Discovery TD5 Auto questions

Hi

As the new owner of a 52 plate Discovery TD5 ES Automatic, I have a
couple of questions:

First, fuel consumption seems pretty poor. So far, with a fair mix of
driving, it only returns about 23MPG. I can't help but feel that this is
due in large part to it not really wanting to change up into fourth. It
can be 55mph before it finally gets into 4th gear (unless I am going
downhill). Thus, many of my country drives probably take place in 3rd. I
have tried a couple of dual carriageway/motorway runs but keep ending up
in roadworks and the like thus stuffing up any economy I might see. I
have been told that this fuel consumption is not unusual for this model.
This from another owner and a fellow at the local LR dealer. I have also
been told that the gearbox controller is adaptive and learns a driving
style. Is this so? If it is, can it be reset and would it make a difference?

At the moment the controller seems to want to keep the engine revs at
around 2500.

The next question refers to an odd (to me) noise. Yes, I know it is a
land rover and they make odd noises. This is a kind of low whine heard
as the engine revs go through the range 750-1000 rpm. It happens whether
or not the car is in drive and seems equally audible both in neutral and
drive. I guess, therefore, that it is not the transmission or the torque
converter. I have been told that it is the ACE pump and that 'they all
do it'. Is that true? I have not yet been able to find another current
owner to compare vehicles.

Finally, I put a set of steel rims and Colway ATs (235/70R16) on as
weekend play tyres. This does not seem to be a common thing to do as
most folk off road in a discovery appear to use series 1 vehicles. Any
way... anyone got good advice on appropriate tyre pressures for these
when on the road? Should I just use the book figures of 30psi front and
38psi rear or would some other pressures be a better bet? At present, I
have left them at the 36psi all-round they were fitted at. The ride is
much less harsh than the stock 255/55R18 Wrangler HPs that are the
normal road tyre although there is clearly less precision in the
steering. Those wranglers, by the way, are on their last millimeter of
tread - any thoughts on a good alternative on the 18in alloy rims?

If you read this far - thank you.

Pete

"Peter Harrison" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
: Hi
:
: As the new owner of a 52 plate Discovery TD5 ES Automatic, I have a
: couple of questions:
:
: First, fuel consumption seems pretty poor. So far, with a fair mix of
: driving, it only returns about 23MPG. I can't help but feel that this is
: due in large part to it not really wanting to change up into fourth. It
: can be 55mph before it finally gets into 4th gear (unless I am going
: downhill). Thus, many of my country drives probably take place in 3rd. I
: have tried a couple of dual carriageway/motorway runs but keep ending up
: in roadworks and the like thus stuffing up any economy I might see. I
: have been told that this fuel consumption is not unusual for this model.
: This from another owner and a fellow at the local LR dealer. I have also
: been told that the gearbox controller is adaptive and learns a driving
: style. Is this so? If it is, can it be reset and would it make a
difference?
:
: At the moment the controller seems to want to keep the engine revs at
: around 2500.
:
: The next question refers to an odd (to me) noise. Yes, I know it is a
: land rover and they make odd noises. This is a kind of low whine heard
: as the engine revs go through the range 750-1000 rpm. It happens whether
: or not the car is in drive and seems equally audible both in neutral and
: drive. I guess, therefore, that it is not the transmission or the torque
: converter. I have been told that it is the ACE pump and that 'they all
: do it'. Is that true? I have not yet been able to find another current
: owner to compare vehicles.
:
: Finally, I put a set of steel rims and Colway ATs (235/70R16) on as
: weekend play tyres. This does not seem to be a common thing to do as
: most folk off road in a discovery appear to use series 1 vehicles. Any
: way... anyone got good advice on appropriate tyre pressures for these
: when on the road? Should I just use the book figures of 30psi front and
: 38psi rear or would some other pressures be a better bet? At present, I
: have left them at the 36psi all-round they were fitted at. The ride is
: much less harsh than the stock 255/55R18 Wrangler HPs that are the
: normal road tyre although there is clearly less precision in the
: steering. Those wranglers, by the way, are on their last millimeter of
: tread - any thoughts on a good alternative on the 18in alloy rims?
:
: If you read this far - thank you.
:
: Pete

Hi Pete,

have you found the "Discovery Owners Club" at all yet? quite a helpful
bunch on the specifics - www.discoveryownersclub.org

Si

On 2006-11-02 23:22:49 +0000, Peter Harrison
<[email protected]> said:

> Hi
>
> As the new owner of a 52 plate Discovery TD5 ES Automatic, I have a
> couple of questions:
>
> First, fuel consumption seems pretty poor. So far, with a fair mix of
> driving, it only returns about 23MPG. I can't help but feel that this
> is due in large part to it not really wanting to change up into fourth.
> It can be 55mph before it finally gets into 4th gear (unless I am going
> downhill). Thus, many of my country drives probably take place in 3rd.
> I have tried a couple of dual carriageway/motorway runs but keep ending
> up in roadworks and the like thus stuffing up any economy I might see.
> I have been told that this fuel consumption is not unusual for this
> model. This from another owner and a fellow at the local LR dealer. I
> have also been told that the gearbox controller is adaptive and learns
> a driving style. Is this so? If it is, can it be reset and would it
> make a difference?
>
> At the moment the controller seems to want to keep the engine revs at
> around 2500.
>
> The next question refers to an odd (to me) noise. Yes, I know it is a
> land rover and they make odd noises. This is a kind of low whine heard
> as the engine revs go through the range 750-1000 rpm. It happens
> whether or not the car is in drive and seems equally audible both in
> neutral and drive. I guess, therefore, that it is not the transmission
> or the torque converter. I have been told that it is the ACE pump and
> that 'they all do it'. Is that true? I have not yet been able to find
> another current owner to compare vehicles.

The fuel consumption on the TD5's seem's to be in the range of 22 - 33
mpg dependent on type of driving and driving style etc. My previous
Disco was an 04 TD5 and it averaged abut 28mpg.

Do you have ACE fitted? I ask because my current V8 had a nasty
sounding vibration at low revs which turned out to be a small stone
trapped between the ACE valve block and the chassis. It's rubber
mounted and the stone trasnmitted the vibe through the chassis rails.
It was the simplest and cheapest fix I've ever done!

As has been said. I highly reccomend the Discovery Owners Club, the
best technical resource available and the club dicsounts will return
your membership fee many times over.

--
Darren Griffin
PocketGPSWorld - www.PocketGPSWorld.com
The Premier GPS Resource for News, Reviews and Forums

On Thu, 02 Nov 2006 23:22:49 GMT, Peter Harrison wrote:

> First, fuel consumption seems pretty poor. So far, with a fair mix of
> driving, it only returns about 23MPG.

I've been getting over 30mpg but that is in a Y TD5 manual, previous
posts about autos indicate that auto boxes do have a much larger impact
on the mpg than other auto v manual comparisons.

> I can't help but feel that this is due in large part to it not really
> wanting to change up into fourth.

I drove an auto when looking for mine, also noticed that it appeared
reluctant to change up. Enough to put me off the auto box (not that I
like autos all that much anyway). Fortunately I do very little town/urban
motoring otherwise that might have been a bad decision as the manual is
quite a pudding stirrer around town.

On the flat I'll be changing up around 2500, up hill 3,000 plus but that
is because of the fairly wide gear spacing. Anything less and you drop
out of the turbo and you don't have enough umph to keep going.

--
Cheers [email protected]
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

On or around Thu, 02 Nov 2006 23:22:49 GMT, Peter Harrison
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>Finally, I put a set of steel rims and Colway ATs (235/70R16) on as
>weekend play tyres. This does not seem to be a common thing to do as
>most folk off road in a discovery appear to use series 1 vehicles. Any
>way... anyone got good advice on appropriate tyre pressures for these
>when on the road? Should I just use the book figures of 30psi front and
>38psi rear or would some other pressures be a better bet? At present, I
>have left them at the 36psi all-round they were fitted at.

I reckon for those tyres you'll get good results at 36 all round. I run
that on series 1 discos with no trouble at all, and the front tyres wear as
nice as you like, at book pressure the front tyre wear shows a classic
"underinflated" pattern. I'd alos not bother deflating them much for mild
off-road unless you find you're lacking grip.

I'd run simialr pressures on your other set, too - maybe a couple of pounds
lower 'cos they're lower profile.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so."
John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873)

"Peter Harrison" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi
>
> As the new owner of a 52 plate Discovery TD5 ES Automatic, I have a couple
> of questions:
>
> First, fuel consumption seems pretty poor. So far, with a fair mix of
> driving, it only returns about 23MPG. I can't help but feel that this is
> due in large part to it not really wanting to change up into fourth. It
> can be 55mph before it finally gets into 4th gear (unless I am going
> downhill). Thus, many of my country drives probably take place in 3rd. I
> have tried a couple of dual carriageway/motorway runs but keep ending up
> in roadworks and the like thus stuffing up any economy I might see. I have
> been told that this fuel consumption is not unusual for this model. This
> from another owner and a fellow at the local LR dealer. I have also been
> told that the gearbox controller is adaptive and learns a driving style.
> Is this so? If it is, can it be reset and would it make a difference?
>

My last TD5 Auto returned 21mpg on average so 23 is about right I'm afraid.
Just to echo the other posts, join the Discovery Owners Club, we are a nice
bunch

Darren Griffin - PocketGPSWorld.Com wrote:

> The fuel consumption on the TD5's seem's to be in the range of 22 - 33
> mpg dependent on type of driving and driving style etc. My previous
> Disco was an 04 TD5 and it averaged abut 28mpg.

Was that a manual?

>
> Do you have ACE fitted? I ask because my current V8 had a nasty sounding
> vibration at low revs which turned out to be a small stone trapped
> between the ACE valve block and the chassis. It's rubber mounted and
> the stone trasnmitted the vibe through the chassis rails. It was the
> simplest and cheapest fix I've ever done!

I shall have a peek under in the morning. Well, probably Sunday as I am
off to see if the traction control and hill descent work tomorrow.

>
> As has been said. I highly reccomend the Discovery Owners Club, the best
> technical resource available and the club dicsounts will return your
> membership fee many times over.
>

I shall definitely do that

Thanks

Pete

Dave Liquorice wrote:
> On Thu, 02 Nov 2006 23:22:49 GMT, Peter Harrison wrote:
>
>> First, fuel consumption seems pretty poor. So far, with a fair mix of
>> driving, it only returns about 23MPG.
>
> I've been getting over 30mpg but that is in a Y TD5 manual, previous
> posts about autos indicate that auto boxes do have a much larger impact
> on the mpg than other auto v manual comparisons.
>
>> I can't help but feel that this is due in large part to it not really
>> wanting to change up into fourth.
>
> I drove an auto when looking for mine, also noticed that it appeared
> reluctant to change up. Enough to put me off the auto box (not that I
> like autos all that much anyway). Fortunately I do very little town/urban
> motoring otherwise that might have been a bad decision as the manual is
> quite a pudding stirrer around town.
>
> On the flat I'll be changing up around 2500, up hill 3,000 plus but that
> is because of the fairly wide gear spacing. Anything less and you drop
> out of the turbo and you don't have enough umph to keep going.
>
I found the gearchange map on the disco owners club site. That indicates
that (presumably on the flat) it should get into fourth by about 40mph
for 50% throttle. I will have to find a bit of room somewhere to try
that. Clearly I have a new (more leisurely?) driving style to learn. I
miss the auto box on my TD4 freelander that I just exchanged. Ah well...

Pete

Peter Harrison wrote:

|| Hi
||
|| As the new owner of a 52 plate Discovery TD5 ES Automatic, I have a
|| couple of questions:

Mine's an 01 ES Auto, previously had a manual too.

|| First, fuel consumption seems pretty poor. So far, with a fair mix of
|| driving, it only returns about 23MPG.

I get about 22 normal driving, 24-ish on a run and 19.5 towing, so you're
not far out. (The manual got about 27 solo and 21 towing, IIRC.)

||I can't help but feel that
|| this is due in large part to it not really wanting to change up into
|| fourth. It
|| can be 55mph before it finally gets into 4th gear (unless I am going
|| downhill).

Yup, it's a "feature". Mine does the same, although 55 sounds a bit high.
It certainly seems to hang onto 3rd more than you would do if you had a
manual change. It's worse with towing. I recently towed a caravan the
length of Wales and back, all on A and B roads, and it spent a lot of time
in 3rd and even 2nd. I've learned to live with it. I've been told that a
chip upgrade will help it hold a higher gear on hills etc, and I'm looking
into this myself.

|| I have also been told that the gearbox controller is adaptive and
|| learns a driving style. Is this so?

I think that's right, as I've heard that too. I followed a mate in a
breathed-on 200Tdi 90 across country for about 20 miles late one night and
gave it a bit of a caning. For the next few days it was much livelier until
it "re-learned" my normal fairly conservative style. I think it must be the
gearbox that's adaptive, as a high-speed thrash up the motorway doesn't have
the same effect.

|| If it is, can it be reset and
|| would it make a difference?

Don't think so.

|| The next question refers to an odd (to me) noise. Yes, I know it is a
|| land rover and they make odd noises. This is a kind of low whine
|| heard
|| as the engine revs go through the range 750-1000 rpm. It happens
|| whether
|| or not the car is in drive and seems equally audible both in neutral
|| and drive.

Turbo spinning up?

--
Rich
==============================

Take out the obvious to email me.

Austin Shackles wrote:
> On or around Thu, 02 Nov 2006 23:22:49 GMT, Peter Harrison
> <[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:
>
>> Finally, I put a set of steel rims and Colway ATs (235/70R16) on as
>> weekend play tyres. This does not seem to be a common thing to do as
>> most folk off road in a discovery appear to use series 1 vehicles. Any
>> way... anyone got good advice on appropriate tyre pressures for these
>> when on the road? Should I just use the book figures of 30psi front and
>> 38psi rear or would some other pressures be a better bet? At present, I
>> have left them at the 36psi all-round they were fitted at.
>
> I reckon for those tyres you'll get good results at 36 all round. I run
> that on series 1 discos with no trouble at all, and the front tyres wear as
> nice as you like, at book pressure the front tyre wear shows a classic
> "underinflated" pattern. I'd alos not bother deflating them much for mild
> off-road unless you find you're lacking grip.
>
> I'd run simialr pressures on your other set, too - maybe a couple of pounds
> lower 'cos they're lower profile.

I much prefer the ride on these compared to the wranglers. I put them on
a set of cheap commercial steel rims. Now I think black wheels look good
on a silver Discovery with black upholstery. You won't be surprised to
learn that I seem to be alone in our house on this. I may up the
pressure at the rear a bit as they seem a bit more squashed.

Pete

Andy wrote:

>
> My last TD5 Auto returned 21mpg on average so 23 is about right I'm afraid.
> Just to echo the other posts, join the Discovery Owners Club, we are a nice
> bunch
>
>

Oh dear. Quite amazing variations from what I can see. The auto box does
seem a bit of a killer. So long as it is not a symptom of an underlying
fault I guess I will live with it. Could be worse, could be a V8 range
Rover like a guy at work has. I swear you can hear the fuel leave the tank.

I am about to go off and join up.

Thanks

Pete

Richard Brookman wrote:
>
> || The next question refers to an odd (to me) noise. Yes, I know it is a
> || land rover and they make odd noises. This is a kind of low whine
> || heard
> || as the engine revs go through the range 750-1000 rpm. It happens
> || whether
> || or not the car is in drive and seems equally audible both in neutral
> || and drive.
>
> Turbo spinning up?
>

I hope not It actually makes 'the noise' at 1000RPM plus a bit. Like
all these things it is a bit hard to describe. I have only had the car a
couple of weeks so I have not had a chance to get someone else to play
on the throttle while I track it down. It is probably quite normal as
the dealer says but I was just not expecting it and take with a pinch of
salt any claim by the person who has just taken my money. Naturally
cynical, you have to practice to be good at it.

Pete

"Peter Harrison" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi
>
> As the new owner of a 52 plate Discovery TD5 ES Automatic, I have a couple
> of questions:
>
> First, fuel consumption seems pretty poor. So far, with a fair mix of
> driving, it only returns about 23MPG. I can't help but feel that this is
> due in large part to it not really wanting to change up into fourth. It
> can be 55mph before it finally gets into 4th gear (unless I am going
> downhill). Thus, many of my country drives probably take place in 3rd. I
> have tried a couple of dual carriageway/motorway runs but keep ending up
> in roadworks and the like thus stuffing up any economy I might see. I have
> been told that this fuel consumption is not unusual for this model. This
> from another owner and a fellow at the local LR dealer. I have also been
> told that the gearbox controller is adaptive and learns a driving style.
> Is this so? If it is, can it be reset and would it make a difference?
>

I just twigged what is happening, at around 55mph the torque converter locks
up on the D2 auto box, it feels like a gear change and there is a small
surge in power. Should have spotted this earlier!!

Andy

Andy wrote:
> "Peter Harrison" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Hi
>>
>> As the new owner of a 52 plate Discovery TD5 ES Automatic, I have a couple
>> of questions:
>>
>> First, fuel consumption seems pretty poor. So far, with a fair mix of
>> driving, it only returns about 23MPG. I can't help but feel that this is
>> due in large part to it not really wanting to change up into fourth. It
>> can be 55mph before it finally gets into 4th gear (unless I am going
>> downhill). Thus, many of my country drives probably take place in 3rd. I
>> have tried a couple of dual carriageway/motorway runs but keep ending up
>> in roadworks and the like thus stuffing up any economy I might see. I have
>> been told that this fuel consumption is not unusual for this model. This
>> from another owner and a fellow at the local LR dealer. I have also been
>> told that the gearbox controller is adaptive and learns a driving style.
>> Is this so? If it is, can it be reset and would it make a difference?
>>
>
> I just twigged what is happening, at around 55mph the torque converter locks
> up on the D2 auto box, it feels like a gear change and there is a small
> surge in power. Should have spotted this earlier!!
>
> Andy
>
>
I looked at that but I think not after watching the rev counter which
drops to the 'right' value after the final change. I probably need to be
a lot more gentle. there is not much flat near me either so pulling up a
hill naturally makes it hang on longer as well.

Pete

Peter Harrison wrote:

|| Andy wrote:
||| "Peter Harrison" <[email protected]> wrote in message
||| news:[email protected]...
|||| Hi
||||
|||| As the new owner of a 52 plate Discovery TD5 ES Automatic, I have
|||| a couple of questions:
||||
|||| First, fuel consumption seems pretty poor. So far, with a fair mix
|||| of driving, it only returns about 23MPG. I can't help but feel
|||| that this is due in large part to it not really wanting to change
|||| up into fourth. It can be 55mph before it finally gets into 4th
|||| gear (unless I am going downhill). Thus, many of my country drives
|||| probably take place in 3rd. I have tried a couple of dual
|||| carriageway/motorway runs but keep ending up in roadworks and the
|||| like thus stuffing up any economy I might see. I have been told
|||| that this fuel consumption is not unusual for this model. This
|||| from another owner and a fellow at the local LR dealer. I have
|||| also been told that the gearbox controller is adaptive and learns
|||| a driving style. Is this so? If it is, can it be reset and would
|||| it make a difference?
||||
|||
||| I just twigged what is happening, at around 55mph the torque
||| converter locks up on the D2 auto box, it feels like a gear change
||| and there is a small surge in power. Should have spotted this
||| earlier!!
|||
||| Andy
|||
|||
|| I looked at that but I think not after watching the rev counter which
|| drops to the 'right' value after the final change. I probably need
|| to be a lot more gentle. there is not much flat near me either so
|| pulling up a hill naturally makes it hang on longer as well.
||
|| Pete

This is totally non-technical, but -

Yes, the TC will lock up at about 53mph or so, and you can feel the slight
lurch as it does so. But there are also what I call (in my head) half-gears
too. Scenario: you are driving up a hill which becomes progressively
steeper as you climb, towing a decent weight behind. You start in lock-up
4th. As the road speed drops below 55-ish, there is a slight rise in revs
as the lock-up drops out. Speed drops further and it changes to 3rd. If
you now give the box a bit of help and manually lock it into 3rd, the revs
rise again. Speed drops again and it changes down - but again, if you move
the lever to "2" the revs will rise again. It's as if there are splitter
gears between the proper ratios, like a 3½ gear and a 2½ gear, but which are
chosen by the car, not the driver, if that makes sense. This happens all
the time when I am towing the caravan in hilly country. I don't know enough
of the mechanics and electronics of the box to say what is really happening,
but that's how it seems to me.

Sorry if that's confusing, but the brain isn't up to all this electrickery.

--
Rich
==============================

Take out the obvious to email me.

On Fri, 03 Nov 2006 20:35:25 GMT, Peter Harrison wrote:

>> Turbo spinning up?
>
> I hope not It actually makes 'the noise' at 1000RPM plus a bit.

It might be the centrifugal oil filter but on mine that is most
noticeable on switching off as it runs down from some stupidly high RPM.

--
Cheers [email protected]
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

On or around Fri, 03 Nov 2006 20:25:01 GMT, Peter Harrison
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>Austin Shackles wrote:
>> On or around Thu, 02 Nov 2006 23:22:49 GMT, Peter Harrison
>> <[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:
>>
>>> Finally, I put a set of steel rims and Colway ATs (235/70R16) on as
>>> weekend play tyres. This does not seem to be a common thing to do as
>>> most folk off road in a discovery appear to use series 1 vehicles. Any
>>> way... anyone got good advice on appropriate tyre pressures for these
>>> when on the road? Should I just use the book figures of 30psi front and
>>> 38psi rear or would some other pressures be a better bet? At present, I
>>> have left them at the 36psi all-round they were fitted at.
>>
>> I reckon for those tyres you'll get good results at 36 all round. I run
>> that on series 1 discos with no trouble at all, and the front tyres wear as
>> nice as you like, at book pressure the front tyre wear shows a classic
>> "underinflated" pattern. I'd alos not bother deflating them much for mild
>> off-road unless you find you're lacking grip.
>>
>> I'd run simialr pressures on your other set, too - maybe a couple of pounds
>> lower 'cos they're lower profile.
>
>I much prefer the ride on these compared to the wranglers. I put them on
>a set of cheap commercial steel rims. Now I think black wheels look good
>on a silver Discovery with black upholstery. You won't be surprised to
>learn that I seem to be alone in our house on this. I may up the
>pressure at the rear a bit as they seem a bit more squashed.

disco II might be a bit heavier at the back. 36 all round works very well
on a disco I.

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"There are three sorts of people in the world - those who can count,
and those who can't" (Anon)

On or around Fri, 3 Nov 2006 20:27:15 -0000, "Richard Brookman"
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>Yup, it's a "feature". Mine does the same, although 55 sounds a bit high.
>It certainly seems to hang onto 3rd more than you would do if you had a
>manual change. It's worse with towing. I recently towed a caravan the
>length of Wales and back, all on A and B roads, and it spent a lot of time
>in 3rd and even 2nd. I've learned to live with it. I've been told that a
>chip upgrade will help it hold a higher gear on hills etc, and I'm looking
>into this myself.

not sure on those how the 'box is run. if it's still traditional mechanical
you can tweak the kickdown cable settings. if it's electronic, then you can
presumably alter the programming somehow, but buggered if I know how.

On the mechanical ZF 4HP22 if you disconnect the kickdown cable, it shifts
up at minimum spec speed, about 28 or so into 4th. On most engines that's
too low and from what I hear of the TD5 I'd be sure that it is. If you set
up the kickdown to get maximum effect (kickdown cable fully extended at full
welly) it gets quite shift-happy, which I found suited the 3.5V8 on LPG.

The TD5 is much more revvy than the TDi was, and as such, it'll need to
shift higher. If you alter the engine tune for more torque, you may also
want to get the box behaviour tweaked.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"The great masses of the people ... will more easily fall victims to
a great lie than to a small one" Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
from Mein Kampf, Ch 10

On or around Fri, 3 Nov 2006 21:01:15 -0000, "Richard Brookman"
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>Yes, the TC will lock up at about 53mph or so, and you can feel the slight
>lurch as it does so. But there are also what I call (in my head) half-gears
>too. Scenario: you are driving up a hill which becomes progressively
>steeper as you climb, towing a decent weight behind. You start in lock-up
>4th. As the road speed drops below 55-ish, there is a slight rise in revs
>as the lock-up drops out. Speed drops further and it changes to 3rd. If
>you now give the box a bit of help and manually lock it into 3rd,

The box is quite capable of going straight from 4LU to 3rd, if you're
pushing it a bit harder. I think what you're seeing is converter slip in
4th, then you pull the lever in to 3 and it goes down to 3rd.

>the revs
>rise again. Speed drops again and it changes down - but again, if you move
>the lever to "2" the revs will rise again. It's as if there are splitter
>gears between the proper ratios, like a 3½ gear and a 2½ gear, but which are
>chosen by the car, not the driver, if that makes sense.

The torque converter is designed to slip within a certain range, which
smoothes the gaps between the gears. Autos are typically higher ratios, but
the torque converter gives a non-solid variable drive. Some industrial
things ONLY have a TC, no actual gears at all, but they're usually operating
in a more limited range of speeds.



Especially if driving with a fairly light boot, you'll get this effect.
There are only 4 actual gears, although converter-lockup feels like a 5th.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
Appearances: You don't really need make-up. Celebrate your authentic
face by frightening people in the street.
from the Little Book of Complete B***ocks by Alistair Beaton.

On 2006-11-03 20:21:44 +0000, Peter Harrison
<[email protected]> said:

> Was that a manual?

Yes. My current V8 is rather less accomodating!

--
Darren Griffin
PocketGPSWorld - www.PocketGPSWorld.com
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