How to shift gears going down hill w/ automatic transmission?

Question

I have a 2004 Dodge Intrepid with an automatic transmission. Today, I drove down some steep incline while going over the rockies in Colorado.

Stupidly (I know!), I had my car in "Drive" going up and down the inclines. While going down the inclines I was riding my breaks. I know I should be in a lower gear going down steep declines. Question is...how do I do that?

Can I just move the shifter from Drive to 2.... to 1....to L.... as I'm coasting downhill (7% decline), or MUST I have my foot on the break (like I would going from Park to Drive/Reverse) while downshifting?

I figured I could just shift w/o having to have my foot on the break...but didn't want to experiment with this idea while going down a mountain.

Should I be in a low gear going up hill as well?

thanks,
MF

Answer 1

You can shift without your foot on brakes. Just pull the shifter from Drive to 2, then to 1, but you should not need to go into L. Just be careful not to over rev the engine, don't let the RPMs go too high. ( I am a Service Advisor at a Dodge , Jeep and Chevy
dealership and an ex-mechanic)

Answer 2

With an automatic transmission, you can just pull it to the lower gear, and the transmission will shift, well, automatically.

However, a car like the Intrepid is equipped with a good set of brakes, and because the car isn't very heavy, you'd waste more gas by running in a lower gear down a 7% grade than you would wear brakes by just keeping it at a reasonable speed. Drive is the right gear for the Intrepid unless you're pulling a boat out of the water.

If you use a method of braking called stab braking, you will hardly wear your brakes at all going downhill. Set a target speed - say, 60 mph. As you head down the hill, give your brakes a hard stab when the speedometer creeps up to, say, 70. Brake it back to 50. Let off the brake. It will creep back up in speed, and you stab it again. At the bottom of the hill, you've only touched your brake three or four times for a couple of seconds, instead of riding them all the way down. (Of course, the morons have all passed you at 80, but who cares?)

Answer 3

Yes second gear will use the transmission to slow the car. And going up hills if the transmission is up and down shifting a lot holding it in a lower gear reduces wear and tear. Watch the tachometer don't hold a lower gear at high revs just kick it up to drive But a caution here is in order. Older transmissions do not stand up well when downshifted. Brake pads installed rotors turned $200. dollars Transmission replaced $3,400 or rebuilt $2,400 your choice?

Answer 4

Automatic transmissions use their internal programming to recognize a drop in load, throttle sense, speed sensors and brake input as a downshift signal while in drive. Leave it alone and watch the rpms, it will drop gears automatically.

The low gears are for slippery conditions when torque is needed over wheelspin, an upshift on an icy road can cause a lack of traction.

Answer 5

Sure, you can down-shift an automatic at any time. No problem. That's what it's there for. If you never had a reason to shift, there would only be two gears - forward (drive) and reverse.

Answer 6

Take it out of overdrive when going down a steep grade, becasue Most OD's dont have a speed regulator,a nd they will go faster and faster down the hill if you let it coast. But on an automatic, if you put it down to 2 or 1 going down a hill, and just letting it run, you are ruining your transmission. There is no fluid pressure flowing while the bands are working their butts off trying to slow the vehicle down.

Answer 7

If I couldn't pull over, and start over in a lower gear, I would have put my foot on the brake, taken it out of overdrive, and shifted over to either 2 or 1. I would keep the overdrive off going up the hill, but shift it back to drive. Who knows.

Answer 8

My advice is to use overdrive up the hills in 1 or 2 (if fast, 3), and the same downhill. The lower the gear, the more pulling power, the higher the gear, the faster it goes, but way less pulling power. Try not to let you engine over rev or go past 4500 RPM. It should only stay that high (2500-3500 RPM, maybe peaking at 4000-4500 RPM if Gas) when going up hills.

Answer 9

You can just shift gears you don't have to have your foot on the brake..and going up hill you want to be in a lower gear or in overdrive so you don't put too much stress or whatever on the motor.

Answer 10

Going Down The Hill