Did I damage my Automatic gearbox by cruising in 3rd Gear?

[jerrin91]

Hi all,

I bought a 2001 Automatic 1.3L Yaris the other week. Since its an automatic (traditional) it has this button on the gear stick called Over Drive (O/D) and I believe while driving the car home on the motorway I had the over drive function off which meant the car was doing the 60 miles motorway journey on the 3rd gear the whole time with the speed averaging around 65mph. The day after, my temperature light came on so I filled it up with coolant and have been driving around and the level hasnt dropped since. So I am pretty sure it dropped in the first place because my engine got hot from driving high speed with over drive mechanism off.

So from this my question is how serious was this? Could it have damaged my gearbox and or will it increase the potentials of gearbox failing in the future? I ask all these because I am scared of the gearbox failing on me especially since its an AUTOMATIC. (I once bought a semi auto which died on me after two weeks of driving)

For those unaware of Over Drive, its the operation of cruising at sustained speed with reduced engine revolutions per minute (RPM). Its generally agreed that its good to have it off for city drive where you wouldnt want to shift beyond 3rd gear. OverDrive is ideal for highway journey as it will unlock the higher gears for smooth drive

Thank You

[jerrin91]

The Mad Monk said:

Where and how have you determined that there is general agreement etc?

Because I don't agree.

i got that piece of information from the internet. At least thats what i made of the information i found? Please correct me if I am wrong though Because I never driven proper full automatic before I didnt know what it was when i bought the car. so i chose to leave it off when driving the car home. Big mistake though

[jerrin91]

JM said:

No 65 mph on third gear (if it was that) will not have knackered your engine, gearbox or cooling system.
Just as driving at 75 mph in 4th or O/D would not do that either, neither would driving at 85 in O/D. If the car can go that quick.

Is there a rev counter and temperature gauge?

If so what revs was the engine doing at 65 mph?
Did the temperature gauge go into the red?

i wasnt checking to be honest at the time. its all good now though as the car doesnt show any signs of stress it was put through. however my question is if i did any damage thats not visible now but can start to show in the future. suppose i say i was pushing the car beyond the redline for too long. what are consequences of it on the gearbox?

[jerrin91]

Pericoloso said:

Why would you do that ?

Car isn't going to last long by constant thrashing.

hi pericoloso, i think you misinterpreted me. i would never do that, not even once. i was saying holding it in the redline at the time was what may have caused the car to overheat.. so will it have any consequences from that one particular instance of mishandling?