what exactly does an overdrive switch do? When will i no its on or off? what should i be driving in?[slap][slap][smackbum][bash]

lol OD means overdrive. If OD is off, your car will hit 4th gear, if it's on it'll only go up to 3rd gear, so you'd turn OD off for lower speeds on hilly terrain

OD is like an extra gear for higher speeds, it helps the engine run at lower rpm, therefore saving fuel. it's also quieter, and less wear-and-tear. Turn it off when you're car is under a greater load, like towing, because the gear is too weak.
Also, overdrive is a gear ratio of less than 1 to 1, such as 0.94 to 1. So... the driveshaft is spinning faster than the engine.

I recommend turning the OD off when driving in the city. It's really not good to have it on for speeds below 50 mph.

Oh yeah. you'll know when it's off because in your instrument cluster there is a green light, "O/D OFF," which will light up when you click it off.

on focuses, you can only choose from (P R N D 2 1) so put it in D and leave O/D on. saves you gas and wear-and-tear.

helpful much? lol

I recommend turning the OD off when driving in the city. It's really not good to have it on for speeds below 50 mph.

Nay. An auto trans will downshift out of O/D if it senses the need to.

It's really not good to have your car running at 1200 RPM at 35 mph. Besides, at that speed, any little push on the accelerator causes a downshift, and the constant down and up shifting at those speeds cause wear and tear on the ATX.

It's really not good to have your car running at 1200 RPM at 35 mph. Besides, at that speed, any little push on the accelerator causes a downshift, and the constant down and up shifting at those speeds cause wear and tear on the ATX.
well i guess if you're going to be in traffic where you're on your toes with shooting in and out of traffic, click off the O/D. or stay off 35mph roads [hihi]
so now you know what overdrive is.

lol thank you guys. thats enough bickering. I dont ever tow anything, and im never down town, so its pretty much useless for me and theres no reason for me to ever turn it on.

it's on by default, you mean you don't need to turn it off [:p]

Trust me, at low speeds, you will find it very annoying when the ATX keeps banging up and down between 3rd and 4th. I owned an Escort GT with a similar ATX, and keeping it out of OD in the city helped keep my ATX running smooth for 13 years and 182,000 miles. Also, keeping the OD off in the city actually improves your fuel mileage.

:werd: I did this on my Taurus and I never had a single tranny problem...the motor is strong enough to handle the extra rpm's