Overdrive

by **Solara916** » Wed May 28, 2003 2:08 pm

A friend of mine recently had to get her Transmission replaced in her 1997 Camry. After fixing the Transmission, the mechanice suggested to her to drive with the over drive off, but in the manual it says to drive with the overdrive on for best drive quality.

Does anyone know who is right? I tried driving with my overdrive off anytime i was going under 40mph, but once i got into third gear, i would switch the overdrive back on to save gas. But i ended up using up more gas anyway.

Can anyone help?

by **HydroponiK** » Wed May 28, 2003 2:26 pm

In general, I believe it would be better to drive with the overdrive on. The only time you really need to turn if off is you're using engine braking or want better pickup in city driving (by denying the tranny from shifting into 4th gear).

Basically what o/d does is utilizes an extra gear for better gas mileage at higher speeds. Theres probably more to this but I'm sure someone more knowledgeable here can answer your question better.

by **kubi** » Wed May 28, 2003 2:36 pm

You also want to turn the overdrive off if you're towing something.

by **Yanks0114** » Wed May 28, 2003 2:36 pm

Hydroponik nailed it. Drive with O/D on.

I dont know how it would be beneficial to only use 3 gears, you'd get worse gas mileagae and put more stress on the engine.

by **NASTY** » Wed May 28, 2003 9:10 pm

Yanks0114 wrote:I dont know how it would be beneficial to only use 3 gears...

[flipside inserts witty 5 gear manual tranny comment]

by **Yanks0114** » Wed May 28, 2003 9:26 pm

NASTY wrote:
Yanks0114 wrote:I dont know how it would be beneficial to only use 3 gears...

[flipside inserts witty 5 gear manual tranny comment]

LOL, I know, I'm just waiting. Now we setting ourselves up

by **eyedea** » Wed May 28, 2003 9:30 pm

Yanks0114 wrote:
NASTY wrote:
Yanks0114 wrote:I dont know how it would be beneficial to only use 3 gears...

[flipside inserts witty 5 gear manual tranny comment]

LOL, I know, I'm just waiting. Now we setting ourselves up

cant wait too. Btw, how does flip always know every ans to every qst we ask. Are u a techie or just an enthusiast?

Website · by **DavPak** » Thu May 29, 2003 5:06 am

kubi wrote:You also want to turn the overdrive off if you're towing something.

that's only b/c you'll need the extra power going up long hills and such.

anyone here have a trailor hitch on their solara? i personally use my old suburban for stuff like that!

by **NASTY** » Thu May 29, 2003 7:19 am

eyedea wrote:Btw, how does flip always know every ans to every qst we ask. Are u a techie or just an enthusiast?

i think he's just done a hell of a lot of research and work on this platform, especially since he started (or at least i think he did) SC3

by **Kenn157** » Thu May 29, 2003 8:42 am

well... When I had my 88 Camry 4, I used to drive with OD off untill I was going over 40mph which usually ment highway driving.

I had that car for almost 15 years and never any tranny problems. My Mom had the 88 as well and always drove with OD on. She has a 99 now and we gave the 88 away to a 18yo friend of my nephew. She had the 88 sitting in the driveway for 2 weeks w/o driving it since she got her 99. The kid came up and got the car and it wont shift into OD and it wont start in Drive, you have to put it on Low and shift like a 5spd. It was working fine untill the 2 week idle.

The Solara is 5 spd so...

by **CrazyCraig** » Thu May 29, 2003 3:33 pm

OD on! Your friend was taken advantage of by the tranny shop because:
1) Your friend is a "she"
2) The shop is looking for some repeat business. (common practice)

by **Jackass-Jeff** » Thu May 29, 2003 4:03 pm

Kenn157 wrote:well... When I had my 88 Camry 4, I used to drive with OD off untill I was going over 40mph which usually ment highway driving.

It's funny... my friend has a 80 or 81 Cressida (old school!!) and it says that you should turn ON o/d once you hit 45 mph and turn if off if your engine goes below that speed. In no way am I tell you to do this, but I just think it's funny how different the old system is from today's.

by **Kenn157** » Thu May 29, 2003 4:10 pm

I knew I saw that somewhere! LOL! 40 - 45mph. I dont drive around in 5th gear under 45 and 5th gear is OD.

by **Guest** » Thu May 29, 2003 5:49 pm

CrazyCraig wrote:OD on! Your friend was taken advantage of by the tranny shop because:
1) Your friend is a "she"
2) The shop is looking for some repeat business. (common practice)

haha that's what i thought, tranny shops are lame, boo.....driving around with third gear...hahaha :drinking:

Website · by **DavPak** » Fri May 30, 2003 4:26 am

xravexboix wrote:
Kenn157 wrote:well... When I had my 88 Camry 4, I used to drive with OD off untill I was going over 40mph which usually ment highway driving.

It's funny... my friend has a 80 or 81 Cressida (old school!!) and it says that you should turn ON o/d once you hit 45 mph and turn if off if your engine goes below that speed. In no way am I tell you to do this, but I just think it's funny how different the old system is from today's.

the old school trannies were meant to be driven that way. my '88 suburban needs to be shifted into OD @ 45mph. newer ones should just leave it on all the time.

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