my first stang

new 1998 get " new to me". my question is when i am rooling at say 5mph in 2nd gear (not drive) and i shift down to 1st i am feeling a jolt or bang that seems unusual. on purpose i quit doing this shifting but i am just curios as to what this is, if it is normal or not good?

also i am interested in installing a ratchet or slap shifter but my knoledge of mustangs and all cars for that matter is limited. i am more mechanically inclined in the motorcycle department. do they make these types of shifters for my car?

0949er

why do you downshift an auto?? into first??

I have a 5 speed and even then I don't go into first (unless I am stopped)

that jolt is probably your tranny shifting down to first and bucking a little bit. what ur doing is "un-natural"

my first stang

just testing the car out. i just figured any way i would shift it it should be smooth. i'm going to try this going up a nice incline and see how she reacts. doing that would not be unatural imo. going up a hill and down shifting to get more power is natural i would think. like the other night theres a bridge near my house so at the far end i was roolin slow in drive and wanted to put it in first so i could up shift 1st 2nd and drive to run it through the gears and she bangs then idk!

i'm always picking things apart when i first get them especially cars and motorcycles, i guess i'm trying to find issues that are really just the natural reactions this car is going to put out.

EODMustang

The only time you should be downshifting an auto trans is if you have a manual valve body, which the stock trans do not have. If you continue doing that, you are gonna cause damage.

my first stang

what is this manual valve body that you speak of? lol. ok so i'm not ever doing that again. i can't afford any problems just yet. put it in d and punch it got it!

Hangwire

A MVB is something you shouldnt bother getting unless your worried about 1/4th times.

my first stang

some day i will be!

EODMustang

The valve body is the part of the trans that controls shifting. On the inside it looks like a maze. Trans fluid moves through all the little passages inside it, and based on the the pressure of the fluid at any given time, it will move through certain passages and cause the trans to shift gears. In an auto valve body, if the trans is downshifted while the car is moving, trans fluid will be forced through the valve body in a way that it was never meant to. That should all be right, somebody correct me if I'm a little off.