I get the message "shift 1 to 4th for gas mileage" quite often and just ignore it and shift to 2nd with no problem.. is it supposed to actually block me from 2nd? That would be anoying as hell, Im glad it doesnt seem to block me effectively.

 

I've never noticed a message but I have had it slide into 4th without my consent when the revs aren't high enough, very annoying when you unexpectedly end up in 4th when you were expecting 2nd.

 

I may have done this but i thought it was just a bad shift by me.. mabe it slightly influences you toward 4th when it displays the message? Im not really sure but i dont think it actually locks you out of 2nd gear. Maybe mines been disconnected? i did buy the car with 15k miles on it.



edit , found the criteria of when it displays this message :

Skip shift enablement criteria:

Warm engine (greater than 170 degrees F coolant)
Start from a dead stop (approx 1 to 2 secs to stabilize idle)
Vehicle speed between 15 and 19 mph
Throttle pedal less than 25% open (but not closed pedal)
Engine speed greater than 1200 rpm
1st gear validated

 

it's just a suggestion. It doesn't actually "lock" second gear, or adjust the shifter geometry to push you more towards fourth.

And it does lead to slightly better fuel economy, at least in my experience.

 

I don't know about locking you out of 2nd, but it certainly makes it harder to shift into 2nd. At least in my car.

 

ROBO CARS!!!! It's not a Prius its a MUSTANG!!

 

There is a solenoid on the tranny that is supposed to lock you out of 2nd. It is actually hard to make the car run in the area it works in. It is more of a "got ya" kind of thing that I thought was just me at first. Always seemed to hit when I needed more power that was not there in a higher gear. After a couple times, I unplugged the solenoid and never again am I bothered.

The bit of making it harder to hit 2nd, what happens is by the time you realize that you did not get 2nd gear solid, the car is outside of the parameters and it then works good.

 

Get a tune that gets rid of that crap..just my two cents..

 

Never seen that message on my 2011, Is your car a 2012'?

 

no mines a 2011.

try meeting the criteria i posted above and see if it displays, then try to shift into 2nd at like 16 mph when message is displayed

i havent tried intentionally doing this yet, i will soon

obviously needs to be a manual car, i dont think the autos have a thing like this, do they? seems bastardious of ford to do this to only manual owners