Pardon my thickness but what is locking out gears

The '09 5 speed does not allow you to lock out 5th and only go up the 4th. Moving the gearshift to 4th isn't an option either. Your gearshift options go from D to 3.....

Not the perfect set up. If you want, you can get an SCT tuner from 5Star Tuning that can be customized to lock out 5th if you press tow haul.

One of the options I love about my '11; lock 6th, 5th, or select manual and shift it yourself.

S

Camp, Forrest, Camp! wrote:
It sounds ..... lockup.

You should consider deleting this post, it's not even close to an accurate description and will do nothing but cause confusion.

I didn't fully quote it so that when you delete it the record is gone.

I don't call it locking out, I call it downshifting as needed. My understanding is my 68rfe torque converter will lock-up down to 3rd gear.

bid_time wrote:
Overdrive is not the same as Torque Converter Lockup. Overdrive is a gear with a higher than 1:1 ratio. Locking out a gear simply means it's a gear you don't allow your transmission to shift into. It's normally done with the gear selector lever.

I agree with Bruce: Best answer.

I have no idea about the OPs transmission or controls available for it. I know about mine: 5 speed, with gears 4 and 5 being overdrive gears. It has an "Overdrive off" button that restricts the transmission to gears 1 thru 3, that is, it "locks out" the overdrive, making gears 4 and 5 unavailable. This is useful for dragging heavy stuff up steep inclines, when the transmission (programmed to give best mileage) would otherwise try to do the job in too high a gear.

The usual transmission programming does not have the engine locked into a single gear when you select D1, D2, D3, etc. instead of D. If you choose D3 on a 4 speed transmission, what you have done is simply lock the transmission out of 4th gear. It will behave normally at speeds below those at which it would shift to 4th, but will stay in 3rd and never shift into 4th at higher speeds. This is what is meant by "lock out."

Locking out a gear is simply turning off overdrive or moving the lever to a lower gear. In that situation, the higher gear ratios are locked out. With tow/haul mode, the transmission will generally handle things just fine.

But if you are going up and down short steep hills, the transmission will sometimes hunt for the correct gear bouncing back and forth frequently. If it happens occasionally it's not a big deal. If it's shifting every 30seconds, it's hard on the transmission. A simple solution is just to lock out the higher gear and run in the lower gear at slightly higher engine RPM.

Locking torque converters have been around for quite a while. A torque converter is basically a hydrallic pump that allows slippage. The slippage allows you to leave the vehicle in gear while stopped. The problem is that slippage doesn't stop while traveling down the road and it wastes energy. The solution is basically a clutch that locks the two halves of the torque converter together so there is no slippage. When at a stop light, the clutch releases and the torque converter operates as normal with slippage. Once up to speed, the clutch locks up and eliminates the slippage.

Early versions only locked the torque converter in overdrive. More recent ones can lock additional gears. An easy way to check if you are locked is to let off the gas or punch it for a second. If the RPM hold steady or gradually change with the speed, it's locked (there's no slippage so the RPM and speed are locked together). If the RPM jumps up or down quickly (much more so than the speed), it's unlocked and you are seeing the impact of slippage.

There can be a side benefit for towing if the tranmission locks in lower gears. When unlocked under heavy load, that slippage creates lots of fluid friction and heat. This can overheat the transmission. If you can hold a steady speed in a gear that is locked (without lugging the engine), there is no slippage so the transmission fluid doesn't overheat. This is why you don't hear about manual transmissions overheating.

bid_time wrote:
Overdrive is not the same as Torque Converter Lockup. Overdrive is a gear with a higher than 1:1 ratio. Locking out a gear simply means it's a gear you don't allow your transmission to shift into. It's normally done with the gear selector lever.

Best answer.

Bruce

Overdrive is not the same as Torque Converter Lockup. Overdrive is a gear with a higher than 1:1 ratio. Locking out a gear simply means it's a gear you don't allow your transmission to shift into. It's normally done with the gear selector lever.

Whoah Mr. Forest you gave some bad skinny on torque converter lock up.

Even my ole 99 F250 would lock up when it was out of overdrive. :h

I do not know anything about the trans arrangement in the OP's truck. On my 2012 F 250 locking out a higher gear would be toggling the switch on the shift lever down to the next lower gear. The gear selected that would be the highest that the trans could then go would be displayed on the dash.

It sounds like you're asking about torque converter "lock up". This is when the input shaft of the transmission is "locked" to the output shaft of the engine. Under normal circumstances, there is a slight amount of slip in the torque converter between the engine and transmission. To improve fuel economy, modern transmissions can lock the torque converter to prevent slippage. In most transmissions, this is indicated as "overdrive". Engaging tow/haul mode, turning off overdrive, or moving the shift lever from D(with circle) to D will prevent lockup.

Turn off OD
Move shift lever out of 'D' to 2
ETC.