Engine brake on automatic

Mostly when going downhill in a 100 when you tap the brakes you can feel them sort of stay on harder till you hit the loud pedal again.

As I never tow in drive I cant say but it does it in 4th as well

Is yours a 4 or 5 spd

Changing down saves brakes and may be safer but gearboxes are dearer tahn brakes my old man used to say.

I said not if you get fade and end up dead LOL

Dad use to do that all the time!

But then my brother in law wouldn't! as he said brake pads are a lot cheaper than an Auto transmission so he has a point with that.

Cheers

Hi John,

A tried and tested rule of thumb, when in particularly steep country is to descend hills in the gear you would use to climb the hill, regardless of transmission type. These days brakes are a lot more effective than when the rule was first applied however the logic is still good.

By using 'gear/engine' braking to the extent you can in steep country means you have reserve capacity in your brakes as they should not be getting too hot.

Hope this helps your deliberations.

Rob.

With an auto, i still select the gears when going down hill just as i would with a manual. Particularly if you have electric trailer brakes, use the brakes a bit to help on steep declines. We came down the Thunderbolts Way Bretti Hill (Brake Fry Hill) in a very low gear. All the warning signs to select low gears apply to auto too.

Motherhen

Thanks to the those who responded.

We will be driving out of Lamington natonal park today (via the green mountains rd) and it is wet, steep & a looong descend.

I think I shall continue to experiment with the engine brake but only on the steeper and longer descends

Cheers

John

Can someone please explain to me why selecting a low gear in an automatic for engine braking on a hill would cause such wear in the transmission as to make cooking your brakes a preferred option "because it is cheaper to cook your brakes than cook a transmission".

Yes, there's a downshift involved, maybe a couple, maybe more, but once the gear is engaged, would not the wear factor on the transmission be the same as or less than going up the same hill?

I was taught and right now believe that the right way to control speed on a long descent is intelligent use of gears (auto or manual), modulated if necessary with brakes. On some of the downhill roads I regularly travel with a 2200kg caravan behind I'll use 1st in my 5sp auto Prado and use brakes if necessary to control RPM. My vehicle owners manual has no caution against the technique, and in fact the Prado, like the 5sp 100 Series, may change down from 5th automatically just by applying the brakes - ie it automatically applies the first degree of engine braking.

Continuous braking on long descents does more than wear out pads. You overheat wheel bearings, grease, seals, internal rubber brake components and you may run out of brakes half way. In Drive at low speed the engine may be working against the brakes, further compounding the problem at a time when you least need it.

I would be interested in a convincing argument as to why use of auto gears is wrong.

Cheers

Frank

A quick update on my experience today...

I used 2nd gear most of the way down (from lamington national park - 15 klms descent) and I found it gave me plenty of control and actually was a pleasant experience. The great thing about using 2nd gear was that it continuously controlled my speed as opposed to my brakes which are applied periodically.

I used my brakes to slow into a corner or shifted to low gear when it got really steep.

I would also like to understand what damage I could do to the transmission if I drove like this.

Thanks John