[VTMom]

I remember seeing this complaint somewhere before, and there being some a logical answer, but I couldn't find it, so forgive me if this has been on a previous thread..

There is a hill by my house about a quarter of a mile long, moderately steep and straight down to a stop light at the bottom. When going down the hill to a red light, I of course step on the brake and when the van reaches about 20-25mph, the transmission downshifts what seems like 2 gears and the engine braking causes the contents of the van to lurch forward, cell phone, juice cups, kids, etc. It is rather disconcerting.

My dealer says it is a "safety feature" that the engine adds additional braking power. It was my understanding that brakes were designed to stop the car and the transmission was designed to help it go?

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Susan
'01 SS EX, cargo tray
'96 Grand Cherokee
'89 Accord LXi
'89 Kawasaki ZX600R

 

[Rook]

Yes, the Grade Logic feature finally kicks in after you press the brakes while going down that hill. It downshifts to a lower gear to slow the van down so that you don't have to brake as much in turn creating less wear on the brake pads and shoes.
I guess it's designers must live somewhere way up on a mountain top in Japan and just got tired of constantly pressing the brake while they drove down to the "big city".

[This message has been edited by Rook (edited 05-09-2001).]

 

[lmheim]

yup, same problem i have, but mine is a little more complex apparently. i finally had a chat with the honda district service manager and he tried that grade logic BS on me. but the thing is, my transmission shift lurches on the upshift as well at about 35 mph (ironically, at this time, the upshift lurch is much more prevalent than the downshift lurch). so he doesn't know what the problem is. i am supposed to meet with a dealer to get this straightened out.

 

[abyez]

Guys I dont know if my solution is appropriate or not...here goes:

on the 1999 owners's manual Pg 217 on "Towing a trailer" ...it says " Driving Down Hills - reduce speed, shift down to 2nd gear."

I Guess what VTMOM should do is to slow down and shift to 2nd gear before going down the slope. This way the transmition stays at 2nd all the time, even when it stops at the red light.

Try that and let us know how it works.

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abyez
'99 GG EX

 

[miscreant]

This was a concern of mine with a friends Odyssey. What would happen if that hill you are going down was iced over? That lurch, any lurch even normal, could cause the vehicle to start to slide.