I do the following when I drive, and I've included the purpose for doing it. Please let me know if A) doing it is bad for the car, and B) the purpose for doing it is a myth.


1) When I am driving, specially on the highway, I like to downshift to D3 to slow down the car slightly (while foot is off the gas). Purpose is to slow down instead of using the brakes so brakes will last longer.

2) When at a stop light I like to put my car in Neutral. Purpose is to save every bit of gas I can.

2) Actually, putting it in neutral at stop lights will prolong your transmission's life by saving your clutch packs. I do it myself.

1) I don't think this will make much difference either way, but the way I see it, brake pads are easier to replace than tranmissions.

Regardless, do NOT rely on your maintenance minder to tell you when to change out your tranny fluid. See my (and Ex-L Kabong's) previous posts re changing out the tranny fluid (@ 15,000 miles in my case, and I HIGHLY recommend it).

2) Actually, putting it in neutral at stop lights will prolong your transmission's life by saving your clutch packs. I do it myself.


Actualy... no... its harder on the clutch packs because instead of them staying engaged solidly and the torque converter slipping (which its designed to do) the clutch packs release and the tranny freewheels inside of itself (the torque converter is not slipping) thus spinning freely and causing internal wear... idle at the stoplight in gear it brings ur RPM down anyway...


1) I don't think this will make much difference either way, but the way I see it, brake pads are easier to replace than tranmissions.

its perfectly fine to down shift to save brakes the tranny will not suffer... it wouldn't be there if it wasn't mean to be used to engine brake...


Regardless, do NOT rely on your maintenance minder to tell you when to change out your tranny fluid. See my (and Ex-L Kabong's) previous posts re changing out the tranny fluid (@ 15,000 miles in my case, and I HIGHLY recommend it).
yeh never trust any computer... seriously... oil changes should be done every 3K/3months or if full synthetic 5k/5months... NO longer i dont care what ur car says... and trannys should be done about every 10Kish... (roughly 2-3 oil changes)

I have been changing my oil for the past 40 plus years every 5,000 miles on all my cars (American cars also). Never had a problem with any engine on any of my cars with changing every 5,000 miles.

You could go on forever about when to change the oil, but for me, 5,000 is it and not synthetic either.

Tranny for me is every 15,000 to 20,000, never had a tranny die on me yet.
Overkill every 10,000.

yeh but im betting none of your engines went on for 300+ thousand miles... im telling him how to get the best out of a engine not just what u need... my teacher has a 1980ish VW rabbit... its 30ish years old and has turned the odometer over 10 times... (thats close to 1 million miles) on stock engine and tranny... its a manual... and all he does is new synthetic every 3K and new clutches every odometer roll over...

1) VERY VERY BAD unless its necessary like to help slow down on a long hill so you dont overcook your brakes. in a manual transmission, its fine if you do it right because you can rev match and double clutch so there is almost no wear on the transmission. in an automatic, you are putting very very unnecessary wear on the transmission because an automatic (at least the accord's automatic) cannot rev match so its internal clutch packs are slipping A LOT when you do that. and given honda's history of weak transmissions, you do not want to stress it any more than you have to. use your brakes. brakes can be replaced for $100-200. transmissions cost $2000+.

2) any fuel savings will be very very negligible, if any at all. again, you want to minimize any unnecessary shifting of the transmission. if you leave it in drive, its in gear and nothing is slipping except the torque converter, which does not wear anything because its fluid driven and designed to slip. when you keep shifting in and out of drive like that, the internal clutch packs have to slip each time you engage drive, causing wear. just keep it in drive.

He disagrees with me, saying that putting your tranny in neutral is bad, further validating my point. :rolleyes:

Actualy... no... its harder on the clutch packs because instead of them staying engaged solidly and the torque converter slipping (which its designed to do) the clutch packs release and the tranny freewheels inside of itself (the torque converter is not slipping) thus spinning freely and causing internal wear... idle at the stoplight in gear it brings ur RPM down anyway...


its perfectly fine to down shift to save brakes the tranny will not suffer... it wouldn't be there if it wasn't mean to be used to engine brake...


yeh never trust any computer... seriously... oil changes should be done every 3K/3months or if full synthetic 5k/5months... NO longer i dont care what ur car says... and trannys should be done about every 10Kish... (roughly 2-3 oil changes)

1) VERY VERY BAD unless its necessary like to help slow down on a long hill so you dont overcook your brakes. in a manual transmission, its fine if you do it right because you can rev match and double clutch so there is almost no wear on the transmission. in an automatic, you are putting very very unnecessary wear on the transmission because an automatic (at least the accord's automatic) cannot rev match so its internal clutch packs are slipping A LOT when you do that. and given honda's history of weak transmissions, you do not want to stress it any more than you have to. use your brakes. brakes can be replaced for $100-200. transmissions cost $2000+.

2) any fuel savings will be very very negligible, if any at all. again, you want to minimize any unnecessary shifting of the transmission. if you leave it in drive, its in gear and nothing is slipping except the torque converter, which does not wear anything because its fluid driven and designed to slip. when you keep shifting in and out of drive like that, the internal clutch packs have to slip each time you engage drive, causing wear. just keep it in drive.

Yikes I have been doing #1 ever since I got my car. I just checked my warranty coverage and thankfully the powertrain (including transmission) is covered for 5 years/60k miles. 5 years is the max amount of time i plan on keeping my car anyways.

One of these days when you least expect it, you might accidently go into a wrong gear and do God knows what damage to the transmission.

Now is where I will share an embarassing personal experience from many years ago, when I was young (and foolish) and "thought" I was sh*t hot and shift automatics manually for fun, well one day I shifted the Turbo Hydramatics 350 into reverse (rather than neutral) while the car was still slowing down towards a light.

BANG! I don't remember all the details now, I think the engine stopped too, while I was able to start the engine and drove the car home, it wasn't until a week or so later I realized the transmission would rev like mad from first gear, skip 2nd gear, and shift into 3rd gear directly.

The transmission shop found a broken C-clip, and lots of metal particles inside the transmission housing, we had to buy a rebuilt transmission to put into this car.

Manually shifting a conventional automatic transmission is generally not recommended nor necessary, and can be bad for the heath of the transmission, especially when the transmission is not the "Tip-tronic" type with proper lock-out etc. to prevent accidental mishaps such as what happened to me all those years ago.

Ultimately, as someone already stated, it's far, far cheaper to replace brake pads and rotors than transmissions, and the fuel saving is also negligiable.

In regards to downshift an automatic when trying to slow down - as others have said, the risk of missing the gear is worse than any wear on your brakes. Most of the brake wear you'll see is in stop and go driving, and the slowing down from speed doesn't wear them nearly as fast. Plus, Hondas have the best engine braking with an auto tranny I've seen, so you get some of the benefit without the manual downshift. I'd just leave it there and not risk the mis-shift.

As far as putting it into N while stopped at a light, this is a choice that you can make one way or the other - but the gas savings is negligible unless you're sitting at a light for like 5 minutes a pop. The only risk I see is perhaps more wear on the motor mounts when you get the "rock" of the motor as you shift into drive - but even that's just minor.....

andy

One of these days when you least expect it, you might accidently go into a wrong gear and do God knows what damage to the transmission.

Now is where I will share an embarassing personal experience from many years ago, when I was young (and foolish) and "thought" I was sh*t hot and shift automatics manually for fun, well one day I shifted the Turbo Hydramatics 350 into reverse (rather than neutral) while the car was still slowing down towards a light.

BANG! I don't remember all the details now, I think the engine stopped too, while I was able to start the engine and drove the car home, it wasn't until a week or so later I realized the transmission would rev like mad from first gear, skip 2nd gear, and shift into 3rd gear directly.

One of our members pointed out earlier that these cars are cmputer controlled therefore they don't let you put the car into reverse at highspeed. Limiting the risk of destroying your transmission. I use all the modes on the transmission regularly. City = D3, Highway D4, and D3 when slowing down at around 50mph, then 2 at 30.

2 is also useful for stop and go traffic.:yes:

1. I wouldn't do this frequently, it is not necessary and forces your tranny to shift unnecessarely. These aren't the most robust transmissions, so just be careful. I mean, if you are going down a mountain or something or trying to control your speed for more of a long term period of time I think it's ok, but I would avoid it as a brake replacement. As others have said, it's easier to replace your brake pads than it is your transmission.

2. This sounds ok to me. I actually do this on the autos that I drive to help keep the pressure off the brakes at stops. This way I don't have to clamp down on the brakes after a stop and risk leaving a nasty deposit on the rotors (I would be ESPECIALLY careful of this on the stock pads as they are like ink pads. If you haven't changed them already, do it asap). The same argument COULD be made for this that is made for issue number one (not really), but I personally find warped rotors and pad deposits to be one of the most frustrating issues with automobiles. Makes for unsafe braking as well as a incredibly frustrating driving experience.

my 2c.

I do the following when I drive, and I've included the purpose for doing it. Please let me know if A) doing it is bad for the car, and B) the purpose for doing it is a myth.


1) When I am driving, specially on the highway, I like to downshift to D3 to slow down the car slightly (while foot is off the gas). Purpose is to slow down instead of using the brakes so brakes will last longer.

2) When at a stop light I like to put my car in Neutral. Purpose is to save every bit of gas I can.

Hello,

Here is just another opinion or my 2-cents on what you are asking.

I have now worked for dealers for the past 12-yrs. I am now at an Acura Dealer and I {Suggest} that you "STOP" doing those two things.

Here are the reasons why:

(1) Honda and Acura transmissions are not the most hardy units. So why put one through unnecessary wear.

(2) Taking the car in and out of gear every time you stop is IMHO not really saving you any GAS-PERIOD. If anything it is going to wear other components out a lot Faster than they would have if you were not using them in the manner you speak of. Hint: There is no way that you are going to save gas that amounts to anything compared to the way you leave a Stop Sign or Stop Light. The way you pass another vehicle. The speed that you drive in the city or on the interstate.

I speak here as if I were talking with you in person and we were long time friends. What you are doing here is just not necessary and it is going to do more HARM than GOOD in the LONG-TERM as far as Wear & Tear on your Honda.

Take Care and Good-Luck,

Terry

Yeah I don't agree with the D3 on the freeway, and actually what a lot of other people are saying about not dropping to neutral with an AT seems to make sense as well. I know for my MT however I always put it in "neutral" and let out the clutch when sitting at a light, because in a MT you can wear out your bearings faster if you leave the clutch down.

Pointless habits. Both accelerate wear and do not save fuel.

1.... brakes are there to make you stop, transmissions, although they can help slow you down, are designed to make you go.

2.... that's just pointless. you aren't saving any gas by doing that.

I forgot to say this...

But my AT in my Accord dwnshifts when I'm coming to a stop.

I'm pretty sure the new ones do it too (from what I remember of my dads 03).

Go into a parking lot that's empty and get to about 30, hold it until it goes up a gear, the coast. It does this while I'm braking too.

Sounds like some of you should have bought manual Accords and not automatics. ;)

Sounds like some of you should have bought manual Accords and not automatics. ;)

Sounds like some of us wish we had Shiftronic transmissions for manual shifting. Last gen prelude AT tranny swap anyone? :naughty:

That's what my C240 is for.

you still should not do it with a sport-shift automatic unless its specifically designed to rev-match downshifts.

Someone earlier said it is hard on the Torque converter? Ummm Accord's don't have torque converters so don't see how that is an issue.

Someone earlier said it is hard on the Torque converter? Ummm Accord's don't have torque converters so don't see how that is an issue.

I think you is wrong.... :lmao:

Someone earlier said it is hard on the Torque converter? Ummm Accord's don't have torque converters so don't see how that is an issue.

since when do accord AT's not have torque converters? they do, sorry. what they do not have is any bands, or planetary gearsets.

Ooh, my bad then, I thought they were torque converter less. It was what stevel said that they don't have compared to normal auto transmissions.

If u wanna play around with ur gear u had better go buy a BMW i-drive. That'll give u more legal work around gear lever