A buddy said I should turn the overdrive off my AT when driving constantly under 40mph because it will increase the life of my gears or something like that.

Is there any reason to do this?

 

Complete nonsense.

 

yea I do this, if it's not to extend the life of the tranny.. i do it for less annoyance (constant shifting pisses me off), and more power available quicker at lower speeds

 

If you can afford to pay for the extra gas, go right ahead!

 

In the owner's manual, it says that O/D is always off until it reaches 40mph, so basically when your driving under 40, it's off.

 

you have to switch it on and off manually. I keep mine off under 40. Makes a big difference and drivability is much better. Also its not good to bog down the engine anyway.

 

This is sometimes I've always wondered about. I really feel no major diffrences with O/D on or off while doing stop n go driving.

Would driving with O/D off reduce the amount of shifting the tranny does? Mine is starting to go and anything to keep it lasting a little longer would make me very happy

 

it is kinda annoying sometimes when your tranny shifts into overdrive when you are going slow, then you give it a little gas and it shifts out. i drive with od off sometimes.

 

everyone in this thread besides clive and myself, is a moron.

 

Care to englighten us morons?

 

not really..........

 

morons!

using OD is just like someone with a manual shifting into 5th gear but crusing at 45mph on a two lane highway so that the engine noise is low, the rpm's are low, and the fuel effeciency is higher.

only time i turn OD off is when i want to merge on the highway right quick or race someone from a roll. thats because using OD will make your shifts earlier to lower your rpm's but when you WOT your car its going to downshift to get that pull you feel because you want to max out on your RPM's for each gear.

 

How do you know if OD is on or off?

 

The big light that says O/D Off? Push the button youll see the light turn off.

 

Maybe my light is burned.. What button do you press?

 

The one on the gear shift

 

overdrive does NOT change ur shift points. read the FAQs. http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=72447 post#23.

heres some quotes from there:"The button functions exactly as it is labeled. The button disables 4th gear in the transmission. This is it's only function. It has no effect on engine output. It has no effect on transmission shift firmness. It has no effect on transmission shift points.
One instance where turning overdrive off can help is heavy traffic. If you are in "stop-and-go" traffic, and not exceeding about 50mph, switching O/D off may help driveability. Locking out 4th gear reduces hunting and shifting in traffic. This makes it easier to drive smoothly."

 

lol to NmexMax, i guess you saw how easy he was when u read his post..lol

twelve thousand post and two modded max and he doesnt know about O/D..... common mann

 

Why does mine not have that option?

 

Your an idiot. Nissan did not put the OD button there so fools like you can race from a roll. Its there for driveability and driving with a heavy load.

 

Cause yours is a Mexican-spec Maxima....duh.

 

But it's from Texas?

 

My 96 GLE is the same as Texas cars. That's where they all came from. I am not sure at what year the Mexican Maximas got things like speedos in KPH and temp sensors reading in Deg. Centigrade.
The only time I would disengage the O/D is if I were taking a long, steep, incline and it started to 'hunt' between 3rd and overdrive.

 

My OD button stopped working a few days ago... Now I can't disengage the OD... Anyone have this problem or any ideas about a fix???

 

my od button fell out of my 97s shift lever a year ago, leaving the od permanently on. the extra down shift that is needed once in a while is not a problem to me.

 

To quote a freind who used to be the head-tech at norwood infiniti-- "ANY TIME you are going under 40, take it out of overdrive, and change the fluid regularly"