I've tried to explain this same principle to my wife for years. I've given up, but with her 98 Altima going up a hill it searches for the right gear the whole way up. Downshifting in and out of overdrive. I've shown that a simple press on the O/D lockout button after the trans downshifts the first time locks the converter back up and drops engine rpm 300 rpm. This saves gas and wear and tear on the trans. She doesn't get it and won't do it! ARRG! So when she is driving on the interstate and I'm with her I do it from the passenger seat! She doen't care if I do it, but won't herself! It ticks me off that back in the eighties Nissan added a switch in the Maximas that would lock the O/D out when a hill passed a certain degree of incline. It was probably mercury based switch! What it did was left the car in O/D till it downshifted then if the incline was too steep it blocked the upshift to O/D and locked the converter till the road levelled out! Nifty! -- Mark Price markprice242ATadelphia.net Morgantown, WV ---- John Elle <johnelle@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > SNIP > Maybe it's the lockup converter he's thinking is 4th? > Ken > SNIP > > Actually I know it is! > But it got your attention! > In general that is what many of the newer electronic > Automatics are doing, splitting gears by locking and > un-locking the torque converter. _______________________________________________ AMC-List mailing list AMC-List@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list or go to http://www.amc-list.com