Engine Braking - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

daniel2002p · 05-15-2006, 12:48 PM

Ok I have a headscratcher that I hope you guys may be able to help me out with....

I have a 05 corolla s and this is my first automatic vehicle, all my previous car were 5 speed so I dont have much experience with auto trannys....

Here is my scenario, when I go to school every morning, there is like a almost one mile downhill where I usually turn the OD switch off and let the engine RPM keep the car at a managable speed, which I thot was OK since I was using this in my other cars but they were 5 speeds as stated earlier. So this week I went to get my oil changed at a toyota dealer close by and I was talking to the mechanic and he was aking me about my driving behavior and stuff (the car is at 40,000 miles and I guess he was trying to some scheduled service on it or something) and I told him how I use the engine braking, and his eyes went wide open and he is like "you are lucky your tranny is still running, and after some time of technical words and phrases, I got the idea and he said that that was a big NONO in auto trannys, so I went one week without doing any engine braking.... OK so in this downhill now I pretty much had to hold my foot on the brake the whole way down to keep from going too fast and close to the end of the downhill the brakes would perform like shit.... so a couple of days ago when I was done with the downhill braking, I stopped got out and looked at the brakes and woooooooweeeee they were starting to glow of how hot they were, I had a bottle of water in the car so I sprayed it on the disc and it evaporated before it ever touched the disc, so I stood there for about an hour just trying to let the brakes cool down...

OK so here is my question, why is it so bad to shift and auto tranny in lower gear to keep the car at a decent speed, and it is not like I am doing it all the time, just that one hill and that is it....... And how do I manage not getting the brakes so damn hot...

Sorry about the long post, I am just worried now that I did some major damage to a brand new car,

D

ToyotaMan1281 · 05-15-2006, 01:10 PM

You downshift to low or 2nd when going up a steep hill or down a steep hill (Im talking mountains and hills hills not some little 1 mile hill like your saying). Low gear you can go up t 35-40, 2nd gear about 60, just dont redline and ull be fine. Tap those brakes now and then too dont ride them like your doing. Like I said this is for mountains and hills hills. IE- there is a park 30 min or so from me, you drive up a 25% grade to get to the top, I use low gear going up and coming down low gear and tap brakes. Just keep it in drive and tap brakes now and then and ull be fine. Dont shift like a manual all the time it wasnt built for this. You dont want to drop your tranny.

Another thought- if you have the money you could convert it to autostick so that way youll have automatic plus manual on the side. If youve ever seen a VW passat youll know what I mean.

Did I answer all your questions? if not post up again, ill answer as best I can

daniel2002p · 05-15-2006, 01:12 PM

Oh I dont shift it all the time, it is in drive all the time except this hill, and its a pretty steep hill if I keep it in drive it will get up 75 and that is a tad much for a 50 limit zone, so what I do it make it stay in third gear (by tutning OD off).....

ToyotaMan1281 · 05-15-2006, 01:54 PM

ok. I say downshift to 2 (right above low) you dont have to put brakes on to do this just shift from drive to 2. At 50 in 2 you wont be anywhere near redline just dont redline and ull be fine like I said. Automatics are built to shift if you only go down to 2 (which is 2nd gear BTW) once a day on this hill it should be fine. Just keep your tranny fluid clean and changed. Also tapping the brakes now and then wont hurt them.

Anything else?

freakinbox · 05-15-2006, 02:32 PM

errrr it's an AUTO you just leave it alone
wtf is with people and their AUTO if you wanted to downshift and such and engine break you go and buy a manual!
you want to slow down with an auto hit the breaks.

ToyotaMan1281 · 05-15-2006, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freakinbox

errrr it's an AUTO you just leave it alone
wtf is with people and their AUTO if you wanted to downshift and such and engine break you go and buy a manual!
you want to slow down with an auto hit the breaks.

yea but on a really steep hill/mountain road you have too downshift unless u want to burn your brakes up in a hurry.. I can see why he has too, sounds liek he was burning his brakes up a little..

daniel2002p · 05-15-2006, 02:47 PM

I have tried using the brakes on this hill, I put it in drive, and then I let it accelrtate on its own to 55 to 60 and then I brake down to about 50 a little less and repeat that all the way down the hill, and even then the discs were glowing a amber color, and I may not know a lot about brakes, but when I try and use the brakes where they are this hot its almost like there are no brakes at all, it has a hard time slowing down the car......

I didnt mean to offened anyone by buying an AUTO car, I just wanted to chage from all the 5 speeds I have driven before.....

And ToyotaMan thaks for the advice, I was jhust scared to death that I would have to replace the tranny in a almost new car...

Thanks

DoubleEdgedWomb · 05-15-2006, 06:33 PM

Why have all auto trannies since the beginning of time had the option to use low gear if it wasn't meant to be used?

epyon22 · 05-15-2006, 07:45 PM

well if you want better braking when the rotors are hot just get some racing brakes they wont stop you when your brakes are cold though lol. but seriously engine braking on those transmissions should be normal wear or a little higher than normal wear just dont over do it. oh and dont throw water on your rotors when their hot if you cool them down too quickly youll warp them and then youll be going back to the place because your brakes cause your car to vibrate

freakinbox · 05-15-2006, 09:07 PM

low gear is for when you tow something is it not?

you must be using the breaks improperly... or for to long...
shit I live near barrie and if you want to see alot of hills go there and I have never had an issue like this... hell anne street has this huge hill in the middle of it...
I doubt the breaks on my ae92 are anything special since the place I bought it from replaced them and I doubt they used expensive parts. Hell I have had to hit them hard and long before on the hwy because people like to pull out on me because they seem to think because I drive a small car I can slow down in stupid short distances! and they always work fine after
I only had an issue with them when I first got the car because I sucked and wasn't used to driving the car and such

cuzman · 05-15-2006, 09:30 PM

I have had heaps of auto's and as i live in the hills i use the lower gears all the time and have never had a problem......
my rolla is man but dads is an auto with 125.000 k's on it ..it like brand new and he also users the gears all the time!
Never ride ya brakes ..tap them on then off as to let them cool..
I think your mechanic is misinformed! as all of my mechs recomend holding gears if the terrain requires it....i think you will also find that most late mdl cars will not shift back a gear if the engine will red line as the ecu is smart little bunny!

thespud · 05-15-2006, 09:41 PM

^^ Exactly right... The gears are there to be used. Modern Auto boxes WILL NOT let you shift down if the engine will redline and explode. If you need it, hold the gear.. It really only saves fuel being in Overdrive.

My folks used to live in the Adelaide Hills, always had autos, always held gears coming into town and never blew up a gearbox.

Your mechanic is misinformed. Maybe he has been working on GM's for too long

freakinbox · 05-15-2006, 09:50 PM

fords have that too. if you always use the 1 and 2 gear selections the tranny tends to go within a few years...
like jesus... it's an AUTO it is designed to select the gears for you... not you to change gears.. Unless it's one like the preluds have where you can go through the 5 or 6 gears manually..

cuzman · 05-15-2006, 09:53 PM

just a note also dont ever ever put cold water on a hot disk to cool it down! it can warp the disk! just let them do ther thing and cool down...air cool...if you are worried about them catching fire dont stop..just drive and dont use the barakes as the air moving over them will cool them faster than if ya stoped...
love the adalaide hills ther mad for a good drive...im in the dandenong rangers out of melbourne...

ToyotaMan1281 · 05-15-2006, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniel2002p

I have tried using the brakes on this hill, I put it in drive, and then I let it accelrtate on its own to 55 to 60 and then I brake down to about 50 a little less and repeat that all the way down the hill, and even then the discs were glowing a amber color, and I may not know a lot about brakes, but when I try and use the brakes where they are this hot its almost like there are no brakes at all, it has a hard time slowing down the car......

I didnt mean to offened anyone by buying an AUTO car, I just wanted to chage from all the 5 speeds I have driven before.....

And ToyotaMan thaks for the advice, I was jhust scared to death that I would have to replace the tranny in a almost new car...

Thanks

your very welcome.