using an auto as a manual
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 37
Likes: 0
From: toronto ontario
using an auto as a manual
hi
i have a question about using an auto(th350) as a manual, example starting is 1st and then revs up 6krpm, then moving the shifter to 2nd.same when slowing down from 3rd to 2nd to 1st. essentially using it as a manual.to go faster and rev higher to make more noise(i mean music) i don't do this much,on the corvette, yet.
until i know does this hurt the transmission?
ps i do this to crap cars alot b/c i like having a stick but they are so hard to find.
i have a question about using an auto(th350) as a manual, example starting is 1st and then revs up 6krpm, then moving the shifter to 2nd.same when slowing down from 3rd to 2nd to 1st. essentially using it as a manual.to go faster and rev higher to make more noise(i mean music) i don't do this much,on the corvette, yet.
until i know does this hurt the transmission?
ps i do this to crap cars alot
b/c i like having a stick but they are so hard to find.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,118
From: Crossville TN
Doing what you propose will just use more fuel and wear the tranny out sooner. It isn't damaging...unless you just overdo it...but it does contribute to early wear on clutch plates, etc. If you do much of it, you might want to add a separate tranny cooler.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,154
Likes: 69
From: Regina Sk Canada
I agree, i had a Coan racing powerglide in my camaro i just sold. It had a full manual valve body in it, so i had to shift up and down all the time. That got old real fast, i hardly ever drove the car, so i would not want to manual shift on purpose.About all that would wear out would be the shifter and the tranny linkage.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 2,116
Likes: 156
From: Mid West
Cruise-In III Veteran
If you do it, just don't downshift too early using your engine/tranny to slow you down. A TH350 isn't designed for that and you will wear out some parts fairly quickly.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 7,453
Likes: 976
From: RI, Now Franklin/Nashville TN
I had a 73 Nova with the turbo 350 and shifted manually quite often for many years with zero problems but I did run a big transmission cooler that did all the cooling (no radiator cooling) along with an external B&M oil filter filter canister along with the internal transmission filter which I changed every 5,000 miles. I changed the transmission fluid every year. I sold the car in 1990 with 168,000 miles on the transmission still running strong! If I was you, I would change the transmission fluid often (I used the Nova as primary transportation, thus the extreme maintenance schedule) and as other have noted, would add the biggest transmission cooler you can fit since heat is what kills transmissions.
