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Should i keep my overdrive switch on or off?

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talontsiboy24

10+ Year Contributor
869
3
Mar 28, 2009
60457, Illinois
i have a 97 gsx and was wondering when driving at speeds 0-60 should i keep the od switch on or off? i do alot of city driving like stop and go but i like to speed still LOL i heard to always keep it on?
 
well as per mitsubishi it states that the end clutches are weak in these cars and states that you shouldnt drive your auto tranny with over drive on under 60kph or so. iF you have upgraded end clutches i would leave it on all the time. the only advantage of having it off is that the rpms slightly increase which allows the turbo to spool faster aswell gets you closer to the torque converters stall speed.
 
My tranny is at 179K and I always keep it on. haven't even had to rebuild it yet but I know it's coming soon now that I said it lasted this long.
 
is it true u can make your trans last longer if your at a stop for a long time and put the car in neutral?

In drive the car is under load, so fluids temps may rise some, which won't help anything. If you're going to be sitting for any longer than a routine stoplight, just put it in neutral to take the load off.
 
you should never use OD on any trans unless you're at speeds that would really benefit from it. most cars have weak end clutches for some reason, I don't know why, but it's the way engineers design shit. Some cars will take it better than others. But seriously, in a DSM making power, I don't know why you want to use 4th any more than you have to.
 
If you're going to be doing stop and go in the city under 55-60mph leave it off as it won't be hunting for the right gear and shifting back and forth as much as if you leave it on. If you're cruising or doing highway driving, then leave it on as it will help bring the rpm's down and help save gas.;)

As far as putting it up into neutral if sitting for a while, I do that all the time.:)
The REAL benifit of this is not to make the tranny last longer necessarily, but it CAN extend the tranny's life by extending the tranny FLUID life. When you are sitting with an auto car in gear and holding the brake pedal you are actually causing fluid shearing in the transmission fluid and this over time will break down the fluid and can cause the tranny to fail prematurely.
 
If you're going to be doing stop and go in the city under 55-60mph leave it off as it won't be hunting for the right gear and shifting back and forth as much as if you leave it on. If you're cruising or doing highway driving, then leave it on as it will help bring the rpm's down and help save gas.;)

As far as putting it up into neutral if sitting for a while, I do that all the time.:)
The REAL benifit of this is not to make the tranny last longer necessarily, but it CAN extend the tranny's life by extending the tranny FLUID life. When you are sitting with an auto car in gear and holding the brake pedal you are actually causing fluid shearing in the transmission fluid and this over time will break down the fluid and can cause the tranny to fail prematurely.

I heard if u keep switching it on and off its just gonna endup not working thats why people just leave it on? The manual says to keep it on all the time also.
 
LOL You're listening to the wrong people.:rolleyes: I would like to see where the manual says to keep it on all the time. LOL

Well i didnt see it in the manual with my own eyes since i dont have mine just heard that but i do think pressing it off and on would not be a good thing to do cause speeds change around here from 30-55 so i just leave it on.
 
What we need here is an answer from somebody that actually rebuilds transmissions for a living LOL. I've asked more than one transmission technicians and they all recommend that you should keep the over drive on all the time unless your going uphill.

By the way I keep mine on all of the time and I haven't really had any problems either.
 
If you guys are that scared/confused about when/why to click the o/d switch on or off, then by all means, don't use it.:rolleyes:LOL

Did you ever know you can get engine braking with the o/d off? This can be handy for in town driving and can save your brakes by not using as much of them to stop. It can also help your transmission as I said before, by not having it hunting/shifting as much around town.

But whatever you choose to do... Good luck to all and their automatics.:thumb:
 
:banghead:

This is one of those ridiculous questions that keep coming up all the time.

The overdrive is just the fourth gear and you wouldn't tell the MT guys not to use their 5th. OD is NOT some special function that kicks in at anytime like a turbo. An auto tranny is designed to to do all the work for you and you can go right ahead and leave the OD on ALL THE TIME if you want. In low speed city driving you will never get up to speed for OD anyway.

You do have the option of turning the OD off if you feel it is appropriate. When would you do this? Good times to do so would be for engine breaking down a hill, or for more power going up a long hill. Yes, even turn it off if you are on a highway and want better acceleration, but once up to speed switch it back on. Leaving the OD switch on during these occasions will not significantly affect your tranny. Keep in mind that you lose fuel economy if you keep the OD turned off on the highway.

For those who want a reference, the first line in the owner's manual for a 92 on page 56 states "During ordinary driving, the overdrive switch should be left in the pressed-in (ON) position." It then goes on to give the same examples that I did on when you may choose to turn it off.
 
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