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So if I read this right.,If your interstate driving at around 70 mph with no extra weight in the bed or not towing a trailer loaded down then with 4:10 gears it would give you a little better gas mileage because of the higher gear and lower RPM at 70 mph,correct? I have had my truck 8 years and never touched the overdrive button.
Not sure if RonD got that right, I was under the impression rangers had 4 speed automatics. I'm gonna assume that's what you're talking about since you mentioned a button. Maybe it has a 5 speed auto? IDK, never owned an auto ranger.
But anyway overdrive is just your last gear in the transmission, whether it be 4th or 5th. When you push the overdrive button on the stalk, the overdrive light comes on on the dash and it disables that last gear. On my old grand marquis, it had a 4 speed auto. If i push the button it would not shift higher than 3rd gear. This is useful in
snow
towing
going up and down hills all the time
or in town if you're like me and get annoyed by crappy shift points on automatics
most people never touch that button.
So if you're cruising at 70 with 4.10 gears in an unloaded truck just leave the OD alone. If you got a trailer full of bricks or whatever and you notice you gotta keep your foot heavy on the gas, turn the OD off. Don't over think it.
Thanks for explaining it for me.I have never pushed the button and I believe I will never need to. Makes since. Thanks again.
If you go somewhere like north carolina or whatever with mountains and **** it can make life easier. Saves on your brakes and climbs hills easier. Or just get a proper stickshift like the rest of the men here have
So 4 and 5 speed have the same ratios(gears), Ford added software to the computer that turned on the OD when still in 1st gear, this gave transmission a new ratio of 1.87 between 1st and 2nd for a smoother shift
The 4-speed had to REV engine high before shifting into 2nd so engine didn't "lug" with the lower ratio
Adding the Faux 2nd allows shifting at a lower RPM, so smoother shifting
Also allowed advertising a "new 5-speed" transmission, lol, without changing anything in the transmission itself, very clever
No reason to turn OD off under normal driving, the .75 ratio is under 1:1 ratio so you lose torque from the engine, but its not needed when engine load is low, i.e. driving at speed on flat roads, if driving up a hill the computer will usually shift to the 1:1 ratio gear as engine load increases, to maintain speed
You may feel the computer shifting back and forth between 1:1 and 1:.75 ratios as load changes, if so you "may" want to turn OD off until you get to the top of the hill, so computer stays with the 1:1 ratio
And no, OD off doesn't prevent computer from using the Faux 2nd gear in the 5-speed, that will still work
The way my grandfather explained OD to me as a kid was it was an extra gear at the top end for better fuel economy highway cruising speeds. But if your carrying extra weight where the car or truck keeps downshifting to maintain speeds there is a switch to shut it off. If you can cruise in OD without it constantly shifting in and out of it than your fine keeping it on.
newer cars having a computerized system have other bells and whistles with tow/haul mode where it changes shift points to higher RPMs and maybe boosting torque converter pressure.
Okay Ron, for like ever, I have begun my drive, on plain flat roads around town, pressing the overdrive off button. Only 'engaging' it, pressing it again (to on) when approaching speeds over 40 miles per hour. Then off at speeds less than 40.
I wanted to review what was written by Ford about overdrive in the instruction book that came with the truck. And according to Ford, per the attached picture; the underlined area suggests to have overdrive off in city traffic. Per what youve wrote here Ron, do I really need to have overdrive off at all? I do drive occasionally in "city traffic" at speeds between 20 and 35 miles per hour. At such times, for best fuel economy, do I really need to have overdrive off?
I don't have a tow hitch, and neither do I haul anything, more than a few small bags of groceries; once or twice a week but hardly once. The bed even is more or less always covered by a tonneau. So, do I even need to have overdrive off in my driving habits?
With older vehicles all the OD off switch did was prevent it from shifting into 4th gear. Just like the 1, 2, options below drive keep it lower gears. If it's in drive with OD on it has full range of all 4 gears. With OD off it uses 1,2 and 3rd gears only. With it in 2 it will only use the first 2 gears. And 1 keeps it in first. Only reason to turn OD off is if its excessively shifting between 3 and 4 because off extra weight or maybe mountainous terrain. Constantly changing gears can put extra wear on the transmission. But with city driving where it isn't likely to even reach 4th gear it's going 40+ mph it's kinda unnecessary anyway to turn it off.
With older vehicles all the OD off switch did was prevent it from shifting into 4th gear. Just like the 1, 2, options below drive keep it lower gears. If it's in drive with OD on it has full range of all 4 gears. With OD off it uses 1,2 and 3rd gears only. With it in 2 it will only use the first 2 gears. And 1 keeps it in first. Only reason to turn OD off is if its excessively shifting between 3 and 4 because off extra weight or maybe mountainous terrain. Constantly changing gears can put extra wear on the transmission. But with city driving where it isn't likely to even reach 4th gear it's going 40+ mph it's kinda unnecessary anyway to turn it off.
the one thinf you got wrong is the first two gears are ONLY those gears. So put trans in 1/L, you only get 1st gear. Put trans in 2, you get ONLY 2nd gear (snow/gravel mode), not both first and 2nd. Use 2 if youre in snow and struggling around town.
Yeah. What he said.
but it's not necessary to turn it off in the city unless your approaching highway speeds. Like getting in the 40s and 50s then stopping over and over.
With newer models it might change the entire process, more pressure and more aggressive shift points. But on older ones all it does is turn top gear off.
okay guys, my 2007 is an automatic transmission engine, so i have no way to just select what gear i wanna drive in; as i might in manual transmission. i just take the lever at the right side of the steering column and move the selector to D. only then, in D (drive) do i have the option to have overdrive on or off by pushing the button.
as i said before, it seems from what ron was saying that i only need to have overdrive on if i am towing or driving on hills or mountains. otherwise, leave it off. but then the user manual that came with the truck suggests to only have overdrive off if im doing city driving. --seems both 'ideas' contradict each other.
please re explain for using an automatic transmission.
Okay Ron, for like ever, I have begun my drive, on plain flat roads around town, pressing the overdrive off button. Only 'engaging' it, pressing it again (to on) when approaching speeds over 40 miles per hour. Then off at speeds less than 40.
I wanted to review what was written by Ford about overdrive in the instruction book that came with the truck. And according to Ford, per the attached picture; the underlined area suggests to have overdrive off in city traffic. Per what youve wrote here Ron, do I really need to have overdrive off at all? I do drive occasionally in "city traffic" at speeds between 20 and 35 miles per hour. At such times, for best fuel economy, do I really need to have overdrive off?
I don't have a tow hitch, and neither do I haul anything, more than a few small bags of groceries; once or twice a week but hardly once. The bed even is more or less always covered by a tonneau. So, do I even need to have overdrive off in my driving habits?
Read the part right before that part you underlined, "excessive shifting from OD to another gear"?
Do you have that happening in your "city driving", and you WILL notice it?
If not then no need to turn OD off
Read the part right before that part you underlined, "excessive shifting from OD to another gear"?
Do you have that happening in your "city driving", and you WILL notice it?
If not then no need to turn OD off
this is one of those cases of "paralysis by analysis". Meaning, youre overthinking it. Read the whole manual, youll be baffled by how many warnings and auggestions the OEM makes that we dont do. An example i will use is using different weights of oil in cold/hot weather other than the OEM specifications, and my personal favorite: parking. The oem will tell you to SET THE HANDBRAKE FIRMLY, THEN PLACE THE TRANSMISSION INTO PARK (P) BEFORE REMOVING KEY FROM IGNITION. How many times do you do that? Probably never. Hell, i shut off my truck before its stopped sometimes (manual transmission).
so stop overthinking it. Its perFectly OK to never touch that button in your daiky commute. If you WANT to disable the overdrive during city drives, thats fine too. Dont overanalyze
thank you ron and 420stacks. i have no driving conditions with excessive shifting. neither do i drive on hilly terrain or do any towing or hauling.
and 420stacks, i am one of those wierdos that does actually read instruction manuals before i start using something new. i bought the truck new, special order through ford fleet in 2006. and before i drove it off the lot, i did read alot of the manual. not the whole thing, but i did eventually come back to it to finish not long after that. i am also **** retentive about a few things in analysis paralysis.... and yes, i do use the parking brake everytime i set the gear to park.
based on most of whats ben said in this thread, and my use of the truck, i dont think i will ever really use the overdrive off button. leaving overdrive on in all my normal driving. i did recently (and before i wrote in this thread) have some issues with the button not responding. i tried to fix it, and had the connecting wire too tight. one of its two eventually broke, so the button stopped altogether. --driving on the interstate with overdrive off 😮 ! i then found a replacement switch, but then after all this here, im thinking of entirely doing without the new switch. --disconnected.
and, if i knew way more about automotive motor and transmission work and modification, i would look into literally taking the automatic transmission apart to REMOVE the parts that enable overdrive to be 'off'. --IF that were possible. BUT, i dont know anything bout that, even tho i do have the service manual published by ford. so, i technically could, but i have no shop. SO, i will leave that poor transmission alone...
11-29-2020
