How long is ok to run without OD?

91BLOWNSC

Registered User
I lost my OD band a month or maybe a little longer before winter and obviously i was running at higher RPM's...and now this summer im debating whether to get it redone or not. I have a back-up car to drive and I dont' usually take the SC over 55 now cause it runs at like 2100 rpms or something (its an auto). Is this really bad on the engine? Or is it really not that bad?
 
I rarely use the overdrive on my 90 AOD. Granted, I do mostly city driving and will use the overdrive for longer highway trips. Remember, a lot of bigger and older cars/trucks have no overdrive which was added to increase mpg because it drops the rpms to about 1500. With my 5 speed w/3.27s, I always keep it in that 2200-2500 range, cause the engine seems to like it and I have plenty of power when I need it. good luck
 
Not for too long..

The Ford AOD tranny has a small problem with the size of the main valve in that its too small for extended operation unless its allowed to operate in AOD. If you don't use the OD, the fluid doesn't circulate well, and it will eventually start slipping. I can vouch that it happened to me couple of years ago as well as from what I've seen on other articles. I was lucky in that it magically fixed itself, but now I use the OD all the time and I DON'T manually shift anymore. There is an article on TCCOA from a tranny guru about this problem.

Hope this helps.
 
As far as engine speed, 2100 is barely starting to spin ;) A few spins at 4500 every now and then will do it some good.
 
I don't use OD unless I'm going to be at 55mph or higher for an extended period of time. If its just a short drive down the road I won't even let it go into OD.

Oh and 2100 isn't gonna hurt anything, thats what I run on the highway in my SC. Plus I've taken it up to 6000 rpm before.
 
slim but maybe

I have had problems with the clip that holds the TV cable kick down thing and when it pops off say good by overdrive ...by chance take alook at your throttle body and see if it is still connected ...
 
Yes merc, mine to has slipped off but I knew it right away and stopped the car immediately. My OD band went out LONG after that. My OD band went out because I kept doing high speed drops from like 70+ and then it rengauging and disengaugin :(. I also did it.............dare i say.........at the track...I didn't even think about it being in OD. Towards the end i always took it out. Granted I don't take i to the track much. Just one day I was driving down the road and i went to apply gas slightly, and the rpms went up a little, and then fell back down. It was intermittent at first, then it got worse and worse. Anyways, I was always afraid to have my car at the 2000-2500 rpm range because I figured it was severly hard on the engine. I didn't think it was good for the accesorys or anything. I don't drive the car on the highway much, but I do get on it a lot. So i figured if i run it hard, and it has no OD, the engine runs kinda high all day. Or at least when I go to 60 or something. So should I NOT be in a hurry to get the trans rebuilt. I mean its 1300 dollars. If its tolerable, should i just run the car how it is till the rest of the transmission goes out?
 
My XR-7 went a year with no O/D in it. It probably wasn't good for the motor, but I got it fixed and the motor still runs fine as usual... Your right though....it sucks going over 55 in D!
 
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