OD Tranny issues...

[The_Renegade]

I have a '91 XL 4x4 and after off-roading with some friends one night, my overdrive suddenly died, I can't start away from a stop without shifting into drive first but when I hit 60 km/h or so, if I shift into OD, it works fine until it drops under 60 again. I'm wondering if anyone knows what causes this or if anyone has experienced it and knows an easy fix short of tranny replacement... Thx in advance....

 

[Opera House]

In the OD section there is a one way clutch. All forward gears use this when you are in OD. The actual OD gear does not use this one way clutch. In DRIVE this is bypassed by the OD clutch, not to be confused with OD band which gives you OD. So driving around in DRIVE you actually have a stronger transmission.

So this is the reason that it works in Drive. The front end, OD section, is very easy to work on and doesn't require any special tools if you don't unbolt the pump. This one way clutch is damaged and possibly some other stuff. Still likely a very cheap repair if you do it yourself. About $100.