what should I have my trasnmission on for stop and go city traffic? my dad tells me I should have OD off....that means the light is on all the time...the book says normal driving, have OD on for better fuel efficiency. Are you not suppose to use one of these for city driving? Was told that you can wear out the bands in the transmission if you do city type driving with overdrive on.....What do you auto drivers use for city driving?

 

use whatever you please, none will make your transmission explode or implode.

 

For city driving, one should probably have the O/D off. At least, that's what I use. Otherwise, the tranny tends to 'bog' down and make the car as a whole sluggish...

 

Think of O/D as a 5th gear. The car will shift into it if conditions allow, shift out when more power is needed. Lower engine rpm's should give you better gas mileage. Because of the extra shifting, performance is down a little bit. Pay your money, make your choice.

 

O/D doesn't come into play until around 60mph.
Are you going that fast in the city?

 

maybe it doesn't go into OD until 60, but when im cruising around 35-40mph with OD on in the city...it seems like its eitehr in od or 4th gear...but when its off and im cruising at the same speed it feels like its in 3rd gear

 

you're probably feeling the difference between a locked up converter and an unlocked converter.
that's just a theory though

 

ive heard about torque converters locking up....why do they do that, at what points do they lockup and what is its function when lockin up?

 

simple answer : http://auto.howstuffworks.com/torque-converter3.htm

 

thx bro, appreciate you taking your time to find me that link...I think im going to drive around with OD off for a whole tank of gas, and see the diff in mpg

 

I think that is when you are accelerating at half throttle or better...

Whether it's overdrive kicking in/out or a locked/unlocked converter, you can drive along a level road at 45mph, depress the O/D button to turn the O/D off/on and feel a difference as the car will shift in/out of overdrive...

Try it sometime...Cruise along a level road or slight decline about 45-50 mph with the O/D switch ON and at MINIMAL throttle, take your foot off the gas so that you are coasting, turn the O/D switch OFF - you will feel it switch down a gear. Turn the O/D switch back ON and you will feel it shift up a gear.

At least that's how my tranny works...

My recommendation, however, is to keep the O/D switch OFF when driving around town for better performance and then turn it ON when crusing the highway for better economy.

 

when i sit in rush hour on the way home i usually turned OD off it allows a little extra engine braking because the car was in a lower car and the rpms were a little higher

 

I wish we had 5th gear. I believe OD represents 4th gear for us autotragics. With it off, the tranny shifts btwn 1-3, reason it'll keep you in gear higher in the RPMs before shifting.

 

Yeah - 3 speed auto plus O/D might equal 4.
Just remember that when you get old, memory is the 2nd thing to go.
Sorry.

 

unless you're in bumper to bumper, just leave it with O/D on, otherwise its a PITA. As a side note, if I go slow enough, I can get O/D to kick in around 35-40 mph. Unless I'm behind someone, I never go that slow, so it really dont matter.

 

This morning on the way to work I checked and found my O/D works at 30. I didn't try any lower, people behind me weren't happy.

 

Mine comes in around 40mph

 

O/D is 4th gear, which means that at a given speed (I believe its anything above 25mph) 4th gear will be used during cruising speeds if O/D is switched to on. The TC however, won't lock up until 37mph in 4th gear and 55mph in 3rd gear (O/D off, light throttle or cruising)

 

geez diddnt anyone read my other post ? overdrive is just the nickname for 4th gear. why do they call it overdrive ? because its OVER drive meaning over the 1:1 ratio. Henceforth the output is faster than the input. Pushing the "button" just locks out the gear so when your driving uphill its not constantly bogging and switching stressing the tranny and wearing the crap out of the bands and clutches. at anyrate see that link above for how it works. its not a magical thing to make you faster. and btw leaving it off will hurt your fuel economy because your letting the motor rev higher. but youll never notice it unless your highway driving. theO/D kicks in at around 40-45 dependant on the condition of your sensors and tranny. its programmed for 42mph i think but ill have to get facts on that. imagine driving a stick in 4th gear at 65mph.....then in 5th gear which one is gonna give you better MPG ? 5th gear on manuals is OVERDRIVE because its over the 1:1 drive ratio. hope this helps somebody

 

From the 92 FSM:
D3-D4 half throttle :
Comfort Mode:
VG: 62-66 MPH
VE: 71-76 MPH
Power Mode:
VG: 72-77
VE: 84-89

With O/D on Lock up occurs ( 2/8 throttle) :
VG: 48-53
VE: Comfort 59-64
VE: Power 66-71

 

Give it a week or two, the question will come back up Auto's are suppost to be easier to drive than manny's, but alot of people seem to have trouble with it