Hello,

I have a question about the overdrive unit on my 83 245 (M46+ transmission). The overdrive unit has been giving me trouble for some time now and finally now it just won't work. The problem is not in the relay or wiring, this I know for sure. The overdrive recently started to slip in and out. Kind of like an automatic transmission will do. I would engage the OD and watch my tachometer drop a good bit, but as soon as I would try to accelerate, it would slip back to about where it was just in 4th. Sometimes it would do this and then after a while go "clunk" and it would be locked into OD just fine.

However, now it won't do anything. I tried testing the solenoid by connecting 12 volts to it and nothing happens (no kick or anything). I checked continuity with the ground and that is perfect. So...bad solenoid, it would seem.

My question is whether this could have been making the OD "slip." My intuition tells me no, I need to replace other things in the OD unit like seals. But it does make me wonder if possibly the solenoid was not engaging fully and that was causing the slip.

Any thoughts? I do not know that much about the OD units, so I thought I would ask and see if anyone out there does. I kind of hate to spend the kind of money it would take to rebuild the OD unit, especially considering the solenoid is no good (those guys ain't cheap!), although I do drive a lot on the highways, so the OD would be a very good thing to have. Maybe I should just look for an used unit?

Thanks to everyone out there in advance.
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Charles Moore
 '83 245 DL 265k
 '84 244 DL 160k
 '87 245 DL 443k