I just discovered something tonight. I have an 04 with the 4.6 and the 4r70 trans.

I was wondering if I could save a little gas by skipping 1st gear. I came to a complete stop. I put the shifter in 2nd gear position. Let off the brake and gave it light throttle pressure. As I expected, it took off in second gear. I held the same throttle position and, as the vehicle accelerated I moved the shift lever to Drive. As soon as the lever was moved, the engine responded by producing more power. The fly-by-wire throttle was opened more in drive than in second. I tried this several times and each time the throttle was opened more in drive than in 2nd.

Why? What is the truck doing? Well, I know what it's doing, I just can't figure out why.

Flagship

 

My guess, and it is a guess, is that Ford tuned the throttle for different uses. When using 2nd to start, it is usually for decelerating or for traction when starting out. Lessening the throttle will help with starting out in low traction situations, and you don't really need any throttle with decelerating.

 

you really shouldnt use 2nd start any more than you have to because it makes the tc slip alot more which produces alot more heat which is what kills auto tranys also you will proboly get worse mpg because alot of the engines power that would normally be transmitted to the wheels is being turned into heat by the tc

 

2nd gear start should only be used in bad traction situations - primarily ice, snow, or mud.

 

At very light throttle, on level ground, I didn't think heat would be a problem. It would however, explain why it was set up so that there was less throttle. Thanks.

Flagship