Overdrive On/Off?

Hey, I have a question regarding overdrive on my 97 Protege.

Since I got it, I had no idea the car was even equipped with overdrive.

I was putting the car into reverse the other day and noticed a small button on the shift stick. I pressed it and an orange light came on at the dash indicating "O/D OFF"

I didn't know what it was, so I pressed the button again and the light went out.

I did a google search and found out that this is an overdrive feature. Apparently having overdrive on all the time will wear out the transmission quicker.

One thing i'm not 100% sure on is, when the light is on, does this really mean that OD is off? I read some people talking about when their "O/D OFF" light was on, this meant that overdrive was on, and when the light was off, their OD was off...and vice versa.

Does anyone know what the light status has to be for my OD to be off?

Also, one more question. I have never used any driving mode but "Drive"

Under what circumstances would I use the 1st and 2nd option?

Thanks in advance.

NO having OD on all the time WILL NOT cause damage to the tranny or increased wear, BUT leaving it "Off" all the time will. the OD gear (4th) is good for fuel ecconomy because it lets you maintain a cruizing speed at a lower rpm this puts less stress on the motor.

In your Auto Overdrive is on at at all times untill you shut it off.

Why????

Because overdrive is the 4th gear that is higher than 1:1 gear ratio.

You shut it off to force the tranny into 3rd gear to give you "Passing" power as doing this brings you higher in the revs (Like downshifting into power to make a pass in a manual, its the same thing)

You want it ON all the time because you want it to go into 4th gear unless you need 3rds high rpms.

The Overdrive gear (4th) is for fuel economy.

& our Manual Trannys also have overdrive gears 4th & 5th (THe tranny doesnt work the same as a auto, this goes without saying but there was some confusion at one point on this subject where quite a few made the mistake to beleve that there is no overdrive in a manual, but that got squashed real quick, so Ill just clarify that right away.

Remember that All overdrive is, is a top gear that is higher than 1:1 Auto or Manual. So basically its simply a gearset in which the output shaft turns faster than the input shaft. Originally overdrives were only provided as optional units bolted onto the original gearbox, and often employing epicyclic gears. The term is now also applied to the top (usually 5th) gear ratio in the main gearbox when it is higher than 1:1

Overdrive is just 4th gear. OD off = no 4th gear = higher RPM on the highway.

Normal operation OD should be on(light OFF), allowing the transmission to shift to 4th.

I'd use O/D off if you were driving on a hilly highway where the transmission would constantly have to shift to 3rd then 4th, then 3rd because of the changing grades.

1 and 2 are to be used in adverse driving conditions = snow and ice, where you aren't going fast but can't have the transmission shifting all over the place when you spin the tires on the slick stuff. Allows for more control and smoother operation in these circumstances.

Now then, DO NOT constantly drive 1-2-drive like a lot of people do. Shifting an auto manually causes wear and isn't any faster(actually slower most of the time) than letting the automatic function as an auto.

Edit - damn I was beaten.

I was reading a bit on 1 and 2, and one thing that was mentioned from one of the forums I was reading was that it was good to put the car into 1 or 2 when in traffic because stop and go traffic is apparently really hard on the transmission (constantly shifting up and down), so keeping it at one gear while in heavy traffic will help "preserve" it. Is there any truth to this?

Also, is OD harder on gas than when it's off?

Thanks for the info.

Trooper said:

I was reading a bit on 1 and 2, and one thing that was mentioned from one of the forums I was reading was that it was good to put the car into 1 or 2 when in traffic because stop and go traffic is apparently really hard on the transmission (constantly shifting up and down), so keeping it at one gear while in heavy traffic will help "preserve" it. Is there any truth to this?

Also, is OD harder on gas than when it's off?

Thanks for the info.

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Pointless to keep it in 1st during traffic, just pointless.

OD is for fuel ecconomy, it keeps the car at given speeds with lower rpms. Lower rpms require less fuel.

If OD is "On" your using it so its better on Gas (Fuel ecconomy being one of the main reasons its put in moders cars) If OD is "Off" and your not using your 4th gear, the car is reving high in 3rd, theis uses ALOT of Gas.