ISUZU Tranny?

Well I know you can't compare the 2 vehicles, but i'm used to my camry... i can be driving down the road at 70, put it in Neutral, and just coast... the rpms immediately drop down to idle speed and I glide down the road.

Out of habit, i was approaching a red lite in the VX and did the same thing... foot off gas, throw it in neutral & coast. Instead of immediately dropped down to idle RPMs, the truck actually felt like it downshifted, as the rpms jumped maybe 500 rpms and then settled down to near idle, slowly reaching idle as the truck came to a halt.

This is my first 4wd suv (other than a '86 suzuki samurai but i'm sure we'll all agree that those don't count:) ) & my first Isuzu, so I'm not familiar with the way they sound, drive, feel, etc. like I am with my old 'Yota... Also, sometimes I can almost hear the winding noise (as the tranny downshifts back to 1st) when i'm coming to a stop (especially when the engine hasn't completely warmed up). I can also watch the tachometer and see the RPMs slightly jump everytime the VX automatically downshifts . Should I be concerned? Might be nothing, but I've never experienced this type of transmission. Thanks guys.

Just want to mention as a side note that I probably wouldn't have seriously considered buying this truck if VX.info hadn't existed... you guys really make me feel more at ease when I ever have a question about my new set of wheels, and not only that, but gave me SO much more confidence in just BUYING the vehicle. Good to know that there's a whole family of VX owners here willing to offer knowledge & experience for the sake of offering knowledge and experience... a rare find nowadays :(

Hey Steve, its funny how similar we are. I just got my vx less then a month ago and its mainly because of all the people on this and the old club vmag board that I got so interested in it. I didn't just want a new mass production car/truck, I wanted a unique one that had a community to it.

I used to do the exact same thing in my 97 camry, just put it in neutral and coast. The transition was very smooth. I've done it a couple of times as a habit in the vx and I seem to have the same issue as you, so I stoped doing it. I do catch my self about to do it then I remember I shouldn't. This is also my first suv/awd vehicle so I'm guessing its just the way the TOD/tranny are designed compared to a "luxury" type car.

I believe the tranny is made in France for GM. 4L30e transmission. What you are proabaly feeling is the 4x4 running gear and the TOD. A whole lot of drag and friction going on there. This my first 4x4 too and I chaulked up lots of noises and whines to the additional drive train components.

Not to threadcrap or anything rude, but in case you didn't know -- coasting in neutral to a stop sign or red light is dangerous. Mainly because should you need to suddenly accelerate, you can't. Minimum you will have to tell your hand to shift back into gear. Since the only real reason to accelerate like that is in an emergency, even milliseconds could mean the difference between life and death. It's the same reason that when driving stick you should always downshift as you slow down, even if you just have the clutch pedal in and are "following along" with the shifter, instead of just putting it in neutral or sitting on the clutch but leaving it in high gear.

One of the big car magazines addressed this recently, saying that the improvement in mileage is almost unnoticeable also, so you're not offsetting that risk with any monetary gains.

My shifting to neutal is a result of how I drive. Normally I have my left hand on the wheel and the right hand on the shifter. I would always shift into neutral when I would "hard" break (not really hard breaking, but not slow stopping), because it would offset my body weight and get transfer to the shifter. Somtimes I could have prevented it, but I just let it happen out of habit. I never did it intentionally, I just know what Steve is referring to when he says it shifted real easy. It was actually almost to easy. I have the same problem now with the vx shifting into 3rd somtimes when I hit the gas or take a corner real quick and have my hand on the shifter it pulls the shifter back into 3rd.

So, yes its dangerous and yes there is no real point to doing it (ie: no gas saved), but hey it happens. Maybe I should just find another place for my hand besides the shifter, but after this long of driving that way its hard to change.

And illegal in many states.

Read somewhere that our trans 4L30E is shared with the Cadillac Catera

Here is a suggestion:

1. Get a nice girl in the passenger seat and put your right hand on her lap.

2. Get one of those sony with a hard mounted pyramid type remotes and occupy your right hand playing with that.

To continue the lecture, you shouldn't even rest your hand on the shifter when you drive. This is expecially important in a manual transmission, because the pressure of your hand is transferred thru the linkage to the syncros in the tranny and makes them wear out much faster as they are being slightly engaged all the time.... kinda like resting your foot on the brake pedal or the clutch. Who knows what part of an auto tranny you're wearing out by putting slight pressure on it all the time, but I'd opt for resting your hand on your passenger's thigh too! :-]