# "O/D off button"



## bender031 (Aug 30, 2005)

My 2005 pathy is going in for service and i have an issue i want looked at. 
first off i know how the od button works, pressing the button, the light comes on and overdrive is turned OFF keeping the rpms higher. well mine has been doing the opposite. driving (down a hill at approx 45 mph) i push the button to turn OFF od to engine brake, (rpms should rise) well mine drop, sort of as if the button is "inverted" my car does shift into overdrive on the highway but it seems like around town it is getting confused, it has happened on numerous occasions but i am sure when i take it to the dealer it wont do it...sounds like a computer control glitch to me. does anyone have any insite as to how i can describe or duplicate it once it goes to the dealer? Anyone experience this?


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## jzhu (Dec 11, 2005)

From my experience with my '05 LE, I find that when I'm coming down a hill, the car senses it and drops to the next lowest gear automatically, reving higher and gives me just the right amount of engine breaking that I need. In my opinion, unless the situation is severe, there is little need to do much manual operation with this car, it practically thinks and adapts to situations for you.


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## Zilverado (Sep 25, 2002)

jzhu said:


> ...there is little need to do much manual operation with this car, it practically *thinks * and adapts to situations *for you*.


That's kinda scary if I think about it. Around where I live the last thing we need is more "thought-less" drivers....


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## bender031 (Aug 30, 2005)

Yeah that is a good thought, but why would pushing the button drop the rpms then id think it shouldnt do anything if its already downshifted...i am glad to hear yours seems to downshift on hills as well... just doesnt seem normal to me. i have until monday to try to narrown down my thoughts on this, anyone else have any input or experience?


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## Xeno (Oct 5, 2005)

bender031 said:


> My 2005 pathy is going in for service and i have an issue i want looked at.
> first off i know how the od button works, pressing the button, the light comes on and overdrive is turned OFF keeping the rpms higher. well mine has been doing the opposite. driving (down a hill at approx 45 mph) i push the button to turn OFF od to engine brake, (rpms should rise) well mine drop...


1: OD is 5th gear on the '05 PF.
2: At 45MPH you PF should not be in 5th gear, so pushing the button will do nothing.
3: If your engine RPM is dropping then it is because your going from 3rd to 4th gear. Again nothing to do with OD (5th gear).


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## boris (Apr 10, 2005)

Xeno said:


> 1: OD is 5th gear on the '05 PF.
> 2: At 45MPH you PF should not be in 5th gear, so pushing the button will do nothing.
> 3: If your engine RPM is dropping then it is because your going from 3rd to 4th gear. Again nothing to do with OD (5th gear).



The display lists it as 4th gear


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## jzhu (Dec 11, 2005)

Zilverado said:


> That's kinda scary if I think about it. Around where I live the last thing we need is more "thought-less" drivers....



Now that was just taken slightly out of context. Obviously it is better to manually downshift as situations warrant, but for situations that are not in the least bit hazardous, this vehicle does do a great job in preparing ASSISTING the driver. It's better than nothing after all. I'm sure there is a good percentage of the driving population that do not know what engine breaking and downshifting does, and for those, mechanisms like this that make it "thought-less" actually does more good than bad.

When O/D is off, it reads 4th gear. Meaning O/D (5th gear) is no longer accessible, therefore the highest gear you can reach would be 4th.


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## mtsman (Jun 29, 2005)

bender031 said:


> Yeah that is a good thought, but why would pushing the button drop the rpms then id think it shouldnt do anything if its already downshifted...i am glad to hear yours seems to downshift on hills as well... just doesnt seem normal to me. i have until monday to try to narrown down my thoughts on this, anyone else have any input or experience?


I have noticed on certain hills on 322, if I apply the brake, mine seems to downshift automatically, the rpms increase and the engine braking seems to slow my acceleration down the hill. Then if I gas a little while going down the same hill, it automatically shifts back up and the rpms decrease. I guess its shows 4 on the dash when it automatically downshifts,...I will look today.

However it does not downshift automatically on steeper hills where I may be going faster or slower and I apply the brakes. These are hills where I could use the engine braking. 

Now that I think about it, there have been a couple times, again going down certain hills, when I pressed the button to the off position and it did upshift and rpms dropped. I did not think too much of it but maybe this occured because the engine brake had already automatically engaged and I did not know it because I had the stereo turned up. Then when I switched the button it disengaged the automatic engine brake and gave me manual control. But then it should have downshifted again in manual control since the OD was off...? ? I will try and duplicate this today.


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## bender031 (Aug 30, 2005)

MTSman that is exactly what i am saying if it is somehow engine braking on its own, pressing the od off button should not drop the rpms (as mine does) it shouldnt do anything if it is already engine braking on its own. sounds like you may have experienced the same thing...

i dont have a huge problem with this if it is in fact how it is made to work, however, having had a 96 explorer with a very touchy transmission i'd rather not have this be a reoccuring problem and it give me tranny trouble later on.


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## Xeno (Oct 5, 2005)

boris said:


> The display lists it as 4th gear



The '05 has a 5 speed auto tranny. The last gear is always OverDrive.


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## mtsman (Jun 29, 2005)

bender031 said:


> MTSman that is exactly what i am saying if it is somehow engine braking on its own, pressing the od off button should not drop the rpms (as mine does) it shouldnt do anything if it is already engine braking on its own. sounds like you may have experienced the same thing...
> 
> i dont have a huge problem with this if it is in fact how it is made to work, however, having had a 96 explorer with a very touchy transmission i'd rather not have this be a reoccuring problem and it give me tranny trouble later on.


Ok. You are correct. I was able to duplicate it today.

Going about 40, I braked down a hill, it automatically downshifted, the rpms increased, HOWEVER I noticed the dash still said "D" not "4" and it actually slowed my acceleration down the hill. Then I pressed the button, the dash showed "4", it upshifed, the rpms decreased and my acceleration seemed to increase. Now I understand what you are saying. In fact the "automatic" engine braking seemed to slow the vehicle better than pressing the button and dropping it into 4 manually.

Now what the heck does that all mean....? Is it possible the automatic engine braking drops it into 3rd instead of 4th while still displaying "D"? It is possilbe it is electronically unlocking the Torque converter? What is occuring?


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## barnkim (Jul 19, 2005)

The 05 Pathfinders have downhill assist to a certain degree. Although on my SE it was an option, I think my car has some degree of it. When I start going down a hill and I think Im starting to go too fast, the engine automatically downshifts and keeps you from going too fast without having to brake. I dont mess with the OD off button unless I am going up hills. THat what its supposed to be used for.


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## bender031 (Aug 30, 2005)

barnkim- if you are talking about "hill decent control" offered on the se off-road that is a button activated feature for use when in 4hi or 4low at very low speeds. 

is there another feature you are refering to i am interested if you know more...

MTSman- awesome i am glad to hear you are experiencing exactly what i am. It sounds like it is not a "glitch" in my vehicle but more of just something i should get used to. An explaination of how it works would be enough for me from the service dept. hopefully i get a good answer. Gotta love the hills of PA right?

also something i observed on a trip last night, seems if you tap the brakes twice or so on hills is when it downshifts automatically. That was usually the case depending on the grade of the hill...


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## dustinshay77 (Nov 29, 2005)

I have an 05 LE, and live in FL...very flat. So I find all of this very interesting. I need to find a hill, and test these theories. =)

Kidding aside, if the 'intuitive' downshift doesn't satisfy you, then leave the OD button alone, and manually pull the level(gear shift) into 3.

When coming off the interstate exits, I sometimes like to coast down a bit instead of getting on the brake. This is flat ground, so coming from 80mph or so...the 'OD off' works well to pull my Pathy down into 4th gear, thereby slowing her down. If I want more, I down shift into 3.

It's all relative I suppose.


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