i have a 2000 F-250 powerstroke, my dealership told me when i was pulling heavy loads to always turn off overdrive. when i pull my 7000 lb boat down the intersate i am near 2900 rpms and that fuel guage seems to drop fast just wanted to know if i could put it into overdrive or will it kill the trany?
thanks

 

you should be able to use overdrive at highway speeds,I do

 

as long as the tranny isn't hunting for gears you should be fine

 

The dealer gave you bad info. In the owner's manual it says you can tow in overdrive unless the trans is frequently shifting in and out of overdrive. You won't have a problem with a 7000 pound trailer.

 

I pull very heavy loads with mine, only take it out of OD when going down steep hills. Thats just to save on my brakes.

 

OD is fine as long as it's not lookin through the gears all the time

 

Doesn't it not matter as long as the torque converter is locked and you're not burning up the inside of the tranny?

 

You can by all means use od when towing they recommend not to so you dont cook the tranny but thats it if its hunting for gears and heating up if you have trans temp gauge you can tell i pulled in od no problems

 

if the torque converter is locked (in my truck's case after 35mph) and it's still hunting for gears then keep it out of OD... it's still heating up the tranny a lot

 

high speeds will also generate a lot of heat

 

true but the tranny cooler at higher speeds should help lower that... and it's still less than constant shifting

 

a stock cooler has a hard time keep cool with a heavy load at higher speeds here in the bowels of frorida anyway

 

well florida's another story lol in jersey it's rare that my tranny temp goes above 180... during a normal day it hits tops 150-160... but that's empty... with lots of runs in the BIG tune...

 

if you use OD make sure you arent lugging the engine b/c you will get your egt to high

 

My 2002 F-250 7.3 automatic has a stock trans temp gauge, and it never moved above the normal unloaded mark, even while pulling over the smokey's a week ago, weather temps around 60's. Can I trust the stock gauge?