auto guys ?

[snowman23]

04 GT...Can i safely cruise in 2nd gear at about 30-35 mph and 2000-2500 rpms or am I damaging the motor or tranny? What about 40-45 in 3rd? Drivetrain is stock with a tranny cooler planned in the near future.

Thanks

 

[patman0911]

You can cruise till the cows come home at 2000~2500 RPMs in whatever gear/speed that works out to be. You're not doing anything other than burning a little extra gas by not letting the tranny shift into the next gear.

 

[KBExperience]

+1

 

[hotstang_46]

cruising at that speed is fine........

But in order to do that your manually shifting and I thought that changes line pressure yada yada and is bad to do? I'm not a tranny guy but I remember the topic of manual shifting coming up before and reading some bad comments about it..... I may be wrong but someone else will chime in

 

[32ValveRom]

2,000 to 2,500 rpm is fine. But I do remember hearing that manually shifting gears isn't good for the tranny regardless of the rpm.

 

[Stark77]

With 3.73's I'm cruising at 80mph spinning about 2900RPM. And I do that for 2 hours, each way about once every 2 months. No probs at all.

 

[32ValveRom]

^2 hours? Your driving from Tallahassee to where?

 

[CobraRed_96_GT]

cruising at that speed is fine........

But in order to do that your manually shifting and I thought that changes line pressure yada yada and is bad to do? I'm not a tranny guy but I remember the topic of manual shifting coming up before and reading some bad comments about it..... I may be wrong but someone else will chime in

Correct, unless you build around it with a kit, line pressure isn't sustained before the shift and clutch pack overlap is compromised. It's not going to suddenly do anything, just not the best idea to do all day. A cooler helps, but its still wear. A kit or manual valve body will allow for sustained line pressure even outside ECU programed shift schedules.

 

[Stark77]

Tallahassee to Jax.

 

[snowman23]

Thanks guys. I was told by the guy that rebuild my tranny on my old 90GT that shifting would be fine b/c of the fact that it won't actually shift until the pressure is correct.

I asked the original question above because I drive the same route to work daily and for a part of it cannot really go much over 30-35 mph and the car sounds better without the shift into 3rd. I don't generally shift often up into 3rd. I usually make that change while waiting at one of the many stop signs / traffic lights that I hit. Sign to sign is where I go slow and like how it sounds in 2nd.

I just didn't want to damage the motor or trans by not shifting and keeping it in 2nd.

Thanks

 

[hotstang_46]

Correct, unless you build around it with a kit, line pressure isn't sustained before the shift and clutch pack overlap is compromised. It's not going to suddenly do anything, just not the best idea to do all day. A cooler helps, but its still wear. A kit or manual valve body will allow for sustained line pressure even outside ECU programed shift schedules.

Sounds like a JMOD is in order?? costs next to nothing and is easy and can be.......

 

[CobraRed_96_GT]

Sounds like a JMOD is in order?? costs next to nothing and is easy and can be.......

While the Jmod effects how the shift is delivered, it focuses on scheduled shifts so the ecu is still upping line pressure before the shift. This is why i used both the j mod and a stg II kit.

 

[hotstang_46]

While the Jmod effects how the shift is delivered, it focuses on scheduled shifts so the ecu is still upping line pressure before the shift. This is why i used both the j mod and a stg II kit.

ya.....i'm not a expert tranny guy, as you probably know. But wouldn't it be either the JMOD or the stg II kit? I'm assuming shift kits come with new valve bodies that already have the diff diameter holes.

 

[snowman23]

Thanks guys.

I did not want to get into the J Mod or shift kits just yet. My other stang had the trans-go street / strip kit and while it definitely firmed up the shifts, it also created a series of driveline related issues (mainly noises).

This car is not being used for anything right now but to enjoy driving to work, etc. and cruising with the family so I am not concerned with the shifting itself. I just like the way it sounds / responds when I leave it in a lower gear (2nd or D with o/d off) but did not want to ruin anything in the tranny or motor by doing this. I am well aware that overdriving the motor (like to /at redline) is not good, but I am more talking about leaving it so that it stays more around 2000-2500 cruising and therefore hits the 3000-4000 area quicker and comes back down slower.

 

[CobraRed_96_GT]

ya.....i'm not a expert tranny guy, as you probably know. But wouldn't it be either the JMOD or the stg II kit? I'm assuming shift kits come with new valve bodies that already have the diff diameter holes.

The kit doesn't come with a new valve body, just a lot of parts that change it. There are a few overlapping areas in that the full J-mod has recommended accumulator piston/spring parts and the kit come with certain parts. I did the J-mod when it was a choice, everything else is mainly drilling the valve body to spec, then used the rest of the kit's parts. Really is a great trans, never any problems or noises.