Hi guy's

Can somebody please tell me if when you floor the car in first from standstill, the car hits the rev-limiter before changing into second or is there something wrong with my Autobox.

Cheers Dave.

I've had my Jap 1990 for 3 yars now and this is what I've learned.

 

1) its a nice box to drive with.

2) you can play about with it for fun

3) its well behaved.

 

Drive it gently and it will change gear without you even noticing it sometimes.

 

Boot the daylights out of it and it will change gear at 7000rpm give or take 100rpm

 

It doesnt matter what mode you have selected, if you boot it it will change at the redline. Before the limiter.

 

In power mode it will tend to change higher up the rev range, but if you feather it it will change lower. It will also tend to change down sooner if you accelerate.

 

In hold mode it will tend to change gear lower down the rev range, unless you boot it. But it will try not to change down, but it does sometimes.....

 

In normal you get the box 'thinking' about your driving and it uses the box to suit. Floor it and off you go, tootle round and it will change gear sooner and keep the revs low.

 

OverDrive.

OK - great feature this is. Only works in 3rd gear onwards - has no effect in 1 or 2.

Reduces the gearing of the box. IE accelerate faster. So if you're gonna blast someone away - switch it off. You will be amazed at the response of the car! Use it round town for tootling about. Switch it off for fun. It should not jump about when you switch it back on, if it does, adjust your throttle cables, I have experienced this and it stopped after that.

 

Selecting 1st only - great for scaring passengers. Will not change up and you will hit the limiter very quickly.

 

Selecting 2nd only - Nice for street driving when you want the power but wont be going past 80mph It wont change up but will change down to 1st.

 

Use O/D to achieve 3rd gear selection.

 

Dont engage 1st while moving too quickly - ouch.

Same for 2nd.

Dont engage reverse until compltely stopped. (this has been done - and it aint nice)

 

When cold the box wont want to change too far up the gears till the fluid is warmed up - this can make it seem like the car is revving to high. Its a safety feature and not a problem. Just take it easy till it changes to the next gear.

 

My favourite trick to to come belting up to corners and when the speed is right , click it down to 2nd so I have the power out of the corner - then belt off up the road, clicking back into 'D'

 

Some of this I'm sure you already know, some stuff may be new. I did have the shift points of the box but I havent got them to hand.

Be careful who you entrust your box to, ask a few questions see if they know there stuff.

 

Martek, try checking your throttle cables or too much play, you will have 2 one for the pedal, and another next to it, that should only have 2 mm play in it, it affects the gear change dramatically - but dont overdo it as I once did and couldnt even start the car! - Check the TPS, reset the ECU by disconnecting the battery, the grey connector by the TPS can be disconnected and reconnected - the box will do a diagnostic when you turn on the ignition and it also causes it to sense the location of the TPS and resets the idle in case any adjustments cause it to deviate...useful tip.

 

Dunno if my ramblings help any but just my experiences over lat 3 years!!

 

Later peeps.

 

Originally posted by Simon:

No no no the Over Drive (OD) buttom is just like a 5th gear allowing for more relaxed cruising.

 

 

Simon

 

O/D also has different change up/down points (eg changes up 500rpm lower when overdrive on) and works on the lower gears to make them higher as well (except when 1 or 2 is selected when the switch makes no difference)

 

 

Guess I've discovered the difference between autos and manuals - you need a degreee in Quantum Mechanics to drive an auto properly. Think I'll start looking for a manual.

 

Originally posted by TT Tim:

Used the 'hold' button once when getting my car out of a field, there was slippery wet muddy grass everywhere.

 

It worked very well choosing the highest gear possible and reducing wheelspin.

 

What was I doing in a field in a Z? I'd just been to a fireworks display and it was the car park, it was on an incline too, not very bright really

 

Tim

 

You probably had those Japanese F1 slicks on the car at that time aswell mate?

 

 

I took my Z to a festival in the summer and after it had pissed down with rain all weekend and with the hangover I had I was too lazy to carry my tent etc back to my car so I drove the Z out of its field (sideways, just got it straightened up as it went through the gateposts LOL) and drove back into the festival site while everybody else was getting stuck trying to get out.

The mud was several inches deep and I could hear the underside of the car dragging in it. It got half way up the sides of each exhaust. I cruised by a Fiesta that was stuck and a 4WD that was having problems and I was very impressed with the auto box in hold mode, it kept the revs really low and coped with wet grass and mud superbly

 

Cleaning it afterwards wasn't fun though

 

 

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