I'm trying to figure out what this this is all about. Some one told me that you are supposed to turn the O/D off on highway but leave it on during the City. I dont know what O/D is and what it does. Can anyone help me out?
Thanx in advance.

 

Overdrive is basically your 4th gear. With the o/d off, the transmission will never shift into 4th gear, it'll lock up your converter in 3rd thus making it "peppier" during city driving but once you get up to highway speeds (50+) you should turn o/d on so that you'll get your 4th gear and the converter lock-up which will save you TONS of gas when compared to 3rd. Basically, it's up to you, I'd just leave o/d on and let the transmission handle everything because after all you do have an AUTOMATIC transmission which mean it'll automatically choose the best gear for the amount of acceleration you want (i.e. how far down you press the gas pedal). My 2 cents.

Big C

 

It's not that big a deal really. I've even run at the track with my O/D on then off and my E/T was worse when it was off... if anything, the difference should be minimal.

 

Just leave it on.
But if you do want to play with it, turn it off during city driving and on with hwy driving.

 

my AT isn't as jumpy when its off in the city. worse gas mileage though

 

So can u turn it on and off whenever u feel like it? Like say u OD is on and ur in 4th and u want to downshift, would hitting the OD button put u in 3rd?

 

Yup, you can use that for slightly agressive passing situations. In other words, you wanna pass someone at above 50 but don't wanna floor it so you press the o/d button, it'll downshift to 3rd, give it gas and pass the person then press the button again and it'll go back to cruising RPMs.

 

That's what you call a poor man's manumatic

 

I think the OD button is kinda cool though. Instead of shifting, I just have to tap a button...it's like a ghetto turbo boost. :P

 

yeah cuz thats what i usually do and it seems to work... not sure if that was supposed to be the real purpose though

 

will turning O/D off when in 4th gear ( so that it goes to thrid gear) mess anything up...I screwed up my tranny on my 94 intrepid as i would move it from D to N if i were coming to a stop. After a year or so..the tranny became very jerky.

 

You should not downshift an auto manually. You are slamming the car's momentum into the transmission when you do that. The higher the rpm, the more stress.

When you hit the gas and the car downshifts, it simply pushes more forward torque on the tranny. Downshifting manually does the opposite.

Yes you can screw stuff up.. when.. anyone's guess. 1 month, 10 years.. depends. never.. tomorrow.

 

6th gear makes a great OD..