Quote:
Originally Posted by jreiter
Now days, overdrive simply refers to any gear in the transmission that is taller than a 1:1 gear ratio. In a 5 speed transmission like in the 4runner, the 1:1 gear is typically 4th gear, although it can vary depending on what the manufacturer wants for a given vehicle. So like a couple of other people said, just move the gear selector from Drive (which will use all gears, 1-5), down to the 4 selection, which will only use 1-4. That is the effective equivalent of "turning off overdrive."  Although honestly, it's probably fine to leave it in Drive while towing, and if you find the engine lugging for some reason and the tranny isn't downshifting on its own, you can downshift it to 4.
In the old days, some cars often had a separate overdrive unit in addition to the normal transmission, but I don't know if any modern vehicles still do that. It's kind of archaic and a bit overly complicated, especially given how many gears automatic transmissions have now days. |
That's what I basically meant. The 3rd gens have a selector that turns overdrive on and off.
Like you said it's probably not necessary every time you tow, but if the transmission has to constantly shift from 5 to 4 then it's probably creating a lot of heat.
