Overdrive at night?

[Strider74]

I may be the only one but does anyone else find the "O/D off" light excessively bright at night. I know this is a really petty complaint but it just bugs me, any suggestions on how to tone it down a bit?

[LincMercLover]

Sunglasses. :cool:

Oh, wait a sec...

[MassMarauder]

Yes. It is too bright.

[CRUZTAKER]

A piece of electrical tape works great.
Used to cover the check engine light on my cutlass!!!!

:lol:

[LincMercLover]

Originally posted by CRUZTAKER
A piece of electrical tape works great.
Used to cover the check engine light on my cutlass!!!!

:lol:
I WAS gunna go there, but say duct tape. Then I thought, no... some don't understand the true power of the duct! :D

On a serious note, all I can think of is going to a Radio Shack and ask them for some sort of resistor, and splice it in to the wire that leads up to that bulb.

Or, you could pull the gauge panel down to the lights, pop the light out and lightly paint it with that nifty neat tail lamp tint! :lol:

[DLoreanMARAUDER]

why not just keep the overdrive on :) electrical tape is what my department uses on our CVPI when the "check engine" "ABS" or any other idiot lights go on. then again thats the best fix for over abused cop cars with 300k just waiting for retirment not so much a brand new MM (just ignore it or try not to think about it too much)

[Slowpoke]

that light makes me nuts! i think i will print a small black square on an Avery window decal; cut to size then slap it over the light. the decal will peel off without leaving a residue, but stay put.

the marriage of an inkjet printer; computer technology and good 'ol Craftypoke knowhow!

[Mike M]

Why is your overdrive light on?

[RCSignals]

yes, why are people driving with O/D off on a regular basis?

[Mad1]

Because it's afraid of the dark. (rim shot)

:flamer:

It's like the light in your fridge ... always on. Haven't you ever just sat inside your fridge? Seriously. (Wah, wah, wah.)

:po:

I don't want to let the engine off easy ... lazy engine. (heh. heh.)

:help:

[looking97233]

a piece of window tint film works good. You can cut to fit so that it covers all of the un-dimmed idoit lights. Might use some on the stand-alone clock too. One of my Ford peeves, un-dimming dash lights.

[CRUZTAKER]

Originally posted by RCSignals
yes, why are people driving with O/D off on a regular basis?

Yes. We need a 'Mac answer here. I just didn't have the balls to bring it up. Guess I am not alone.


1)I turn it off on the highway right before I need to WOT. Even with the chip, a wot at 70 still confuses the tranny.

2)I turn it off while decellerating from highway speeds and the road surface is questionable or heavily winding.

3)It sounds cool & and it gets the person's attention beside you.

Anything wrong here guys? I drove manuals most of my life, and I'm don't know any better.

:confused:

[Wags]

If I'm going 35 to 50, I almost always defeat the OD. The tranny (with the stock shift points) just bogs down the engine too much. I'll also use it to slow down on the highway when in traffic.

Wags

[RF Overlord]

Originally posted by CRUZTAKER

2)I turn it off while decellerating from highway speeds and the road surface is questionable or heavily winding.

Anything wrong here guys? I drove manuals most of my life, and I'm don't know any better.

If you watch the tach, I think you'll see that the overdrive and the TC lock-up disengage when you close the throttle. Try this: when CRUZING along at a steady speed, say 45, take your foot off the gas for a few seconds, then re-apply lightly...you should see the tach flare momentarily until the OD and the TC lock-up re-engage.

I can't see that turning it off manually while decelerating would do anything...

[Wags]

It will make a difference if you are going , say 70 or higher. When you defeat the OD, your trans will stay in 3rd with a different gear ratio, sort of like "downshifting". That's where you will get the braking action. Also, you don't have to wait for the lag of waiting for the converter to lock up or for the revs to come up for a automatic downshift if you want to accelerate quickly.

[SergntMac]

Originally posted by CRUZTAKER

1) I turn it off on the highway right before I need to WOT. Even with the chip, a wot at 70 still confuses the tranny.

2)I turn it off while decellerating from highway speeds and the road surface is questionable or heavily winding.

3)It sounds cool & and it gets the person's attention beside you.

Anything wrong here guys? I drove manuals most of my life, and I'm don't know any better. :confused:

Nope...Looks like what I do, but I'll add;

4) I use the OD on/off to regulate speed in heavy traffic on the highway, at any speed. I hate it when people crawl up too close to the car in front of them, and keep tapping their brakes to keep their distance. Doesn't anyone know how to coast anymore? I just hold her in 3rd gear, sometimes second, and let the tranny do my braking. Yup, grew up on 4 speeds myself.

As far as WOT goes, sometimes it will shift back to 1st briefly, depending on what speed I'm at when I hit it, but that's fun too. Turning off the OD does allow quicker downshifting though.

Why anyone would cruise in 3rd for long steady distances confuses me too, but to each his own I suppose. I'm also guilty of enjoying her growl over the radio, at least until I got this custom audio sampler from a friend. That "One O'clock Jump" is a smokin tune.

[CRUZTAKER]

Mac, thanks again.
(If you saved all the thanks you get........hell I don't know, couldn't come up with anything.)

Good deal, best part : I should know in 3 years if the trans doesn't agree with the way I drive. I say SHOULD, the '98 marquis started slippin at 4 years, about a month before I traded it in actually.

[bugsys03]

you guys arent really putting tape on the dash of your new car are you? i hope you are kidding.

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by SergntMac
4) I use the OD on/off to regulate speed in heavy traffic on the highway, at any speed. I hate it when people crawl up too close to the car in front of them, and keep tapping their brakes to keep their distance. Doesn't anyone know how to coast anymore?


I'm glad someone posted regarding this. I was wondering if the Marauder's tranny behaved the same way as most GenMotors RWD trannies (and maybe FWD too?).

On GenMotors trannies, if you keep it in 4th it will in many cir***stances jump to the highest gear it can find when coasting down, in many cases 4th (OD). The RPMs will take a dive, and the ~0.7:1 gear ratio will provide little engine braking. When you get back on the gas, the tranny will instantaneously downshift and the RPM will climb... in traffic this results in the feeling of 'hunting' and the necessity to keep alternating between gas and brake to follow traffic.

In 3rd gear setting, not only is the tranny restricted from going into 4th when you lift off to a lighter throttle setting, but there is also an added element. There is an 'overrun' clutch which will prevent the input side of the tranny from spinning down to idle while the output side is still moving. This is because there is a sort of sprag action (similar to a 10-speed bike, when you stop pedaling and you hear the ticking sound from the rear wheel). When the overrun clutch is applied, it's locking the tranny input shaft to the whatever it's driving inside the tranny, so it always has to match speeds. Lift off the gas, and you will have the engine being held at a higher RPM and resulting in engine braking in 3rd gear. On GenMotors RWD trannies, holding 2nd gear will also activate said overrun clutch, resulting in yet more engine braking (due to the 2nd gear ratio).

So, in other words, the 3rd gear you experience in '3' is not necessarily the same you experience in 'OD' or '4' on GenMotors trannies... the difference is this overrun clutch in '3'.

This is not to be confused with the Torque Converter Clutch, which can engage and disengage based on speed, throttle position and whether you tapped the brakes or not. This overrun clutch is ALWAYS applied in 3rd when in the '3' setting, and NEVER in the '4' or 'OD' setting.

I'm curious if the Marauder does this... I didn't have a chance to test this during my test drive even though I spent most of the time in 3rd with OD off. It's easy to check: drive in 3rd with OD not locked out, and lift off the gas. See the RPM drop. Do the same but with the OD off. If the RPMs stay up, there's an overrun clutch at play. Make sure it isn't actually going into 4th during the OD-on part of the test.