I was confuse whenever I should turn it on or not. I drive the car almost 100-150 miles per day back and forth from work to home. I was told turning Overdrive on will save fuel economy unless I'm wrong?

Another thing was also told by it can be bad for your tranny if I keep turning on and off but I never used OD except sometimes I'd hit by accident... hehe

Also do you mind if you could explain what does Overdrive really do.. I was guessing it gives you more RPM's skipping 3rd to 4th gear, is that so?

 

it's on by default, the light you see is on when overdrive is off.


I typically turn it OFF until I get to speeds at or above 40MPH. Traffic jam i turn it off too...just a habit. I find it's a bit more responsive at low speeds with it off.

Basically a simple version of what Overdrive is...locks the torque converter for better mileage at constant speeds by lowering your RPM at those speeds.

 

I turned mine off 2 days ago and it wouldn't shift.

2000 Maxima

 

at ALL?

It doesn't shift into 4th with O/D off, this is normal. Turn O/D off on the highway and you'll be running upwards of 4K RPM (3rd gear)

 

No shifting at all.

 

you've got bigger problems than your OD switch then buddy

 

Like what?

 

Now it shifts w/ overdrive off.

I so confused.

 

By overdrive off, you mean light ON correct?

 

Yes

 

OD does not lock the torque converter but rather stops 2 active control members in the transmission differential which gives You gear reduction and therefore you feel instant torque multiplication when its on sr.

 

Like I said...

 

Okay I mean my OD is currently on because the light doesn't indicate... when it does it means Overdrive is off I just noticed that today... I kinda feel stupid!

O/D has always been on for me never really tried turning off O/D what the differences would I see if I turn it off?

 

No overdrive and better throttle response.

If your going over 50mph, make sure to turn it back on.

No need to ever turn it off though IMO.

 

I always turn off O/D (hit button, light comes on) every time I drive around town. If I'm going over 50mph then I turn it back on (light turns off). First thing I do every time I start the car is turn off O/D and TC.
I also manual shift my auto when I'm trying to really go, because it lets you redline higher + just got tuned for a higher redline.

The car is so much faster with O/D off. Also sounds awesome (depending on what intake/exhaust mods you have), way better throttle response, the higher RPM moves you closer to your peak depending on how high you go. Also, if your 00VI is set up to open at lower RPM's that's gonna matter as well.

Plus, I just absolutely hate it when the car keeps downshifting from 4th to 3rd and up-shifting back to 4th all the time in city traffic. Most speed limits around my area are 40-45mph so keeping O/D off eliminates all those BS shifts and keeps the car in 3rd the whole time, right between 2000-2800RPM between 40-50mph. Perfect.

 

If I am going down a long grade and don't want to keep the brakes on, I will shift down to 3rd on my 03 I35 and that is the same thing as turning off OD on my Maxima. If I am in the mountains on steep roads coming down hill, I will also drop down to 2nd to save the brakes.
It is easier on your torque converter if it can run in the locked up condition, but, if you are in traffic and constantly locking and unlocking, it is probably easier on the torque converter to be unlocked, but you will be running in 3rd rather than 4th.