My Rare and Interesting Findings.

[87gtVIC]

Dang. Another one!

1991 Ford LTD, Crown Vic Police interceptor dash cluster. Certified calibration






https://www.ebay.com/itm/11643353449...Bk9SR7T-m9yHZQ

[gadget73]

Somewhere I actually had documentation on the specific valve body difference between the D-2 and the D-1 shift patterns. I don't remember where I found that, but its not as much difference as you might think. Maybe just a single valve? I probably found it in the shop manual when I was looking for something else.

[Tiggie]

Crazy to find two in a couple days.

What is the reason for the 2nd gear hold position? I don't understand the appeal.

[kishy]

Crazy to find two in a couple days.

What is the reason for the 2nd gear hold position? I don't understand the appeal.

No idea as to official reason, but two theories I can present:

1. A reason to start in 2, not necessarily to hold it: Torque to the wheels from a stop is less in second gear than first. Second gear start on a torque converter automatic is advantageous in snow because it can be easier to prevent wheel spin.
2. A reason to hold 2: cops trying to creep at idle through an area being patrolled might find the automatic downshift to 1 slows them down too much.

Of course, with the OD-D-1 pattern, we can manually access 2 by doing 1-D-1 at appropriate speeds or by putting the lever in 1 at speed, but my theories above might explain why the automatic downshift to 1 or starting in 1 at all might be undesirable.

[DerekTheGreat]

Thank you for all the details, fellas.

If you do the 1-D-1 deal, will it hold 2nd indefinitely, or will it shift back into 1 if you slow down enough?

Gadget, I'm interested to know how to do that swap. It drives me nuts not having access to 2nd. I use that gear in autos where I have access to it to prevent excessive shifting in traffic. I take it that boxes actually start in and stay locked in 2nd? When I put my Firebird in "2," it still starts in 1st and will shift to 2nd, but not any higher. Our Tahoe and F-150 both start and stay in 2nd when that's selected. Very nice for the stop & go malarkey and snow as kishy mentioned.

[sly]

It'll shift back into 1 if you slow enough after doing the AOD shuffle (1-D-1).

[gadget73]

I honestly don't know if it starts in 1 and upshifts to 2, or if it starts in 2 on police / fleet models. Mainemantom could probably answer that, I believe he owns or owned one.

If you do the 'AOD shuffle' it will not upshift beyond 2, but it will downshift to 1. its not good for the trans to do that, something about it uses the OD band for engine braking somehow when this is done and it abuses it. Forget the fine points but people who know way more about transmissions than I do say its a bad idea and I'm fine with trusting them. Besides, its an automatic. There is no reason to not let it do it's own thing. Honestly mine have almost never been driven in anything but OD except in the mountains.

[jaywish]

Sometimes in Manhattan I will leave the Marauder in 1st.. It is just easier when the traffic is heavy.

[Tiggie]

A reason to hold 2: cops trying to creep at idle through an area being patrolled might find the automatic downshift to 1 slows them down too much.

That one makes sense from the cop perspective.

I assumed it is a start in "2" and hold "2" thing like the C4 and C6 do.

I checked the order guide for 1986 which gives some hints on what different options do or why they are desirable. It mentions this option but nothing as to why.

[Mainemantom]

I know when I put it in 2, it starts and stays in 2. I use that going up the driveway when I don't want to slip. Many years ago, when taking EVOC, we had to keep the cars in 2. Foot to the floor, got to 85 mph for sure. That also allowed for faster deceleration.With police cars if downshifting, not having a 1 position eliminates the possibility of putting the car in 1st by mistake and damaging the transmission. Ford, Gm and Dodge/Plymouth all do not have 1 position with the police cars.There is an internal transmission part(s) that have to be changed in addition to the indicator. Just changing the indicator won't work.
When driving in pursuit or speeds below 45mph, OD was not to be used. I have a sticker on the dash from Ford stating that. I can take a picture if someone is interested. This "rule" applied to 84-91 CV & mustang police package cars.

[DerekTheGreat]

I honestly don't know if it starts in 1 and upshifts to 2, or if it starts in 2 on police / fleet models. Mainemantom could probably answer that, I believe he owns or owned one.

If you do the 'AOD shuffle' it will not upshift beyond 2, but it will downshift to 1. its not good for the trans to do that, something about it uses the OD band for engine braking somehow when this is done and it abuses it. Forget the fine points but people who know way more about transmissions than I do say its a bad idea and I'm fine with trusting them. Besides, its an automatic. There is no reason to not let it do it's own thing. Honestly mine have almost never been driven in anything but OD except in the mountains.

Ah, I knew I read something somewhere which stated that the shuffle was hard on the transmission. I agree- It's an auto and I'm not beating on it for that reason. I tend to cruise the Town Car in "D" unless I think I'm going to be going over 45 for a 1/4 mile or more. It's a goofy shift for that odd ball trans, so it makes me feel better about it's longevity. Speaking of, I realized 2024 marks it's 10 year anniversary with me. Wow.

I know when I put it in 2, it starts and stays in 2. I use that going up the driveway when I don't want to slip. Many years ago, when taking EVOC, we had to keep the cars in 2. Foot to the floor, got to 85 mph for sure. That also allowed for faster deceleration.With police cars if downshifting, not having a 1 position eliminates the possibility of putting the car in 1st by mistake and damaging the transmission. Ford, Gm and Dodge/Plymouth all do not have 1 position with the police cars.There is an internal transmission part(s) that have to be changed in addition to the indicator. Just changing the indicator won't work.
When driving in pursuit or speeds below 45mph, OD was not to be used. I have a sticker on the dash from Ford stating that. I can take a picture if someone is interested. This "rule" applied to 84-91 CV & mustang police package cars.

Awesome, great info! That makes a whole lot of sense- to the point I wonder why it didn't occur to me naturally. I can see people throwing the shifter all the way down much like I've heard of people knocking a shifter with their knee into reverse or park. I'd like to see that sticker. Also, what does "EVOC" mean?

Edit: As for engine damage, isn't that what the transmisson's governor is for? Thought that's how those were designed- to prevent shifting into a gear if it meant catastrophic failure.

[gadget73]

even if you jam it all the way down to 1 it won't shift down to first unless its below some speed. Its probably faster than you want to be going though, nothing sounds super happy when it happens. Its not in the "something is going to break" speed range but more in the "this doesn't seem like a great idea" range. If it happened on a slick road though I imagine you'd have a real problem on your hands.

They will not upshift if put in manual 1 though. A rod will happily eject from the block. Some older GM transmissions would "suicide shift" though. The 700R4 for sure would, friend used to do it in an early 90s S10. It sounded incredibly unhappy, but the early 4.3 was not made for high RPM and they do not enjoy life over 5 grand. He found out the 200R4 does not when his Firebird shot a rod out of the block.

[sly]

The AODE in my 93 will start in 2nd and stay in 2nd if you put it in 2 but in 1 it will start in 1 and shift to 2nd and hold there. This was something the engineers were not allowed to correct until 1998 IIRC. Since I've upgraded my valvebody and got to tune it myself, I can override this behavior now, but yeah... original Ford shift patterns on these things are weird in a lot of ways.

Kinda wish I had a 4r70w in mine now. Oh well.

[DerekTheGreat]

You mean his S10? Unless it was swapped in, third gen F-bodies were never available with 4.3's or 200R4's. I've never downshifted mine in an extreme fashion. At most, I go "1, 2 and D." But it's been a long time since I've driven it super hard. Even at 18 I never truly beat on it.

AODE.. That came up when I was trying to figure out what trans our F-150 had. Supposedly it's a really rare combination, most were saying only 351's and up got the E4OD. So I'm not sure what options were checked at the dealer to make our combination possible. Is an AODE fully electronic like the E4? What does it share in common with an AOD?

[gadget73]

The S10 was a 4.3 with a 700R4. 92 I think? TBI and boxy. The Fireturd was a 2.8 with a 200R4.