Der_Richter

Hey. I noticed, when cruising with a friend who has the same type of auto as me (he has -98 Z28, i have -98 SS). He always drives from standing still and all city driving, well basically ALL driving around, on the overdrive (D with square around it, right?). He says he has always done this... Personally i have heard that u should switch to Overdrive AFTER gaining some speed (eg. out-of-city).

He just puts it in OD and drives of. Well, it starts from first gear anyway, right? His car runs just as smooth. So did my SS when i tried it

But i was wondering... Can he damage his transmission by doing this? Starting from 0 MPH. with gear selector on D with square (overdrive).

Enlighten me.

JohnnyC

No damage- put it in OD and forget about it.

KENS_SS_4

Your kidding right? This isn't a newbie question, this is a just born 10 minutes ago question!

Look in your owners manual before you bother us with such dribble. Read the answer to this, then read a couple more pages. After a while you will know everything.

Just this once I will tell you. Letting the computer shift and letting it choose between all four gears is the safest way to operate your transmisson. So he is right.

You should never put the gear selector in any other position other than OD unless some condition that warrants it applies. Most of those conditions are listed.

He probably gets better gas mileage then you too!

If your car did not come with an owners manual, one is available as a pdf download for free.

Der_Richter

Well. Excuse me. However if you have read any of my other posts u would know that i live in Sweden. And that automatically implies no good knowledge about automatic transmissions. Personally i had not seen an auto tranny with overdrive until i bought my first Camaro. So... There's a lot of rumours going around over here at forums and even in swedish repair manuals, that driving with OD in the city causes more shift-changes and thus wear to the transmission. It's often stated that u should be above 45 MPH. before shifting to OD.

So if i seem stupid to you it's just because of inexperience. Of course because of the fact that 98% of all cars sold here have manual transmission. And if they have autos (eg. my SAAB) it's without an overdrive on the gear selector.

Thus all the rumours going around.

Thanks for clearing it up, mate. Could be useful to pass on to the rest of the Swedish Camaro-owners still running all the time on regular drive, because of fear to wear the transmission down.

But again. Sorry about my lack of knowledge. Engines is one thing, that i can handle and modify. But yes, automatic transmissions are still like a mystery to me.

Cheers.

craz28

iTrader: (10)

I am wondering the same thing, I got a stall and gears so the rpms are always high in drive but in overdrive (even from a start) they seem fine, and the converter unlocks sooner.

xXSilencerXx

iTrader: (4)

I'm pretty sure it does more wear to run in the other gears rather than overdrive. The only time I don't drive in OD is when I do a burnout or when trying to setup for a race. Other wise it's all OD everywhere.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Sorry to see some of the hostility in this thread.

Here is a hassle/insult free response for you...

The automatic transmission found in any LS1 F-body is a 4L60E. This transmission is designed to operate with the selector in the "OD" position at all times during normal driving, and doing so will not harm the transmission.

Should you choose to drive in the "D" position around town, this will not do any immedate harm to the transmission, however "OD" is a better choice as it keeps rpms lower, providing slightly better fuel mileage and (marginally) reduced heat & engine wear.

Hope that helps.

ReFtheMC

iTrader: (6)

ericn99

KENNS SS 4 you are an ***, that is what this forum is for and to flame a person like that was totally uncalled for

VIP1

Your SAAB has an overdrive transmission. The D position is actually OD. The gear selector on my 2001 Formula does not have an OD position either. It says: "PRND321". My "3" is your "D" and my "D" is your "OD". By driving in D instead of OD, you are basically just locking out the OD gear. You aren't altering any other behavior of the transmission. That being said, depending on the speeds you reach in the city, you should notice an increase in gas mileage with the gear selector in OD.

Der_Richter

Thanks for the replies. I have also passed this on to other Swedes driving F-Bodies. Most of them were really surprised that OD was the way to go for city driving situations. And that it would not harm the transmission.

I wonder where that rumour came from in the first place... because i heard it from the guy i bought my first Camaro of many years ago. I also heard it of the guy i bought my Impala SS -96 of.

So it's really widespread.

One thing i would like to ask u however... Does the opposite occur in the US? Unclear information being spread about manual transmissions? I mean, here it is uite common to say: "Well... Them yanks can't drive a manual car."

johnnybravo

That's true, in a way. I'm sure most of the folks I know don't know how to drive a manual transsmission. but, that's not because they are stupid, or unable. it's just that most of the cars in the US are automatics, and they don't have the opportunity to learn or drive manuals.

LSWon00

iTrader: (3)

Der Richter:

Do your F-Bodies over there have the "export" tail lights? Amber on the outside, red in the middle, and reverse white on the inside?

VIP1

A fellow member just brought to my attention an error in my post. I meant to type "PRND321" instead of "PRN123D". I fixed the typo. The rest is still valid.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Not really. There are many people here who have likely never driven a manual trans car, but as far as information regarding them, there is really nothing unclear or false rumors.

Dex

iTrader: (5)

The problem with leaving it in OD in the city is that it causes excessive shifting the transmission in constantly shifting up and down. While some might argue it causes excessive wear. I doubt it will shorten the tranmissions life by anything measurable, but it will cause you to change the transmission fluid more often. Not to mention its just outright annoying listening to the transmission shift that much.

Der_Richter

Well yeah. 98 and onwards they do. Because it was from then they were being sold in Sweden, at ordinary dealerships.

However mine doesn't as it is a US car, sold and used in the US then exported here by means of private import/export. That is the most common scenario.

It is more unusual to actually see one actually SOLD in Sweden when brand new.

Those also have Km/h. speedometers and Celsius temperature gauges. Only.

All US models have both MPH and KMH gauges, big ring MPH, small ring KMH, like mine does right?

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Correct.

ShortChevy

iTrader: (21)

Yes, that is correct.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I wouldn't call it excessive shifting. It's not like the trans is going to shift in and out of OD for no reason while you're cruising along even at city speeds. Only if you're speeding up or slowing down, in which case it'll be shifting in and out of 2nd and 3rd as well.

Leaving it in D (3rd) vs OD isn't/shouldn't have any effect on your fluid change intervals.