Taking out of o/d on atx?

[Z-gzag]

I own the 99 v6 which I've been driving for over a year now. It's an automatic and I know it's alright to drop it into overdrive while moving but is it ok to turn o/d off?

[PzKpfw_III]

You should be leaving overdrive on all the time. All you're doing by turning overdrive off is burning more gas and making the engine work harder than it should. With it off you're preventing the torque converter from locking and it going into fourth gear.

You can turn overdrive off if desired for engine braking or if a bit more torque is needed.

[B3NN3TT]

It won't hurt anything in the short term to turn it off, but you should have a good reason to do so, and turn it back on as soon as is reasonable.

For example, if you're in a mountainous region, and the car is constantly banging back and forth between 3 and 4, you can turn O/D off to keep it in 3rd gear to better deal with the curves and hills without hunting through gears too much.

[Z-gzag]

I read in the manual for city driving it's not good to have od on. Along with the mountainous terrain, Living in California it's a lot of hills and mountains which is what brought up the question. Thanks

[sonza68]

I typically turn OD off on roads with speed limits of 35 or lower. It keeps it from hunting between 3rd and 4th during mild acceleration. As mentioned, it can make sense in mountains or other steep inclines.