[Ron Mummert]

I may as well insert my less than technical nose into this one. I asked this question somewhere in a galaxy long, long ago, but got no reply. It's the, "What's happenin' down there after it shifts from 3rd to 4th, but hasn't locked up" question. Is this "grey area" that says "Let's make lotsa' heat & make the fluid turn brown"?
I put mine in Drive & leave it there unless I want to go backward, at which time I use "R", meaning Ram. My '92 lives in a garage, so in the morning it's never below freezing. I don't really idle to warm it up, but drive about 1.5 miles through residential streets before it hits the 6 laner for about 10 miles at the usual 60-75 mph. The car has a small B & M cooler. It shifts through the gears & into 4th after only 2 minutes of driving. After hitting 4th, it seems to lock up rather easily at speeds over 50mph. Oh...what was the question?
Uh... If I'm cruising at around 60 mph (locked up) on level terrain & want to "briskly" accelerate, if I semi-floor it, should it simply un-lock, or drop to third"? I'd like it to hit third, but the car seems pokey. If I really mash it at 60, it drops to second which is afterburner time. I could manually drop it to third, but that takes planning, & I'm into laziness. Now I've really lost the point. Oh... back to "unlocked" 4th gear. Is this the twilight zone that's the biggest contributor to smoked trannies?

Ron (really beatin' around the bush).