OVERDRIVE

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 5:11 pm

Does anyone else use the "overdrive" button all the time?

I press it whenever I'm going up a farily long grade, when I'm merging onto the highway, when I'm driving a twisty mountain road, and when I want a little engine braking going down a long grade.

Does activating and deactivating it have any negative effects besides maybe gas mileage? I enjoy driving it a lot more now that I've figured out when to press the "magic" button.

KJ4ME · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 5:49 pm

it took a while, but my tranny finally "learned how i drive" so not it dont have to push it as often but when i first got it, that O/D button was my best friend. on long grades, the tranny now holds 3rd and 2nd longer, so i dont have to use it as much

Bluesman001 · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 10:35 pm

Mine is on all the time. I noticed with it off, the engine made a much more bitchin growl (daddy like-y), but sucked gas like Jenna Jameson sucks ....

scrambledKJ · **Posted:** Fri Sep 07, 2007 10:57 pm

I keep my overdrive off unless I'm gonna see 55 or faster. Last night I tried with it on, and at 50 it kept switching between 4th and 5th gear. After hunting for 2 miles or more, I shut it back off. Nice way to heat up an auto...

Travis

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:42 am

Same as above, O/D off unless Im going over 55mph. Ill also drop it down into 2nd or even 1st if its needed.

CD · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 4:52 am

I only ever use mine when in High or Low range & it's great. I've never thought to use it on the black top, but have thought about it. Going up hills that have various speeds makes for one sluggish KJ. So perhaps I should use it to help & not have to put the foot down.

riptricket · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:22 pm

i know where it is... but what does it do and when should i use it?

KJ4ME · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:41 pm

it locks out 4th gear and you SHOULD use it when in the city. all of our streets here are 40MPH and there are long stretches between stoplights so i dont use it. plus like i said, my tranny got really good at holding 2nd and 3rd on hills so i dont need it

riptricket · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:00 pm

so when do i clicked it in... when do i click it off... i am really a newbie still even though i have owned my KJ for 2 years

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:11 pm

Whenever you want to.

If you are in the city then turn it off untill you get going over 55mph or so. Its also good on hills that have curves b/c when you let off the gas to slow down for a curve it will go back into 4th, than when you get out of the curve it will need to downshift into 3rd again which just puts wear and tear on the tranny and also produces heat.

With O/D off, it will stay in 3rd the entire time.

The only bad thing about O/D off is, it will lock the torque earlier to reduce heat when towing. This makes it have a slight dead spot around 35-40mph.

To help this, you can put the shifter into 2nd gear when going up a back road on a mountain and such. I think I run around 2.5k-3k rpms in 2nd doing 35-40mph which isnt bad at all.

riptricket · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:19 pm

so can i turn it on when going 65+ for on the highway... and then turn it back off when i get to a stop sign or light and then back on when i get backon the highway?

KJ4ME · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:25 pm

i hate that dead spot, temporary loss of all torque

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:56 pm

riptricket wrote:

so can i turn it on when going 65+ for on the highway... and then turn it back off when i get to a stop sign or light and then back on when i get backon the highway?

It's always on, so you only need to push it if you want it off which eliminates 4th gear.
On the highway you want all 4 gears. Even if you come to a stoplight just leave it alone as long as you'll be speeding back up to highway speeds.

I push the button to get rid of 4th gear on my way home from work because I am on the highway, but it's a long uphill drive with traffic. I noticed that I need to be in 3rd to accelerate up the hill, but when ever I'd back off the pedal a little because of traffic the jeep would shift back into 4th, then I'd have to jam the pedal down to get back in 3rd gear, then I'd back off for traffic again and it would shift back to 4th, and then back to 3rd to accelerate up the hill again. That was getting old, so now I just eliminate 4th gear in this situation. I turn it back on when the road flattens out.

Also good to get rid of 4th gear on twisty, hilly roads. What happens is that you'll be accelerating just fine, but everytime you back off the accelerator a little bit the jeep will shift into 4th gear, so just get rid of 4th gear in this situation also. You just don't want the transmission shifting back and forth between gears.

CD · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:02 am

JohnnyCash wrote:

riptricket wrote:

so can i turn it on when going 65+ for on the highway... and then turn it back off when i get to a stop sign or light and then back on when i get backon the highway?

It's always on, so you only need to push it if you want it off which eliminates 4th gear.
On the highway you want all 4 gears. Even if you come to a stoplight just leave it alone as long as you'll be speeding back up to highway speeds.

I push the button to get rid of 4th gear on my way home from work because I am on the highway, but it's a long uphill drive with traffic. I noticed that I need to be in 3rd to accelerate up the hill, but when ever I'd back off the pedal a little because of traffic the jeep would shift back into 4th, then I'd have to jam the pedal down to get back in 3rd gear, then I'd back off for traffic again and it would shift back to 4th, and then back to 3rd to accelerate up the hill again. That was getting old, so now I just eliminate 4th gear in this situation. I turn it back on when the road flattens out.

Also good to get rid of 4th gear on twisty, hilly roads. What happens is that you'll be accelerating just fine, but everytime you back off the accelerator a little bit the jeep will shift into 4th gear, so just get rid of 4th gear in this situation also. You just don't want the transmission shifting back and forth between gears.

That's a great explination of what happens to me all the time on road. I'm going to start driving like this now.

I do have a question, I thought that O/D off forced the gears to stay in 1st or 2nd if that's what you have the shifter in. So when O/D off is selected & you leave the shifter in D (Drive) will it then simply go from 1st to 3rd as required & stay out off 4th. That's how I'm reading the post, if so that will solve so many problems.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2007 12:26 pm

no, it will not skip second gear, it has nothing to do with second gear.

It locks out 4th gear which is also called Over-Drive. Since the button locks out Over-Drive, it locks out 4th gear since thats over-drive.

Selecting first and second gear on the shifter is good for speeds below that which requires 3rd gear. IE, offroad, pulling a large load uphill, driving in city traffic at low speeds when the tranny doesnt need to be in 3rd, etc.

1st gear is best when offroad in 4low when you want engine braking.

CD · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2007 11:04 pm

Got it, I wasn't meaning 1st & 3rd only when I said "1st to 3rd" but that's by that's by. I guess I wasn't fully clear on my post & it could be taken 2 ways.

Thanks

wildrussian · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2007 6:28 am

So I remember reading somewhere on here and also in the manual that if you shift in first or second gear manually it has to stay in first or second. Does that mean you can't just shift it to second and then back up to D? Can somebody explain that please

OVERDRIVE

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