual, it tells you when to use each gear, as long as you check how fast you are going, it won't hurt (but I'm not sure).

It doesn't seem to work as quickly upshifting as downshifting, just an observation.

RAZORFISH228

I drive on 3 when I driving around because it gives you a lot of torque. On the highway I switch to D to let the RPM's stay low which preserves fuel.

As long as you keep the speed below what it says in the owners manual.

BiggD23

This is one of those topics that will be argued again and again and again as long as automatic cars exist. It's already been discussed here ad nauseum but unfortunately without the search feature most of us can't get to it, which is too bad because I think some of the older threads with alot of replies is what you're looking for. Basically, here's my Cliff Notes version...

- About 50% of the people who actually have a solid opinion will respond and say it's ok to do it.

- The other 50% of people who actually have a solid opinion will respond and say to never ever ever do it.

- The remaining responses will be from people saying to buy a manual if you want to shift and things like that.

So as you can see, no one has the 100% proven to be correct answer to your question.

NYC TAR

iTrader: (2)

I don't thnk it is ok to shift when doing a past, the car will shift for you.Plus our car are not design for this stress. Unless, you drive one of thoose Bimmer SMG trans or the newer maxima 5 speed auto tran. where thoose car are made for manual shift. you can shift all you want.

Loe max

iTrader: (6)

what do you mean the car (transmission) isn't designed for stress? not to be mean, but please explain, i'd like to hear this....

KCMichaelM

Sorry to disagree but "stress" in an automatic transmission comes from the actual act of shifting (not including "towing" in this discussion.) Given the fact that an automatic tranmission driven in city conditions will shift continually (sometimes annoyingly) back and forth between 2,3,and 4, it would be a more ideal situation to just control the shifts yourself. The wear on internal clutches in the transmission is greatly reduced when the actual number of shifts is greatly reduced.

As an example, I will always stay out of overdrive unless I am on the highway, or at least going a steady 45-50 down a main city road. If I am in rush hour traffic, I will shift into 2, or sometimes into 1, to reduce the number of automatic shifts. My 2000, at creeping speeds (rush hour) will shift into 3rd around 10 MPH, then down to 1 if I step on the gas. And as long as the car is rolling at all, it wants to be in 2nd gear, and it will continually shift 1-2-1-2 as you speed up and slow down.

Zero Deuce SE

My transmission does not shift the way yours does. One of the reasons I bought an automatic is for rush hour type stop and go traffic. The other reason is there was no price difference between the 6 speed manual and 4 speed auto. When I drive around in my small city, I always keep my tranny in D. It seems to shift at all the right times for me. You have more miles on your 2kthan I have on my 95 KingCab. You do some serious driving.

NizanDrivn

Correct me if I'm wrong, but with manual shifting on an auto, you get LOTS of engine braking in stop an go traffic. You have to stand on the gas a little more when shifting manually, rather than letting the car cruise once off the gas. This WOULD seem to actually DECREASE MPG, rather than enhance it.

You might be saving the tranny from shifting, but your putting more stress on the engine and tranny when the engine brakes for you.

The ONLY time that I use manual shifting is when driving in the snow...This is when you REALLY need the engione to slow you down.

dextterity

When i first got my auto 2000 max i started driving it "manually" especially in traffic i would keep it in 2nd to keep it from jumping into 3rd all the time when i KNOW i'm about to brake again. And driving around town i'd keep overdrive off so i'd only be using 1st 2nd and 3rd but of course staying at a regular speed. Now...when i went for service at nissan i was talking to one of the mechanics, real nice guy, knows a lot about nissans and i feel comfortable with him working on the car. I told him what i've been doing and he gave me an explanation why i shouldn't. First of all he said...you know its a computer controling your car when you shift and acctually had a picture and was pointing things out on how it works and how sometimes it'll jump from 2nd to 4th, but won't be easy to explain on here. Anyway he said that by keeping it in say 2nd is only confusing your transmission. The tranny is made to get use to the way you drive. he said to just always keep it in D and even though i thought it would do damage from shifting all the time, he said no, don't even worry about that you're thinking backwards, the shifting isn't what harms it, if you don't keep up with fluids and all, then shifting can harm the tranny. But he said if you turn off overdrive you can drive around town for as long as you want and it won't hurt the engine because the computer or whatever knows whats going on. And he basically said your main control of your transmission is through your gas pedal and stick to that. i've gotten to the point where i know if i press a tiny bit more it will work a little harder in that gear, or down shift. If you really think that dropping your shifter from D while in 4th to 2nd shifts faster, do it when it's only necessary, but the maximas tranny does down shift pretty damn fast, tho i do turn off overdrive to go from 4th to 3rd rather than just flooring it. Anyway i think thats all that i've been told, hope this helps

- deX

MaxRod33

iTrader: (2)

thanks for all the replies guys, they are very helpful...the reason I wanted to "autoshift" was not bc I think it will necessarily shift FASTER than the auto will, but more so that I control what gear I'm in better...like if I want to stay in second rather than have it shift to third then BACK to second, then I wondered if I could just shift it to second gear and then to third when I wanted it to.
Keep the replies coming and thanks again!!

bigdo26

iTrader: (3)

In stop and go, keep it in 3rd, or 2nd if its that slow. that will decrease the stress, as mentioned above, cause fewer shifts are made. also, when the car is engine braking, NO gas is being used, so fuel economy is fine. When coasting, the engine may have to idle, therefore USING gas - this is part of the reason manual trannies get better mileage

KCMichaelM

Was the discussion about saving wear on the transmission or miles-per-gallon? There are tradeoffs all abound on driving styles... If you read my post I never said that would "enhance" fuel economy.

The reason your car is "cruising" when you let off the gas? It has shifted into 3rd at 10 miles an hour... Then when you have to accelerate at anything beyond a snail's pace it will downshift back into 2nd (or 1st if you really have to accelerate quickly), and the whole process repeats, everytime the car in front of you moves.

Yes the snow and ice is an excellent time for folks to learn how to use "1" and "2"... It makes driving in poor conditions much safer.

dextterity

[QUOTE=KCMichaelM]The reason your car is "cruising" when you let off the gas? It has shifted into 3rd at 10 miles an hour... Then when you have to accelerate at anything beyond a snail's pace it will downshift back into 2nd (or 1st if you really have to accelerate quickly), and the whole process repeats, everytime the car in front of you moves.QUOTE]

This is the same exact reason why i was "manually" shifting the auto. The only thing, and i forgot to mension this, but the maximas tranny was made to get the best gas mileage possible, which is why it shifts up so quickly, it'll go from 1st to 4th as fast as possible to save gas, which is good in one way and nice that the auto max shifts smoothly. it can be annoying to be in 3rd or 4th "cruising" and then have to "GO"...down shift and repeat. but if you think about it, the tranny is doin what it's suppose to do, save gas mileage by cruising at a higher gear and down shifting right away when you want that power. if you don't want that power, don't ask for it by giving too much gas. the pedal is your best control, i was told to avoid shifting manually in my auto, but i never find myself worrying too much about it because i do my best to avoid traffic, but i remember hating when i let go of the gas in 2nd and the thing jumps into 3rd when i know i'm gonna brake, but it only does that for gas milage and even tho it may seem like its damaging the tranny from all that shifting, i was told that it isn't. acceling hard all the time and reaching high rpms too often is what'll do harm, not the shifting itself.

- deX

MaxRod33

iTrader: (2)

the original question is about wear and tear on the tranny, not so much about gas mileage...basically I'd like to control what gear I'm in using the gated shifter, but wan't to make sure it doesn't cause excess wear and tear on the tranny or is bad for it...thanks again for the replies guys

dextterity

yeah i'd just try and pay more attention to the gas pedal, try it out, if you don't already, you'll begin to notice how fast you should be going in order not to down shift goin up a hill on the highway or how much to let off the pedal while going up the hill and so on...if you really pay more attention to this, it makes for a more comfortable ride (less shifting) and just is nicer to know that you can still be in good control of an auto.

- deX

NizanDrivn

I guess you can shift the auto manually, MAYBE you'll save on wear'n tear on the tranny, but IMO, if your driving around the city or slow traffic, chances are you'll experience engine braking more often than not. So, you'll have to jump on the gas to keep up with traffic, or you'll be the pokey max that gets cut off all the time. As such, you're putting needless load on the engine; engine braking and then jumping on the gas, as opposed to just jumping on the gas. Granted engine braking is much less in 3, but 1 and 2 really bring the car to a halt, fast.

You'll spare the tranny, but wear out the engine...catch 22 if you ask me...

maximo-SE

iTrader: (7)

one word of advice, DONT SHIFT FROM D TO 3 when gassing up the car... when I first got my car I did that, I knew i hurt my tranny doing that..... i heard you can shift from 3-D or D-3 as long as you are not gassing the car.....

Loe max

iTrader: (6)

umm ok....

POPO6SPD

iTrader: (1)

Have you had any trouble with your'e tranny at all after 138K miles?

paralyse

When racing I will put the car in 1 (auto trans), power brake it up to about 3.5k RPM and then let er rip. About 1.5 secs before redline at WOT i move the shifter into 2 and the car shifts exactly at redline, repeat for 3rd gear. Then when I am done embarrassing some POS car, I just drop it back into D and cruise. The auto left in D at WOT shifts consistently 600 RPM or so before redline. This means that left in D, my times are higher, than if i manually shift it.


42,500 miles later. Trans still shifts like new. No slips. No jerks. No weirdness at all. Trans fluid is being changed every 20k miles. AT the 40k it was not even totally burned, slightly brown and discolored though. Might be time to invest in a trans oil cooler if the car doesn't have one already.


I reckon once I get to 60k I'll have to stop doing this

BTW -- Many GM TH400 auto trans and others have "manual" valve bodies where the transmissions will not shift until you move the lever. They run trans oil coolers in most cases though.

bigdo26

iTrader: (3)

Why? If you floor the car in D, it'll downshift. If you downshift to 3, the car downshifts. Its better to shift under a little gas, that revs up the engine to match gear speed. So why did it hurt your tranny???

spirilis

iTrader: (2)

I had a 1990 Mazda 626 automatic with HOLD system before I got this Max, it had 150+K mi on it, and the HOLD system FYI is a manual shift feature...

Quite frankly, I used manual shift ALL the time, unless I was lazy or needed to be in overdrive (had to turn off the HOLD feature to engage overdrive).
I cannot stand the constant "hunting" or shifting back and forth during stop'n'go driving. Keeping it in 1 gear and shifting when you believe necessary is the way to go. **** MPG, stop'n'go driving sucks *** no matter what.

That's the bottom line though, stop'n'go driving sucks in all situations. Automatic without shift feature, you get to deal with the tranny "hunting" all the time. Automatic with shift feature, you gotta manually shift and possibly take a mpg hit. Manual transmission, you gotta manually shift and possibly take a mpg hit. I like the feel of a manual, so I got a manual. Stop'n'go driving is hell on the clutch though, but it's hell on an automatic's clutch packs too...

KCMichaelM

My car was a very early build date (8/99), so I did have to follow the valve body TSB. The actuators started sticking and would cause slipping from 2 -> 3. After that work was done life has been ok. I do also run synthetic in the tranny, and engine for that matter.