Did I damage my Automatic gearbox by cruising in 3rd Gear?

jerrin91

Hi all,

I bought a 2001 Automatic 1.3L Yaris the other week. Since its an automatic (traditional) it has this button on the gear stick called Over Drive (O/D) and I believe while driving the car home on the motorway I had the over drive function off which meant the car was doing the 60 miles motorway journey on the 3rd gear the whole time with the speed averaging around 65mph. The day after, my temperature light came on so I filled it up with coolant and have been driving around and the level hasnt dropped since. So I am pretty sure it dropped in the first place because my engine got hot from driving high speed with over drive mechanism off.

So from this my question is how serious was this? Could it have damaged my gearbox and or will it increase the potentials of gearbox failing in the future? I ask all these because I am scared of the gearbox failing on me especially since its an AUTOMATIC. (I once bought a semi auto which died on me after two weeks of driving)

For those unaware of Over Drive, its the operation of cruising at sustained speed with reduced engine revolutions per minute (RPM). Its generally agreed that its good to have it off for city drive where you wouldnt want to shift beyond 3rd gear. OverDrive is ideal for highway journey as it will unlock the higher gears for smooth drive

Thank You

Typhoon2000

You dont use coolant because the engine gets hot. The engine gets hot because you have lost coolant. Engines rarely over heat at motorway speeds as there is plenty of air over the radiator.
Anyways, non of this will affect your gearbox.

facade

It might have caused a teenie weenie weenie bit more wear simply because the engine revolved more in the 60 miles but you will never notice it.


I thought a Yaris had an MMT or CVT gearbox rather than a proper torque converter auto?



If it is a torque converter auto, I'd leave it in overdrive on all the time, it simply won't get past 3rd gear around town anyway.

jerrin91

facade wrote: »

It might have caused a teenie weenie weenie bit more wear simply because the engine revolved more in the 60 miles but you will never notice it.


I thought a Yaris had an MMT or CVT gearbox rather than a proper torque converter auto?



If it is a torque converter auto, I'd leave it in overdrive on all the time, it simply won't get past 3rd gear around town anyway.

the original yaris made between 1999 and 2005 used the old school torque converter. the models made from 2006 to 2011 uses semi auto n the ones from 2011 relies on CVT.

AdrianC

65mph in 3rd is probably not over about 3,000rpm anyway.


Did your ears and the rev counter not give you a hint in the course of that hour on the motorway?