Green as in 4low

General discussion of basically anything Hilux related

Green as in 4low

Postby Damo10SR on Fri, 29 Mar 2019 10:13 +0000

Hi all,
Just a quick clarification please, searched and still confused.

I have a 2010 5 speed auto v6, all the online discussion when selecting 4low (for sand, hills ect) explains you must be in neutral and stopped when moving from 4H to 4L (mine makes a grinding noise when i try however this is me on firm ground which probably doesn't help)
Question is, once in 4low can i go to D thereby the auto trans chooses best gear at low speed as my owners manual seems to say or must i select 1st/2nd gear as the 4wd youtubers suggest?
Cheers
Damien
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Re: Green as in 4low

Postby HK1837 on Sat, 30 Mar 2019 4:53 +0000

On really soft sand like Stockton best to use 3rd or 4th and low but places like Emu Bay on Kangaroo Island doesn’t matter (2WD ok). If you fit an analogue temp gauge it is easy to tell, if the trans temp starts climbing rapidly you need to go down a gear and make the engine work harder. The key is if the engine is doing it easy the converter is working hard and making huge amounts of heat, but if you make the engine rev the converter is making less heat.
I wouldn’t even consider soft sand without an aux cooler either. On Stockton when the sand is really soft I have to use 3 low and I have a big aux cooler. Even then if moving slow enough the trans temp can hit 100deg really quickly, if I use drive in low it will rocket to 120deg. I find locking the converter in 4 or 3 low brings the temp back down below 50deg really quickly. I tried leaving it in 4H and drive once just to get on the beach, took like 3min and fluid temp rocketed, if I didn’t stop it would have gone to stupid temps like over 150deg.

Note this is a hard temp measurement where the fluid leaves the converter and heads to the coolers, you won’r get accurate measurements with a scangauge, those can be up to 20 deg lower.
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Re: Green as in 4low

Postby taresk on Mon, 01 Apr 2019 6:10 +0000

Is the car new to you?

When I first bought mine, I don't believe it had ever been used in low range, the first dozen or so times I used L4 it was very difficult to get in and out, grinding all the way, however now that it gets regular use, it slides in and out smoothly (I do still have to be stopped).

Personally I would avoid using 'D' in low range, it shifts too often, and as HK1837 pointed out, it heats up fast, and that is very bad for it. Best to manually choose the first 3-4 gears, generally if 3rd isn't fast enough you might as well switch up to high range.
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Re: Green as in 4low

Postby Damo10SR on Tue, 02 Apr 2019 7:39 +0000

Cheers HK1837,
Seems like a cooler may be on the cards soon then.

Yeah taresk, it's new to me.
Was worried I'd done some damage when going between H4 and low. Was grinding worse than a drunk mother inlaw!
Shouldn't need low to much anyway i hope, will only leave the bitumen to cruise the WA goldfields.
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Re: Green as in 4low

Postby xychix on Fri, 05 Apr 2019 4:59 +0000

grinding never sound/is good.

there should be a position in which the reduction box is non rotating (i'm driving a manual), I'd guess I'd put my auto in N (not D or P) then switch to 4wd LOW with the reduction lever. Then Put it in 1 or R and drive a bit (maybe while lightly pressurising the LOW stick towards the correct position, as it needs to go that way quite far and to be able to feel what's happening.)

just my 2 cents.

offcourse once all is in the correct LOW you can choose the gear you wan't in the auto box and go for it. I've red this topic mainly as an issue getting from H to L (and back?)

Just to be sure, NEVER drive 4WD on solid surfaces, this will windup (read: damage) your drivetrain. Wheels need to be able to spin and lose tension. Even on solid rocky/sand you'll notice cornering feels harder and the steering wheel is drawing to straighten up. That is exactly the tension it needs to loose by slightly slipping a wheel.
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