Hi guys im just wondering if it is worth rebuilding my transmission soon because im on about 191000 kms. If so what is involved and how much is it. The auto is not slipping as yet.
In summer i will be towing a speed boat a lot on weekends. I have installed a transmission cooler aswell. Do they heap out heaps?
With autos are they under more strain when putting your foot all the way down or do they heat up more when changing gears with normal traffic driving. Example on a highway it will be staying in 3rd or 4th gear but going through towns it will be stop start a little bit until u get through the local towns.
Is it better to tow slowly and only put half the peddle down until you get speed up? or will the weight still put a lot of strain on the transmission? Or will all the strain be on the engine itself?
Thanks heaps for the advice as i dont want to blow a transmission :>
The factory recommendation is to select "3" instead of "D" when towing. This allows the transmission to "lockup" the torque converter earlier and stay locked up longer than when in "D" (or 4th gear which is an overdrive). When the converter is locked there is no transmission slip and therefore no heat buildup. Other than that they say to drive normally.
I'd probably get a full transmission service and flush done before summer and before you begin using it for towing. As Hako suggests, you can leave the stick in 3rd gear, or alternately you can switch from economy to power mode on the transmission, which will rev out each gear a bit more so that you have more momentum when towing. Using the power mode will also hold the transmission in 3rd gear until around 95 km/h from memory.
when towing accelerate slowly to save the engine, trans and diff as above tow in third.
As for the trans, dont bother till it dies IMO. Mine died at 135,000kms. It just depends on how you drive it
thanks heaps will use 3rd from now on