torque converter - Q

[Dfishrmn]

Originally Posted by JackandJanet

I don't think it has anything to do with shift firmness, Dfish. I bet it's because you had the cruise control set, which lets up on the throttle as you start down the incline. If the converter is locked and you release the throttle, it will unlock and, Bill explained that was a feature Ford put in to increase your fuel economy. (The engine/transmission doesn't drag in coast). Now, I'm guessing that the small decline wasn't really enough to keep the throttle at the "let off" point that caused the unlock, so, it locked back up again. But that wasn't stable either, so it unlocked/locked....

Possibly, if you reduced the lock and unlock speeds for each upshift/downshift, it might "tame" this behavior a bit.

- Jack

Yeah, I didn't think it had anything to do with the firmness, just a coincidence. You described the situation almost perfectly, so that could explain the lock unlock action. I did back off the 4th gear lock point one degree. We'll see how that works!