AU II transmission and accelerator - problem?

[380]

After recently getting an AU 2 I noticed a few things which seemed unusual and I wasn't sure if all AU 2's were like this.

The automatic gearbox and the accelerator pedal don't seem to work in sequence as well as I'd imagined they would. When i plant my foot down there is about a 1 second delay in the gearbox shifting down a gear. I know that most auto's will have a delay, but is it supposed to be so noticeable so as to make your driving experience undesirable?

The other thing is that (again I'm unfamiliar with Falcons), I planted my foot down the other day, all the way down on the accelerator pedal and I felt a strong vibration through the pedal onto my foot, almost like an electric shock. I've never driven a car that has done this before. Is it just the AU 2 Falcon or is it just my car?

[poolkeeper]

1 second delay in the gearbox shifting down a gear= A gear or more?? Seems to be alright if its more than one

strong vibration through the pedal onto my foot, almost like an electric shock= no idea sorry, but my mums el does it sometimes

[Mr Hardware]

hmm i'd love to drive it...

if you are doing 50, and the auto in D, and you punch it, then it will take like 1 second to drop down to 1st. i never drive in <60kmh zones in D, always in 3. reduces wear on the transmission.
They aren't the quickest boxes around, but certainly not slow. Used a TurboHydraMatic 700 lately? now that's slow.

Strong vibration? eh? Could well be just your car. Dunno.

[ten[A]cio[U]s]

Maybe try taking the car our of economy mode. My box it rather slow in econ but when its off speeds up the down shift quite a bit.

If it is worrying you a lot i would say get it checked by a professional and get their opinion to whether these problems you are describing are common / normal or a problem

Also to see whether the thing that feels like and electric shock actually is one. try driving bare footed? Will tell you if it is one lol.

[scuwp]

You want a slow kick-down...go drive a Holden! you can just about make a cuppa tea while your waiting for those things. Like Mr Hardware I always drive in 3 'round town, even 2 if the traffics busy...keeps everything in sinc and working better, but yeah there can be a small delay. As for the vibration...haven't a clue, maybe best that gets a pro to look at it if it's that bad.

[GK]

AU auto boxes are a little slow because they lock up in 3rd, then unlock for the change to 4th, then lock up again.

All for emissions and petrol use and such.

Taking it out of econ mode will help a bit.

GK

[transitman]

I bought an AU11 one tonner a couple of months ago, this is the second auto box I have put in it after taking out the original, which had issues, so after this anyone that says Ford gearboxes are good or anywhere near acceptable need to see someone, also my wife drives a Holden VS with the 700 box, done about 350,000 and still going strong without any of this lag or wait time that the Ford is supposed to have. Maybe I shall find out if a gearbox will last long enough.

[The Monty]

I have flogged the crap out of my box, and it is still silky smooth (touch wood), manually shifting, and shifting to first at above 50 for the last 70 000k's, compression lock ups and drag days, dynos and skidpans, and it has over 220 000k's on it. Maybe if you serviced your auto's theyd last better, nothing wrong with the BTR.

[StealthAu]

how do you do a compression lock up in your auto au? I've (in error) kncoked it back into first doing over 100ks and it powered on to 130ish I think.

[schuldiner]

as far as the vibration is concerned i reckon mine is much smoother in the top end after extractors and a slightly better air intake system. stockoau, maybe it's a safety thing at that speed 1st gear probably wont engage and even if it's not it would be damn hard to put it into 1st at that speed. i think around 60kmh is the most effective way...

[StealthAu]

Nope, it deffinetly went into first. I was just voicing my disbelief in the possability of compresion lockups

[accurate1]

Originally Posted by stockoau

how do you do a compression lock up in your auto au? I've (in error) kncoked it back into first doing over 100ks and it powered on to 130ish I think.

Manual 2nd to 1st downshifts are inhibited above about 60kph so how did you do it???

[schuldiner]

i would say the stick was in first but there is no way his car was!

[The Monty]

It would have been spinning at around 9000 rpm to be doind that in first. If you put it in at 60, and are even the slightest bit crooked, have fun trying to catch the tail.

[smally289]

Originally Posted by accurate1

Manual 2nd to 1st downshifts are inhibited above about 60kph so how did you do it???

You can trick the PCM, and engage any gear at any speed if you really want to. I wouldnt recommend it though!

The PCM will normally disallow downshifts into low gears above a certain road speed for obvious reasons.
But when you do silly things, like select park at 100kph for example, the PCM gets confused. It doesnt like the fact that you are requesting park when it can see the speedo signal is that high. The park pawl inside the trans will make a nice ratcheting noise! THEN select the gear you want, even reverse if you really want. The PCM thinks 'bewdy, a gear, lets go in' and into reverse she goes.
At 100 kph. Yum. The following departure of torque convertors and other big bits of metal could be quite expensive, but its a hell of a party trick!

A mate of mine used to work at BTR and this was discovered during testing.

[Dark Horse]

These BTR's went into Maserati's so they can't be half bad.

Kickdown - seems normal enough to me. If it kicks down, slips in the lower gear or runs away in the lower gear and is a little hesitant or feels troublesome to change back up then you'd have issues.

[partie]

Originally Posted by smally351

You can trick the PCM, and engage any gear at any speed if you really want to. I wouldnt recommend it though!

The PCM will normally disallow downshifts into low gears above a certain road speed for obvious reasons.
But when you do silly things, like select park at 100kph for example, the PCM gets confused. It doesnt like the fact that you are requesting park when it can see the speedo signal is that high. The park pawl inside the trans will make a nice ratcheting noise! THEN select the gear you want, even reverse if you really want. The PCM thinks 'bewdy, a gear, lets go in' and into reverse she goes.
At 100 kph. Yum. The following departure of torque convertors and other big bits of metal could be quite expensive, but its a hell of a party trick!

A mate of mine used to work at BTR and this was discovered during testing.

Poor gearbox.

[transitman]

Originally Posted by The Monty

I have flogged the crap out of my box, and it is still silky smooth (touch wood), manually shifting, and shifting to first at above 50 for the last 70 000k's, compression lock ups and drag days, dynos and skidpans, and it has over 220 000k's on it. Maybe if you serviced your auto's theyd last better, nothing wrong with the BTR.

Do you think the gearbox was installed without a service,it was done when the gearbox was put in and it only lasted about 600klm's now I have put another one in and it is looking like the doing the same, I think this is the 5th gearbox with another oil cooler installed nearly as big as the radiator.I think this will be the last Ford I will ever own, I have a Ford Transit on gas that blows the intake pipe and air cleaner to pieces regularly so Fords are certainly not m y favorite vehicle.By the way I have only had this AU for a couple of months.

[Geoff EL 4.0]

Maybe for the vibration get a wheel alignment as when you floor it the front/(maybe back) wheels are under alot more pressure than normal to move forward and because its out of alignment it shakes throught the metal n comes out your foot :S just puttin this out there because i work at TTF Thomastown and the cars do shake when they are out of alignment so maybe its just vibrating through a certain trail and into your foot but not cabin. Probably not it but its just another idea my 2c

[Geoff EL 4.0]

i just thought that maybe a front wheel balance could sort it out as well!!!(cheaper than wheel alignment)

[schuldiner]

did your transit come from factory with gas? falcons that are factory gas have springs to hold the airbox's down instead of clips this is so that when the gas backfires you don't end up with said hole in airbox...

[Barossa Red AU3]

Just remember the gearbox kickdown is not a cable it is the Engine Ecu Talkin To The Gearbox the time it takes to kickdown can vary depending on Power Or Econ Mode, what gear and speed your doing and just how quickly you tramp that go Peddal. I Recently drove a VX Commodore and getting onto the Freeway on ramp several times i was pushing the peddal waiting for something to happen it would accelerate from 100-105 then decide to jump from 4-2 in one go and the bloody engine viabrated so Badly i thought it was going to rip itself from the car and fly into Space.