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Starting in Third Gear

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Old Mar 18, 2009 | 05:33 PM
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Starting in Third Gear

A buddy of mine starts in third gear with his automatic transmission and he pushes the pedal about half way to get a lot of smoke out. Just curious is he going to mess up his transmission my doing this. I was watching his boost gauges he never hits above 10 psi so it seems like very little power and he only holds it there for about a second so very short time period. But just wondering
 
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Old Mar 18, 2009 | 06:15 PM
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Well, it isn't the healthiest thing on a transmission. Just for the production of smoke it isn't the smartest thing to do.

Unplug his VGT some night when he isn't looking.....
 
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Old Mar 18, 2009 | 06:16 PM
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The transmission is designed to be able to start in 3rd gear. If it would kill the trans the PCM would have been programmed to not allow it to do that.
 
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Old Mar 18, 2009 | 09:21 PM
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haha ya that would be funny. Ya not sure if its bad for the tranny, bc he doesnt floor it in third just usually guns it to 10 psi real quick...it does produce a lot of smoke though ha
 
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Old Mar 18, 2009 | 09:34 PM
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Next time he does it, sneak under his truck sometime (after the VGT hoax) and put 4-5 Heavy Duty Tie Wraps on his driveline. Be sure to place them where they aren't noticable right away, he'll freak out from all the noise they make.
 
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Old Mar 18, 2009 | 11:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Maxium4x4
Well, it isn't the healthiest thing on a transmission. Just for the production of smoke it isn't the smartest thing to do.

Unplug his VGT some night when he isn't looking.....
AHAH VGT unplugged RULES. I did that once. Can we say HOLY SMOKE?!
 
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Old Mar 19, 2009 | 11:23 AM
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Originally Posted by WWBeast
haha ya that would be funny. Ya not sure if its bad for the tranny, bc he doesnt floor it in third just usually guns it to 10 psi real quick...it does produce a lot of smoke though ha
Hmmmmm..... just might have to give that a try the next time a vehicle near my exhaust is "pumpin' da bass, yo". LOL... fill that Escalade with smoke!
 
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Old Mar 19, 2009 | 01:11 PM
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lol ya i tried it today, it does work really well quite a bit of smoke really with little depression of the peddle. I looked at the boost lower than 10 psi and egt never over 500. all you have to do it depress it for about a second
 
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Old Mar 19, 2009 | 05:14 PM
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OK I'm lost - how exactly do you start an auto in 3rd gear?
 
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Old Mar 19, 2009 | 05:22 PM
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Originally Posted by jsimon724
OK I'm lost - how exactly do you start an auto in 3rd gear?
Instead of putting your stick in "D" put it on "3". You know, "P" (park) "R" (reverse) "D" (with a circle around it over-drive) "D" (drive) "3" 3rd gear "2" etc... Try downshifting your truck from "D" to "3" at about 45mph and you will understand.
 
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Old Mar 19, 2009 | 07:01 PM
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On every auto tranny I've ever owned if you put the shifter into 3 (or 2 or 1 for that matter) the vehicle still starts in 1st but won't go over the selected gear. I've never had a reason to put my SD in anything but drive, but assumed it operated the same way. I mean if I put the truck into 3rd, then start from a dead stop it should shift 1st, 2nd, 3rd, but won't shift any higher. Never heard of an auto that started in any gear but 1st. Maybe this Torqshift is something really special?
 
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Old Mar 19, 2009 | 07:06 PM
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yeah if you put the truck in 3rd it says in 3rd no matter what (stop, go, etc) and i think it's the same way with manually putting the truck in 2nd and 1st as well.
 
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Old Mar 19, 2009 | 07:18 PM
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Thanks guys, learn something new every day! Like I said never had any reason to use the lower gears, but assumed it was the same as all the others. But you know what they same about assuming, right...
 
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Old Mar 19, 2009 | 08:47 PM
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Originally Posted by jsimon724
Never heard of an auto that started in any gear but 1st.
Then you never heard of a Ford trans. The Ford standard is to start in 2nd gear when the lever is in 2, and 3rd gear when the lever is in 3. It's been that way for decades, over all Ford automatics.
 
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Old Mar 19, 2009 | 09:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Mark Kovalsky
Then you never heard of a Ford trans. The Ford standard is to start in 2nd gear when the lever is in 2, and 3rd gear when the lever is in 3. It's been that way for decades, over all Ford automatics.
Yep. Every Ford automatic I've ever owned has been that way.
 
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