Proper use of OverDrive

othertonka wrote:

dlt123me wrote:

othertonka wrote:
Overdrive in the city probably will not even activate at slow city speeds so I would say his statement to not use overdrive in the city is not a valid statement. Overdrive is like having a 5th gear added to your already 4 speed transmission. It won't even shift into Overdrive until you reach a speed of 50 to 60 MPH. Do you drive 50 or 60 in the city? So just leave it ON. Now for Highway driving I would use it except for mountain driving, then turn it off. In mountains your Transmission could "HUNT" , shifting back and forth, in and out of OD and in and out of HI, thus building unwanted heat in the tranny while you are climbing. Now going down hill you turn OD OFF and downshift the tranny to use the engine compression to hold you back, thus saving your brakes.

So you are saying... Level terrain OD ON... Mountains terrain OD OFF. In other words, up or down hill should be OFF. Right? Did I understand correctly?

Dennis

Yes you summed it up very well. It will only shift into Overdrive when the speed is high enough for it to do so without lugging the engine. If you are in second gear and turn the OD switch ON, it won't shift into OD until you go through the other gears and reach a speed that will allow it to shift. (usually between 50 and 60 depending what engine and gear ratio you have.