Just got 1999 honda civic LX. my first automatic car.
I am not sure the gears 2 (not D2), D3, D4 which are used for what.
my experience is that 2 is used for low speed ( when I am looking for parking lot)
D3 is used for regular driving in town. Is that right?
Thanks.

 

yep that is right. D4 is like having over drive on. D3 is like having it off. D2 is for low speed cruising. D1 is for take off

 

wierd thing is that I don't have D1 in my car. so it starts with D2.. is that all right?

And when driving at D3, there is a slight moment of slowing down when the speed reaches around 25 mph. that's normal ?

thanks a lot

 

anyone could help me with these problems? Many thanks!

 

Just put it in D4 when driving around under normal conditions. The tranny will AUTOMATICALLY shift 1-through-4 as it needs to. Just shift manually to lower gears when you need engine braking for descending hills, when you need to start out in a higher gear than 1st (what the tranny normally selects when in D4) to minimize torque for better traction, and when not wanting to burn out overdrive during towing.

Read your manual.

 

Agree with KOMMANDO. On my 94 accord auto..I only use the D3 on the city and above 55 mph it's asking for the D4...Like driving on the highway. Most of the time I just drive it with D4 it's not going to hurt it at all.

I heard so many cases before people messing up there transmission because they mess up too much with the gears. D1 D2 D3 D4

 

Nuetral drop burnouts FTW! rofl.

No! Dont even think about this!!!! I was kidding.....

 

thanks guys.. though i am still a little bit annoyed by the slowing down at 25mph..

 

Maybe thats just when the car is shifting gears so it feels like it's slowing down just because it stopped accelerating hard for a moment. I've never owned an automatic and the few I've drove were usually mostly highway driving so I've never noticed anything close to feeling like it was slowing down at 25mph. I'm not an expert on trannies or anythingjust offeringa possible reason why it does that.

 

Have you checked the transmission fluid level? Is it low?