Auto box shifts up a gear...

[dodgemeister]

Hi everybody- I'm wondering what the parameters are for the auto to shift up a gear when coasting down a hill? I drive down a long hill every morning at 60-80 kmh to work and sometimes when I dab on the brakes, it'll shift from 4th to 3rd, thus increasing engine braking. But it doesn't always do it and I haven't noticed it doing so at other times! The engine hasn't warmed up completely so I thought that could have a bearing on it, but that seems odd. Anybody have any ideas, or thoughts? I'm not fussed unless this is not a feature but a fault.
Thanks - Roger

 

[Old.Tony]

It's part of the engine braking. If the D40 is in overdrive and you hold the brake for a certain amount of time to maintain speed, the ECU will instruct the Transmission Control Module (TCM) in the gearbox to knock back a peg or two. Mine usually drops from 5th to 3rd.

If you flick the overdrive button it should pop back into 4th.

 

[KraftyPg]

Mine holds revs and speed but like Tony says it's only if you hold the brake for a certain time (a few seconds is all it takes). It can be a little annoying especially on hills like those coming into Perth or Adelaide because at times you might need to give the vehicle a little gas half way down to move around a slow vehicle or even where the hill may flatten out for a hundred meters or so. But I've only found it annoying because I believe the amount of pressure needed on the accelerator to get it driving is too much, although I am picky about my economy so feeding excess juice into it is not natural to me

 

[Dave]

Last time I drove a D40 I noticed this.

Its a good feature. Xtrail's do it to.