O/D (overdrive) question

cozdude

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
So ever since i have had my jeep i have never touched the O/D button so it has never been off lol so i have a few questions.

1. is there a time when i should turn it off when on the road that would benifit my driving?
2. can you turn it off while moving? say at 55 mph?
3. is there a time when i should turn it off when off road that would benifit me while crawling?

if there are other things that you can think of about the O/D system please let me know. im just curious and maybe something in here can help others at some point w/ tranny issues or shifting issues.

thanks in advance! :thumb:
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
You can turn it on or off at anytime. When you should be turning it off is anytime your transmission is in a situation where it's hunting for gears. Typically, this will be something you see on long hill climbs or when towing.
 
TheStick

TheStick

Member
All O/D is, is the highest gear in the transmission. If you have the button I am guessing it's the 4-speed auto?

The main time to turn it off is mountain driving or towing, where that high gear is too high for the circumstances. If you find your tranny going in and out of the gear a lot, turn it off.

On the trail you should be picking gears mannually, so OD would have no affect.
 
cozdude

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
wayoflife said:
You can turn it on or off at anytime. When you should be turning it off is anytime your transmission is in a situation where it's hunting for gears. Typically, this will be something you see on long hill climbs or when towing.
Click to expand...

thanks Eddie. mine use to search for gears a lot before i regeared but not so much now with the 5.13's. i guess at somepoint while towing i will need it but havent towed since i regeared so only time will tell.


TheStick said:
All O/D is, is the highest gear in the transmission. If you have the button I am guessing it's the 4-speed auto?

The main time to turn it off is mountain driving or towing, where that high gear is too high for the circumstances. If you find your tranny going in and out of the gear a lot, turn it off.

On the trail you should be picking gears mannually, so OD would have no affect.
Click to expand...

yea i have a 2011 auto. i guess its the 4 speed? lol

i cant pick gears since i dont have the auto shifter but i do throw it into 1 or 2 most of the time rather than D.
 
jeeeep

jeeeep

Hooked
Only other thing to think about if turning off OD at higher speeds with 5.13 is watch your rpms. You don't want to get out of the power band or too high rpm or it may do this wierd thing mine has done...it'll get stuck in high rpms but feel like it's in limp mode, i just turn on OD and tap the gas to get it to shift down and rpms will drop. Check your model year specs for rpm powerband range. You may also have to slow down with OD off to keep rpms in check.
on the trail i always leave OD off, for me it just seems to let the trans and engine run cool
 
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catahoula

catahoula

Caught the Bug
I have 50,000 miles on mine and played with the button when I first got it. I have not used it since...well since something made it stick and does not work now. I probably should use it when I am running in the mountains though. My 2001 Chevy Silverado had 160,000 miles on it and I never used the OD button and never had a problem with my tranny as well.
 
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