Overdrive Question !

ThunderTurkey

Registered User
:( ~"Just bought an Anny with the Overdrive totally not working. Previous owner was told no pressure from the modulator or some such thing - happens all the time on these cars. MY question is : Does ANYbody have any experience in driving with the OD gone? Is it safe for about 800 miles without frying the trans?? Car seems great in Drive(shifting itself 1-2-3), just not into 4th. :confused:
 
ThunderTurkey said:
:( ~"Just bought an Anny with the Overdrive totally not working. Previous owner was told no pressure from the modulator or some such thing - happens all the time on these cars. MY question is : Does ANYbody have any experience in driving with the OD gone? Is it safe for about 800 miles without frying the trans?? Car seems great in Drive(shifting itself 1-2-3), just not into 4th. :confused:
The transmission will eventually fail. OD is most likely gone because the OD band is toast. All of the material from the band is floating around in your transmission wearing down everything else. I know there have been guys that have driven without OD, but I'm not sure of the duration that they were able to continue to drive before the tranny finally failed.
 
Yeah......

ThunderTurkey said:
:( ~"Just bought an Anny with the Overdrive totally not working. Previous owner was told no pressure from the modulator or some such thing - happens all the time on these cars. MY question is : Does ANYbody have any experience in driving with the OD gone? Is it safe for about 800 miles without frying the trans?? Car seems great in Drive(shifting itself 1-2-3), just not into 4th. :confused:



I drove a long while without my OD. Matter a fact it was A LOT more than 800 miles. Eventually I had it rebuilt, not because it couldn't keep going, but because I wanted OD back. Didn't seem to hurt anything else in the tranny. You'll be fine. Just drive with it in "D". :D
 
I went about 5000 miles without OD. But I did change the fluid and filter when I first lost it. I finally swapped to a 5 speed.
 
ThunderTurkey said:
:( ~"Just bought an Anny with the Overdrive totally not working. Previous owner was told no pressure from the modulator or some such thing - happens all the time on these cars. MY question is : Does ANYbody have any experience in driving with the OD gone? Is it safe for about 800 miles without frying the trans?? Car seems great in Drive(shifting itself 1-2-3), just not into 4th. :confused:
My OD gear started dropping out after about 1hour of freeway driving on a warm day... it would drop out and then come back in and repeat the cycle. I changed the fluid+filter. There was a silt like substance sitting in the pan. At the time, I didn't know what it was, but most likely it was wear from the OD band. Afterwards drove for almost another year, with no bad problems, just the occasional drop when warm, before swapping it out for a newer AOD that I got from a club member. It was working fine when the weather was cooler. :cool:
 
Last edited:
TbirdSCFan said:
My OD gear started dropping out after about 1hour of freeway driving on a warm day... it would drop out and then come back in and repeat the cycle. :cool:
:eek: ~"WOW, that is EXACTLY what my LX is doing!! Although the fluid looks great, and it shifts so smoothly I can't tell what gear I'm in, at freeway speeds I can feel the 'drag' of the OD dropping out. It is more annoying than anything!! Thanks for your replies!" :)
 
i just had an experience today with my OD. i drove 60+ miles at 80mph one way, and it held up fine- no overheating problems. Get back into my car and drive home exactly the same way, and after 10 minutes of normal driving, my engine temp gage shoots up to the "M", the "check gage" light comes on, and my OD starts slipping like crazy- so much that i had to downshift into 3rd and drive the rest of the way in 3rd. Meanwhile, my engine temps are still spiking- all this happened suddenly for no apparent reason.

Is it because the AOD fluid lines go into the radiator, and heats everything up when the AOD is overheated caused by the slipping OD band?
 
Well, it also means that an auxillary cooler that could drop the temps by 30 degrees could make the problem go way for a while... lot cheaper than a rebuild. ;)
 
hytorksc said:
Is it because the AOD fluid lines go into the radiator, and heats everything up when the AOD is overheated caused by the slipping OD band?
Could be. With that sort of temp change though, I'd expect to see burnt tranny fluid.. that is not red, but brown and stinky.
 
TbirdSCFan said:
Could be. With that sort of temp change though, I'd expect to see burnt tranny fluid.. that is not red, but brown and stinky.

i just found out after looking over the tv cable that my line pressure was way too high. the tv linkage adjustment was wrong, i reset it close to where it should be, and test drove down the same road where the OD slipped before- the engine and tranny ran much cooler this time, and no slippage.

the tv cable adjustments are obviously highly sensitive, and as i can imagine, if i kept driving her like that, the tranny would have burned up (at least the OD band). So far she's shifting real good, and no slippage- same outside temps, same road conditions, same driving speeds. i looked at the fluid, it wasn't stinky or brown- i don't think it was burnt. i think i will change fluid to make sure (messy job).
 
My XR-7 went about 1.5 years with a broken O/D band. No biggie. It didn't seem to bother anything at all. Finally swapped it out for another good AOD. Keep in mind that the higher RPM's will eat up more gas and put more wear and tear on everything, but as I said, my 3.8 didn't seem to care.
 
BTW - watch the nylon grommet for the TV cable at the throttle body. They deteriorate with age and the TV cable can pop out. If you drive it like that the tranny will shred itself to pieces. I replace mine evey few years as a maintenance thing. They are cheap and there are even some brass ones available. Our Bronco had the TV cable pop off at the tranny. Boy did that shift weird. It wouldn't go into OD.....1-2-3 felt like a stage 60 shift kit. Glad I caught it in time and fixed it. I hate changing trannies.
 
hytorksc said:
i just found out after looking over the tv cable that my line pressure was way too high. the tv linkage adjustment was wrong, i reset it close to where it should be, ...... the tv cable adjustments are obviously highly sensitive, and as i can imagine, if i kept driving her like that, the tranny would have burned up (at least the OD band). So far she's shifting real good, and no slippage- .....
Katoom said:
BTW - watch the nylon grommet for the TV cable at the throttle body. They deteriorate with age and the TV cable can pop out. If you drive it like that the tranny will shred itself to pieces. I replace mine evey few years as a maintenance thing. They are cheap and there are even some brass ones available.....
:eek: ~"I just stopped by a small, locally owned tranny shop, and he took the time to pop my hood for a look and found ..... A DETERIORATED GROMMET!! The TV cable was off of the throttle body. He pressed it back on and crimped the fitting slightly and advised me to get a new grommet. The place was busier than all getout, and he was trying to close at noon(Saturday), or I would have bugged him some more. He said "You have no idea how many transmissions AAm-poo sells because of a grommet!"
Anyway, I wonder how to ADJUST the TV cable? If it is THAT sensitive, it must be VERY precise, right?? Is there a tech-article on it anywhere? :confused: Thank you VERY much for your comments and advice!" :D
 
Definitely get the brass grommet from Ford. You'll never have to replace it again. There was a post in the parts forum that listed the part number.
 
Yes the TV cable/pressure is very sensitive. TV pressure is set by connecting a gage set to a couple of ports on the transmission. Two plugs are removed and the gages are connected. Then the car is run in park, and the cable is adjusted with a locking clip until the desired pressures are achived. I would take it to a dealer for this. It's not a lengthy or expensive procedure.
 
my od went out in january and its almost october :) runs fine no problems, I have driven way more than 800 miles.

-Jeff-
 
Back
Top