> IN summary, the tech support guy at Chrysler-Daimler central says:
> 1) it's okay to use overdrive ("D" on the dodge 4 speed tranny) as long as there's no excessive shifting.
> 2) use overdrive for hills
Boy, now I am really confused. Using my Bonneville as an example, if I were to do #2, I'd get the tail end of #1, which is excessive shifting because the engine would lug on hills and then downshift quite hard and harshly. If I were ever to entertain the thought of using overdrive when towing, the last place I'd use it would be on climbing or descending hills. Going up, the engine would lug and downshifts would be harsh. Going down, you'd get no use of engine braking.
> 3) it's okay to use "L" (low gear ratio) for engine braking on long declines. this keeps the engine from shifting into a higher gear except to prevent engine damage. It's not actually a lower gear, just a computer programm that simulates a lower gearing shifting pattern.
I had a 1976 Pontiac Grand Safari that carried me through part of high school. It's automatic transmission was labeled as P,R,N,D,S,L. My current Pontiac is labeled P,R,N,OD,D,2,1. #2 on my Pontiac is most definitely a separate gear. The base tranny is a standard GM C440. What you are describing; that #2 on the Grand Caravan is not a gear, is nothing I've ever heard of. I'll have to check out Rob's van in the morning and take a look-see. The only thing that even sounds
remotely like that (but in the opposite direction) is a torque lockdown. My Bonneville is so equipped - when you are in OD and moving at a steady speed, the tranny in effect "locks", lowering the RPMs a bit more and delivering straight and steady power to the transaxles.
-- "Sea" ya!--Lars S. Mulford, President East Coast Potter Association (ECPA) Come visit us at http://members.tripod.com/~SpeedSailor s/v Always P15 #2125, lateen rig, sailing greater Chesapeake region "Forgive, and live. Life is worth the challenge of living." --LSSM "Love is good; Love hurts; Love sustains; Love remains." --LSSM