I have an 03 Max Auto and was wondering if many of the auto owners turn off OD when they consistently drive around town under 45 miles an hour? I was also interested in finding out if they use thier transmission to downshift from OD into third when braking or cornering?

I know the Nissan Auto is setup to be used in this manner, but I wonder if many of us use it this way.

 

I personally don't engine brake unless i really REALLY need to, like i'm trying to do an emergency stop and i'm running out of space fast or if some ahole cuts in front of me and my hand is on the shifter. Only time OD goes off is if i need a slight 'umph' when cruisng above 65mph.

this is the first i'm hearing about the overdrive in the auto being set up specifically to be driven on off mode in first gear

 

When I was driving an auto, I would only turn the OD off when in heavy traffic, as to save the transmission unnecessary shifts. Allowing the car to go into 4th gear when cruising, even at lower speeds, saves RPMs and gas, I don't see a good reason to turn it off. Also, seeing as how the transmission was automatic, I almost never used the manual shifting functions. The only time I ever used the manual function to shift was when it was necessary to stop abruptly in winter conditions (ice, snow, slush) to slow the car more quickly without locking the tires.

Everything I have heard and learned up to this point has preached that manually shifting gears is havoc on an automatic transmission and over-using these features helps to shorten the life of the transmission. These features were meant for use only in situations that call for them, otherwise, let the automatic do it's automatic thing.

Just my 2 cents

 

I would highly doubt that anyone turns their OD off when driving around 45mph, or braking or cornering. If you want to shift trade that sucker in for a 6 speed.

And by off you just mean in 3rd gear? If you are in D and slide it over to 3rd, then you will have to shift into 1st and 2nd as well. Why not just let the auto do it for you?

Maybe I missing something?

 

Shifting from D to 3 in a low-traction situation makes some sort of sense, I suppose, but doing it in a panic stop situation doesn't seem to serve any real purpose whatsoever.

Personally, I only shift from D to 3 to help control my speed when I'm going down steep inclines, like when I am driving through the mountains. If you tried to control your descent using brakes only, you'd end up with very hot, very worn brakes.

 

Personally, I always leave it on, except for the rare case when I'm going down a steep grade (say, a local mountain) and want the engine to relieve my brakes. Or if I'm going to pass somebody. But I don't understand why you'd ever want to turn it of, unless you were stop-and-go traffic and were consistently hitting the speed where the auto wanted to shift from 3-4 and it was searching between the 2.

 

People, downshifting WILL NOT help in a panic stop. If you don't have ABS, it will upset your brake bias which will result in a longer stopping distance. If you have ABS, the stopping distance will not change at all because ABS will simply take everything under its control.

Engine braking, IMO, should be used only when you need to take some pressure of the brakes to prevent them from overheating. EX. when road racing or going down a very long and steep incline. If you are doing it in other situations you are putting unnecessary stress on your engine and drivetrain.

 

I did when I had auto... but again, like I sad in the previous post, not very often.

 

I have an 01 auto and I use OD off around town to keep the trans from searching for gears in stop and go traffic. I don't think it hurts the transmission to run in 3rd at lower RPM's BTW, sometimes I just leave the OD on in traffic. Also, on steep inclines and also when on the drag strip. Almost 50k miles and absolutely no problems. I think common sense would dictate use of the OD off. Also, personal choice. Just my .02.

 

how do you drive in od what do u press to turn it off? if confused and a newb

 

OD ON while driving on the highway.
OD OFF while driving on surface streets.
OD OFF during stop and go heavy traffic.

 

i do the same exact thing

 

can someone help me? lol im confused

 

I have an auto and I usually downshift manually at least a few times a week.. Whatever, it's probably not good for the tranny, but I bought the car to enjoy it, so I'm damn well going to enjoy it.. tranny be dammed! (and until I can replace with a stick..)

 

If you have an 03 auto, you don't have a button or anything to push that says OD.

 

No, but shifting from D to 3 on an 02/03 achieves the same effect as turning OD off with the button on a non-gated 00/01 shifter.

In response to the people who say they turn OD off in heavy stop and go traffic, I just want to ask why you would do that. If the traffic is truly "heavy" and "stop and go," how are you going fast enough for the auto to shift into 4th? Maybe your definition of "stop and go heavy traffic" is different from mine.

 

Correct, with an 03, you merely move the shift lever towards the driver and it takes the car out of OD and puts you into a three speed automatic shifting pattern. If you want to manually shift the tranny, you can move it down from there into 2nd or 1st and then shift your way back up.

I don't shift my auto transmission through the gears, but I do drive in 3rd for much of my city driving. I know it increases the RPMs and burns more fuel, but it is certainly better on the tranny and the brakes, since it aids in the slow down process when stopping and doesn't force your tranny to overshift into 4th gear at low speeds.

Just wondered what the rest of you Auto drivers are doing with your trannys.

 

"Overdrive" just refers to a gear in which your drive wheels (front wheels on a Maxima) would be rotating more times per minute than your driveshaft. In other words, when you are in an "overdrive" gear, every time your driveshaft makes one full revolution, your wheels will make more than one full revolution.

In the case of 4-speed automatics, 4th is usually "overdrive." 2000 and 2001 Maximas have a button marked O/D that will "turn overdrive off," which simply means that the car won't shift into 4th. 2002 and 2003 Maximas have a gated shifter with no button, but we can bump the shifter over from D to 3 to "turn off overdrive" and lock our cars out of 4th gear.

2000/2001
Shifter in D with O/D on: Car will use 1st-4th gears
Shifter in D with O/D off: Car will use 1st-3rd gears
Shifter in 2: Car will only use 1st and 2nd gears
Shifter in 1: Car will use only 1st gear

2002/2003
Shifter in D: Car will use 1st-4th gears
Shifter in 3: Car will use 1st-3rd gears
Shifter in 2: Car will use 1st and 2nd gears
Shifter in 1: Car will use only 1st gear

 

maybe its just me but i think car drives differently.. if im heavy traffic, in OD on the car will seem to climb gears at a faster - lower rpm then they would in in OD off..also.. i feel that when driving in OD off the car downshifts faster (to the same gear) then it would in OD on at WOT

 

The only real difference between Gen. 5 and Gen. 5.5s operation is that the Gen. 5.5s TC can lockup in 3rd and 4th, but the Gen. 5 will only lockup in 4th.

 

I drop it into third for some extra pick-up sometimes.
Can someone touch on his second comment about the auto tranny being set up to use third for city driving and cornering. (I disagree, but I am not too knowledgeable)

 

I run my Max in 3rd when I am in city traffic, if I don't plan to drive over 45 mph,since there is no reason to have the car shifting up and down through fourth gear, plus it helps on braking, since you run higher rpm's at normal operation. When I am consistently running on the highway or rural roads where I exceed 45 mph, then I always take advantage of the 4th speed in the tranny.

 

^^ What he said. 3rd gear in city traffic keeps the tranny from shifting up down all the time.

 

I am a newbie to the board. Can someone please tell me how to turn on and off my overdrive. I don't have a plus sign or any thing on the shifter. Just the 3 and D next to each other and then 2 and 1. Right now i think it's off because when i get to 80mph the rpms are around 4500.

 

engine braking with an auto is stupid, and adds more wear and tear on the tranny.

 

this thread is old, to the neew how brough it back to life, read whats posted above you, your question has been answered allready.

 

turning off the O/D doesn't mean unlocking the torque converter; it's more like dropping to 3rd gear.

 

i hit the overdrive off button, when im climbing a hill for better torque. Will this have detrimental effects to the transmission?

 

lower rpm's doesn't always mean better mpg... too low of rpm's the engine will bog. when the engine makes the most vacuum that's when it's most efficient.
i never use OD on surface streets unless the speed limit is higher than 50.

 

yeah, but too much engine brake means less distance.

 

no need to turn it off, its basically saying dont change to 4th gear... O/D has no use at 45mph unless you prefer hearing third gear rev it doesnt save gas or anything at that speed, moreso mess with the tranny