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Engine braking in an Automatic Jl

ZEN357

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makes sense...besides, if you want to know a thing or to about "wheeling," ask a man who comes from a place that bears its namesake;)
Wheeling used to be a great place to live until all the Factors came and ruined everything. I used to love it hear and thought I spend my whole life here. No I just want to get out and move to the mountains of Tennessee.
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NewJLU2019

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With this question in mind, I ran in manual mode to work this morning and tried downshifting as a means to help slow the Jeep. I honestly could tell no real benefit. Without the auditory feedback from the exhaust, I was constantly looking at either the tach or the gear indicator to figure out what gear I was in. Add to that the fact that the orientation is reverse from my last car (push forward to downshift, pull back to upshift) then I was constantly focused on that and not my driving. May be no harm in driving in this manner, but I can't come up with a reason to do it. With a manual or sports car with a sequential gear transmission, sure, downshift when slowing to ensure you are always in the correct gear, but the Jeep has decent brakes so I'll let the ZF tranny do its thing in full auto.
Just my humble .02.
Hey Matt, I am a new Jeep owner and have not used the - M + shifter. Just what purpose would this even be used. Just on the off-road trail's?
 

Buckster

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Hey Matt, I am a new Jeep owner and have not used the - M + shifter. Just what purpose would this even be used. Just on the off-road trail's?
Just a way to control what gear you are in with an auto transmission. Some like to use them on road, but I see no benefit. With a manual transmission, the driver has full control of what gear they are in. With an auto, the computer gets to decide what gear you should be in. When you push the shifter over, you take control from the computer. I could see some uses off road if you wanted to hold a particular gear, but that's about it.
 

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I only engine brake or down shift in an emergency situation where I start to slide on black ice or snow. And seems to work pretty gud
 

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I've been using the engine for braking all my life, with both manual and auto transmissions. Any worries about damage to automatic transmissions are unfounded. I've been doing it for a LONG time and never had to repair or replace a transmission. We bought our Honda Odyssey van 17 years ago and after more that 200,000 miles the original tranny is still going strong. We live in Colorado and this van spent a lot of its life in the mountains and I always use the engine to control speed going down hill instead of breaks. It's a habit and I shift down manually to slow down even in town.

My Honda Accord has more than 140,000 miles on it and still has the original bake pads and rotors thanks to this habit. I personally think that using the engine to slow down the car is better for low maintenance costs. The only time I am careful with engine braking is when driving on slick surfaces like snow, ice or off road.
 
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Rahneld

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I've been using the engine for braking all my life, with both manual and auto transmissions. Any worries about damage to automatic transmissions are unfounded. I've been doing it for a LONG time and never had to repair or replace a transmission. We bought our Honda Odyssey van 17 years ago and after more that 200,000 miles the original tranny is still going strong. We live in Colorado and this van spent a lot of its life in the mountains and I always use the engine to control speed going down hill instead of breaks. It's a habit and I shift down manually to slow down even in town.

My Honda Accord has more than 140,000 miles on it and still has the original bake pads and rotors thanks to this habit. I personally think that using the engine to slow down the car is better for low maintenance costs. The only time I am careful with engine braking is when driving on slick surfaces like snow, ice or off road.
....similar experience with no damage to tranny and long brake life..even with "in town" engine braking, but our stories are anecdotes, not data across a broad range of rigs and conditions. That's why I asked...and I think @Gallagher's point about fixing brakes being easier and cheaper than fixing trannies can't be denied.;)

Thanks...
 

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Doesn't it somewhat downshift itself...I feel it sometimes.
 

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I only have 3K on my new JL so far. But have to agree that the Auto does a pretty good job on its own. I have some rollercoaster-like hills for part of my drive so I will occasionally flip it to manual to hold a gear otherwise the auto will shift just as I hit the hill base going for the next climb thinking it is still headed downhill. Seems to always happen just before the incline then it has to immediately dropdown. So I will sometimes hold it by going to manual. I have also tried it for acceleration but I to find it's hard to tell when to shift by feel and sound like I could in my older manual jeep (2000) so find myself also looking at the tach, and honestly think the auto does a better job of finding gears based on gas pedal pressure, etc. Funny I also get the shift direction wrong once and a while seems like it should be reversed.
I snow plow with my jeep so may use it this winter to hold a gear when pushing snow uphill, and I found it helpful the other day pulling a tree stump I could hold it in low and go slow. I'm beginning to realize I may not use it much but sure like having the option! My old JK (2010) auto sucked compared to this and the only option was an overdrive button that you had to lean down to reach at the base of the shifter. So I'm very happy with this update.
 

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Jurasic thread, but...maybe some new info.

While in most level road conditions, I haven't seen a need for downshifting my JLUR 8sp auto, I have used it in downhill situations regularly.

Of course, putting the shifter in the M gate gives you manual control, but I've also noted that a single punch on the throttle and then leaving my foot off the throttle, will downshift and hold it in that gear. Another punch will downshift it again.
 

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I bought an automatic because it was automatic. If I wanted to shift gears myself I would have bought a Jeep with a manual transmission.
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