(Home) Overdrive - yes or no

I have only had my 2.0TD townie for a couple of weeks and was told when I purchased it that I would be better off leaving the overdrive switched on at all times.
However another source has told me to only use it when on a run as it uses more fuel to leave it on all the time.
Anybody else have any veiws on this ??? - (#212) Pete Bennett, 25 May 01

Sometimes when climbing steep hills, the 'box will "hunt" between 3rd and 4th- turning the o/d off locks it into 3rd.
Overdrive is just 4th gear, but it also locks the torque converter, which increases efficiency. Try accelerating gently from around 35- 45 mph. At a certain speed, you will notice the revs drop, and if you accelerate more, they will only rise in time with the road speed (about 38mph on mine)That's the converter locking up.
HTH - (#213) david miller, 26 May 01

THX david, Have been testing box on local trd/estate and have found that when o/d is switched on it seems to change to 4th and then a couple of seconds later it seems to drop another couple of hundred revs as if there is another gear. Do you think this could be a problem developing and should I be worried? - (#223) peter bennett, 27 May 01

No, totally normal, the drop in revs is the converter locking up. - (#226) david miller, 27 May 01