Hi all.
Can anyone advise me on the correct way to use a Fairey overdrive? I have a 1984 series 3 with a 200tdi and Fairey overdrive. Its got standard diffs but I do have 7.50 tyres fitted. The overdrive seems to be in good order and isn't noisy.
My commute to work takes me on about 10 miles of dual carriageway. Normally I use the 4 normal gears to accelerate and then engage overdrive at about 40mph. This seems to work well and the syncro on the overdrive seems happy enough to engage. When I get to my exit junction and start to slow down I usually disengage the overdrive and go back to using the normal gearbox. However as I'm changing down it seems to take a long time for the syncro to engage happily. It doesn't make any noises and there is no crunching as it engages, it just seems to take a while to happen - by which point I'm halfway up the sliproad and I've slowed down quite a bit so I'm having to accelerate again to keep up with traffic. I don't think there is anything wrong with the syncro as it does engage very easily at lower road speeds without any trouble.
My other option is to keep overdrive engaged and simply change down using the main box. However I have read that using 1st and 2nd with overdrive can cause excessive wear on the overdrive.
So, my question is. What is the correct way to use it? Keep it engaged, or use it as a 5th gear?
I appreciate this is probably common knowledge but your advise would be appreciated.
Cheers, Ric
Can anyone advise me on the correct way to use a Fairey overdrive? I have a 1984 series 3 with a 200tdi and Fairey overdrive. Its got standard diffs but I do have 7.50 tyres fitted. The overdrive seems to be in good order and isn't noisy.
My commute to work takes me on about 10 miles of dual carriageway. Normally I use the 4 normal gears to accelerate and then engage overdrive at about 40mph. This seems to work well and the syncro on the overdrive seems happy enough to engage. When I get to my exit junction and start to slow down I usually disengage the overdrive and go back to using the normal gearbox. However as I'm changing down it seems to take a long time for the syncro to engage happily. It doesn't make any noises and there is no crunching as it engages, it just seems to take a while to happen - by which point I'm halfway up the sliproad and I've slowed down quite a bit so I'm having to accelerate again to keep up with traffic. I don't think there is anything wrong with the syncro as it does engage very easily at lower road speeds without any trouble.
My other option is to keep overdrive engaged and simply change down using the main box. However I have read that using 1st and 2nd with overdrive can cause excessive wear on the overdrive.
So, my question is. What is the correct way to use it? Keep it engaged, or use it as a 5th gear?
I appreciate this is probably common knowledge but your advise would be appreciated.
Cheers, Ric