Is there an intermediate kickdown in overdrive in '89 Cressida?

Driving an '89 Cressida auto trans, cruising along in OD and encountering a
slight hill or otherwise giving a slight amount of push on the accelerator,
I'll notice what feels like a mild kickdown - I hear a definite change in
engine/trans sound, the rpm's go up slightly, but it's not as big a change
as going out of OD. I've checked by disengaging the OD and it's different,
much more subtle than that.

Is there some kind of "intermediate" kickdown when in OD?

I have seen this when the torque converter unlocks; almost in anticipation of a downshift that does not occur.

Doc wrote:
>
> Driving an '89 Cressida auto trans, cruising along in OD and encountering a
> slight hill or otherwise giving a slight amount of push on the accelerator,
> I'll notice what feels like a mild kickdown - I hear a definite change in
> engine/trans sound, the rpm's go up slightly, but it's not as big a change
> as going out of OD. I've checked by disengaging the OD and it's different,
> much more subtle than that.
>
> Is there some kind of "intermediate" kickdown when in OD?

--
Mike Walsh
West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A.

"Mike Walsh" > wrote in message
...
>
> I have seen this when the torque converter unlocks; almost in anticipation
> of a downshift that does not occur.
>

Besides allowing slippage when the vehicle is stopped, the torque converter
provides torque multiplication when acelerating.
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

> Doc wrote:
>>
>> Driving an '89 Cressida auto trans, cruising along in OD and encountering
>> a
>> slight hill or otherwise giving a slight amount of push on the
>> accelerator,
>> I'll notice what feels like a mild kickdown - I hear a definite change
>> in
>> engine/trans sound, the rpm's go up slightly, but it's not as big a
>> change
>> as going out of OD. I've checked by disengaging the OD and it's
>> different,
>> much more subtle than that.
>>
>> Is there some kind of "intermediate" kickdown when in OD?
>
> --
> Mike Walsh
> West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A.

Mike is right - the torque converter is "locked up" to reduce
slippage/improve mileage. a bit of resistance or slight acceleration
causes it to unlock. It will (transmission) shift down with either
more throttle pressure or increased resistance.

"Doc" > wrote in message
nk.net...
>
> "Gary L. Burnore" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> It's not intermediate. It really is just going back into plain-old
>> third gear.
>
> It's definitely not going out of OD into 3rd, it's far more subtle than
> that. I believe other responders have probably id'd it correctly as
> related
> to the torque converter.
>

Rather than trying to decide whose wild guess is correct or incorrect, it is
very easy to tell for yourself.

Pushing the overdrive button will drop the transmission down to 3rd gear.

If you want to unlock the torque converter while at a steady cruise, tap the
brake pedal just enough to make the brake lights come on. Having the brake
lights come on will trick the transmission ECU into unlocking the torque
converter. You should see about 100 to 200 RPM increase with the torque
converter unlocked.

--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

"Ray O" > wrote in message
ervers.com...
>
> "Doc" > wrote in message
> nk.net...
>>
>> "Gary L. Burnore" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> It's not intermediate. It really is just going back into plain-old
>>> third gear.
>>
>> It's definitely not going out of OD into 3rd, it's far more subtle than
>> that. I believe other responders have probably id'd it correctly as
>> related
>> to the torque converter.
>>
>
> Rather than trying to decide whose wild guess is correct or incorrect, it
> is very easy to tell for yourself.
>
> Pushing the overdrive button will drop the transmission down to 3rd gear.
>
> If you want to unlock the torque converter while at a steady cruise, tap
> the brake pedal just enough to make the brake lights come on. Having the
> brake lights come on will trick the transmission ECU into unlocking the
> torque converter. You should see about 100 to 200 RPM increase with the
> torque converter unlocked.
>
> --
> Ray O
> correct the return address punctuation to reply
>

Hey Doc, I believe Ray O has hit the nail on the head. It's pretty easy to
determine what's going on. Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving.
Bob

"Ray O" > wrote in message
ervers.com...

> Rather than trying to decide whose wild guess is correct or incorrect, it
is
> very easy to tell for yourself.
>
> Pushing the overdrive button will drop the transmission down to 3rd gear.

Right. If you go back to my original post I mentioned trying this and that
it was comparatively very different than what I'm experiencing.