Overdrive

[StudeRich]

Sorry, but that SHOULD never happen when Jump Starting a Car with a Jumper Cable!
Increasing the Amperage will not affect anything except spin the Starter better.

Pulling the O.D. Handle out (or pushing in) should have NO electrical effect at all, it is all Mechanical when Parked.

I am sure everyone understands about the Push Starting (which should never be done anyway).
Obviously you have no Compression, only freewheeling when O.D. handle is IN below 32 MPH, so no one would knowingly try to push start a Car in O.D.

[Chris Pile]

Maybe it shouldn't (according to you), but that IS what happened to me. And when I mentioned it to the previous owner, he laughed and said, "Yup. Gotta turn off the OD first".

[altair]

I don't think for all practical purposes you can get six speeds from an over drive. I had wired a Dodge with a Borg Warner three speed with over drive and I could only realize 5 forward speeds. Getting it in to first gear over drive is almost impossible with out risk of throwing a rod. The process would be first gear conventional, second gear conventional, second gear overdrive, top gear conventional then into top over drive and that only adds up to 5. An additional note about freewheeling, if there is continuous back pressure on the system while proceeding down hill the overdrive will continue to offer back pressure even under 28 - 30 mph, it will not jump out and start to freewheel until the pressure is released. Down a long grade if you accelerate in overdrive to over 30 mph then decelerate the back pressure will continue to hold even under 30 mph, however if you just touch the throttle it will kick out and start to freewheel.

[StudeRich]

I can see that clearly, our often said here Phrase needs to be said in this case: "Your experience MAY be different"!

That is because both Chris Pile and altair had/have Cars that do not operate as designed.

Overdrive Studes. wired through a Governor and a kickdown switch properly do not function this way.
When decelerating down from above 32 MPH in Overdrive as altair says, there would be some "engine holding", slowing BUT when you go below about 28 it should "drop out" and coast in either 2nd. or High.

I am thinking that Chris's Car may have some kind of "Manual Toggle Switch" incorrectly installed or seriously crossed or miss-connected wires, or NO kickdown switch.

[ddub]

[QUOTE=altair;1087925]I don't think for all practical purposes you can get six speeds from an over drive.

The OD governor failed on my Champ so I bypassed it with a toggle switch under the dash. When I flipped the switch I could be in OD. I was able to switch to 1st OD at 5 mph if I wanted too. Not very practical.

"I am sure everyone understands about the Push Starting (which should never be done anyway).
Obviously you have no Compression, only freewheeling when O.D. handle is IN below 32 MPH, so no one would knowingly try to push start a Car in O.D."

When I was 15 my mother towed me around the neighborhood in a 40 Champion trying to compression start it. Guess what.

[Tom Bredehoft]

Early on, I bought a '50 LC, 3 speed OD from a dealer who had kept his demonstrator as his personal car. It was loaded. The only options that it didn't have were the hideous tubular bumper guards. Anyway,

It had a rotary switch on the shift lever with a wire to it. If you rolled the switch forward (or was it backward) the car would stay in OD 100%. No reverse, but for normal town/country driving it just stayed in OD. This was in northwest Ohio, no hills to speak of, and the car worked well in either mode.

I've never heard of this switch, other than my own experience, and wondered where it came from. I always, (until I joined SDC and found otherwise) considered it to have been an option. If memory serves we did have to turn it off and pull out the OD handle for push starts.

[Chris Pile]

I am thinking that Chris's Car may have some kind of "Manual Toggle Switch" incorrectly installed or seriously crossed or miss-connected wires, or NO kickdown switch.

There's your problem! You were thinking!

If I still owned the car, I'd take a picture of the STOCK OD knob on the dashboard. I was the 3rd owner of the '49 Champion Sedan.

[oilnsteel]

When I was a teenager i found it was entirely possible, but not advisable, to get into 1st gear overdrive.

JT

[Dwain G.]

Those aftermarket overdrive controllers were fairly popular in the late '40s-early '50s. Here's an ad for one style...

[cadill]

When I'm in overdrive, I can't put in reverse unless I turn the car off. Is this typical?

[TWChamp]

When I'm in overdrive, I can't put in reverse unless I turn the car off. Is this typical?

I assume you mean the overdrive handle is pushed in and you are stopped. Then you should be able to shift to reverse with no problem.

If you are stopped and the overdrive handle is pulled out, can you then shift to reverse OK?

[Lou Van Anne]

Me too.......

I leave my Champ in overdrive all the time.

[S2Deluxe]

When I'm in the mood, there are six forward gears.

jack vines

I don't think for all practical purposes you can get six speeds from an over drive.

When I was a teenager i found it was entirely possible, but not advisable, to get into 1st gear overdrive.

JT

This is something I also attempted, successfully once. In my late teens, with a completely original '54 Commander Starlight. I just held it to the floor, until the speedometer needle was past the same point, after which it would kick in, in second or third when the throttle was released. I had been told that this was possible, by both Carl and Herman Thoms and neither had ever been wrong about anything concerning this car! I was also told, it would require RPMs slightly in excess of 4,000. Without a tachometer in the car, it's pretty intimidating, if you don't want to destroy the engine and you don't know if it's capable of the required RPMs. But, yes as far as I am aware, all Studebaker factory installed 3 speed Overdrive transmissions are capable of utilising 6 different forward gear ratios and I also believe these ratio specifications are shown in the respective shop manuals.

Mark

[gordr]

No. As long as you come to a full stop after driving forward. you can shift into reverse with the OD handle pushed in. But wait! You said your car has an aftermarket manual switch controlling the overdrive? If that is the case, then, no, you cannot engage reverse while that switch is in the overdrive position, regardless of road speed, or lack thereof. Which explains why the factory setup didn't use a manual switch. They made the function automatic, with several electro-mechanical logic controls to ensure that such things could not happen.

[cadill]

I assume you mean the overdrive handle is pushed in and you are stopped. Then you should be able to shift to reverse with no problem.

If you are stopped and the overdrive handle is pulled out, can you then shift to reverse OK?

Yes, when not in overdrive but when in overdrive and stopped cannot pull out handle unless I turn the car off. Thanks for the response.
Frank