[3-fords1000]

I don't know about all Fords, but I think it worked on my Gen 2 (didn't really want to mess up my trans by keep trying). I won't try it on my new car until after the break in.

But...

My B-in-L had a Mustang with a shift kit and to hit every gear at WOT he could shift from 1st to D than back to 1st and it would only shift up to 2nd.

 

[shoz123]

Yes that is for the autos that don't have the 2nd gear indicator.

 

[Capital Punishment]

Yes. Your car is smart enough not to shift back down to first when you put it in first the second time.

 

[silvapain]

...but apparently the operator of the car isn't

 

[dant98]

Yeah, that spot is almost more appropriatly labeled "L" for Low. It will put you in the lowest possible gear without redlining. I wouldn't put it in "1" if you're above 3K RPM though. A bit rough on the engine.

-Dan

 

[qwertz9586]

Wow, that's really interesting. You learn somthing new everyday.

 

[mikehawk]

I don't get what the point of that is. Does the engine not wind up to redline if you leave it in drive?

 

[qwertz9586]

I think the point is to put the tranny in 2nd so you can decend hills at a higher speed. If you're in 1st, and you take off until redline, you're still in first gear. If you shift it into Drive, it'll upshift into 2nd and maybe 3rd, but when you downshift back into 1st, the computer doesn't want the car to blow up, so it'll downshift into 2nd gear.

 

[dant98]

You can also use it for passing/merging on the highway. If you put the shifter into D or 1, you'll be in third or maybe second and you'll have much better power.

-Dan

 

[spragers]

QUOTE

If you put the shifter into D or 1, you'll be in third or maybe second and you'll have much better power.[/b]

...I just drop the pedal to the floor, and I accomplish the very same thing

 

[95se]

Not quite, you can drop it into low at 70mph and it will go into second (if you just hammer the gas, it will only go into third).

If you shuffle shift to get it into second, and stay above 15mph and floor it, it will lug the engine and stay in second. Very handy for dyno runs!

Mustang and Tbird guys have been shuffle shifting for years, nothing electronic about it, its all about pressure. The shifter is connected to a manual linkage and the concept works the same for electronic models or non-electronic.

 

[shoz123]

I manually shift my '97 about 60% of the time. It helps to have a floor shifter.

 

[my car has peeling paint]

I got a 90 Vulcan with an AXOD so my tranny isn't computer controlled. Somehow I think that if I'm doin 70 and I drop it into 1st, my engine will sh*t itself.

 

[Postmortem]

Only useful is Drive, 3rd speed. It is good for city driving, but bad for hwy.

 

[sundarpn]

OK now, with my 96 GL, I think the only thing that I have is 1, D & Overdrive for fwd gears... ? why could they have provided all the gears in the range..
is not D =3 gear & OD=4th? So they did not let me choose 2nd ..

 

[spragers]

QUOTE

you can drop it into low at 70mph and it will go into second[/b]

Since my tranny shifts into 3rd just before 70mph at WOT, it would do me absolutely NO good whatsoever to shift into second at that point

 

[Sticky]

Heh, this is sweet. I tried it in my dad's Taurus last night. I wonder if i can use this to force my taurus into second...

 

[shoz123]

Originally posted by sundarpn@Feb 28 2004, 08:56 PM

OK now, with my 96 GL, I think the only thing that I have is 1, D & Overdrive for fwd gears... ? why could they have provided all the gears in the range..
is not D =3 gear & OD=4th? So they did not let me choose 2nd ..

It's not a bug, it's a feature. Thank Ford's penny pinchers I guess.

 

[qwertz9586]

I think the reason why the shift quadrant shows OD-D-1 is because the Taurus originally came with a 3-speed transaxle and a 4-cyl as the base configuration and Ford was probably too lazy/cheap to update the shift quadrant to accomodate the 4-speed.

 

[Jason King]

Its really hard on the bands in the transmission. There is a wiring upgrade you can do to use L, D, OD to be 1,2,3 and have a switch on the dash for 4th.