This is on the '88 Camaro in the signature...


For example:

Let's say I'm going 60 MPH on the highway and pulling 2500 RPMs (I'm making these numbers up, although I'm still trying to make them *seem* realistic). I'm in about a quarter-throttle just to maintain that speed, and I'm in overdrive at the time. Now, I want to accelerate to 70 but without getting a downshift to 3rd--so I put in the throttle to about half-throttle. Whenever I do something like this, I can tell the the tach actually goes *down* by about 500 or so RPMs.

I know that I am in OD when this happens (i.e. I know I'm not just seeing an upshift from 3rd to OD).

Does this have something to do with torque-converter lockup? Or is this just indicitave of a slipping torque-converter?

And one other thing: Let's say I'm driving 60 again, but this time I let off of the throttle all of the way. What will happen is that the engine RPMs will stay where they were for a few seconds, but then they will fall down and the car will start to slow (and I can tell it's slowing because of the engine--not just aerodynamic drag). Is it normal to experience engine braking on an automatic transmission in this situation, or should it just continue to coast at a "normal" engine speed like it does for the first few seconds?

Thanks