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I've just got back from a couple of thousand km trip pulling quite a heavy camper trailer. From brisbane to Charleville, Quilpie, Yowah, Bourke, lightning ridge, nindigully, Warwick and back to brisbane, all on bitumen unfortunately. I wouldn't want to do the trip WITHOUT a torque convertor lockup switch!
It was nothing short of fantastic. I used it every single day of driving.
With the TC unlocked and slipping it doesn't take long for TC temps to reach 100+ degrees which in turn, causes transmission temps to begin to rise. With the TC locked the temps fall quickly and settle at 80-85 degrees and stay there.
Unlocked and slipping compared to locked made a difference of live readout fuel economy of about 3L/100, tested on a long straight slightly inclining road with cruise control on. I was able to lock/unlock the TC and see a consistent change. I was able to see this amount of fuel economy change almost every time I engaged it on the trip, just the straight road was a good comparison test.
On steep hills it is better to leave it unlocked and let the auto work it's magic. The lock up is best used on light loads. Towing (towing with headwinds), slight inclines, maintaining speed on flat road etc.
The difference the TC lock makes means sitting in 5th gear at 100 easily, or running in 4th to protect the transmission from potential overheating, which would mean dropping the speed to about 80 to keep fuel economy down.
Having a Scangauge was great to show the results of locking/unlocking the torque convertor.
I never had any issues with it at all, no fault codes etc.
When I get my laptop back from being fixed I will update the earlier diagram I posted. Although it is correct except for using a resistor instead of the voltage regulator.
As for functionality, a low speed cut out would be handy, I forgot I had it on a couple of times and as I slowed down the car would shudder as a manual left in top gear would. I quickly learnt to switch it off, the light on the dash helps.
I don't think a brake light cutout is the answer either, there were a few times where I wanted to let it unlock going up hills so the auto could do its own thing, tapping the brake on this occasion would not be a good thing.
It was nothing short of fantastic. I used it every single day of driving.
With the TC unlocked and slipping it doesn't take long for TC temps to reach 100+ degrees which in turn, causes transmission temps to begin to rise. With the TC locked the temps fall quickly and settle at 80-85 degrees and stay there.
Unlocked and slipping compared to locked made a difference of live readout fuel economy of about 3L/100, tested on a long straight slightly inclining road with cruise control on. I was able to lock/unlock the TC and see a consistent change. I was able to see this amount of fuel economy change almost every time I engaged it on the trip, just the straight road was a good comparison test.
On steep hills it is better to leave it unlocked and let the auto work it's magic. The lock up is best used on light loads. Towing (towing with headwinds), slight inclines, maintaining speed on flat road etc.
The difference the TC lock makes means sitting in 5th gear at 100 easily, or running in 4th to protect the transmission from potential overheating, which would mean dropping the speed to about 80 to keep fuel economy down.
Having a Scangauge was great to show the results of locking/unlocking the torque convertor.
I never had any issues with it at all, no fault codes etc.
When I get my laptop back from being fixed I will update the earlier diagram I posted. Although it is correct except for using a resistor instead of the voltage regulator.
As for functionality, a low speed cut out would be handy, I forgot I had it on a couple of times and as I slowed down the car would shudder as a manual left in top gear would. I quickly learnt to switch it off, the light on the dash helps.
I don't think a brake light cutout is the answer either, there were a few times where I wanted to let it unlock going up hills so the auto could do its own thing, tapping the brake on this occasion would not be a good thing.
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