Below is a sketch documenting how I checked the over-drive relay after I lost the use of over-drive last winter. It follows a technique I’d seen posted on the Brick Board, probably by Dave Barton. It took a while to troubleshoot but I eventually sucked it up and got the $40 Over-drive Solenoid Bypass kit from IPD and it’s worked great since then.
UPDATE: Added photo of the bypass kit install at bottom of this post.
Finally pulled the glovebox out and checked the Overdrive Relay switch. It looks fine but, after trying Art Benstein’s test of the current at the relay, it didn’t give a response. I’ve read that the circuit boards often need to be resoldered, so I’m thinking I need to bust it open and check, before springing $43 for the part.
We drove down to Northern VA this weekend to visit my parents and had a chance to check out some museums in DC. Pulling onto the mall at 10:15 on a Sunday allowed us to park right in front of the Capitol, the National Gallery and the museum of the American Indian. It also gave me a great backdrop to photograph the brick with it’s new lowering springs.
The 4.5 hour ride down was quite pleasant. I’d been nervous about the stiffness of the springs but overall everything is fine. On long stretches of highway it felt about the same. The only problem is large dips and rises. The car doesn’t absorb them like it used to; you ride the full height and depth. Luckily there’s no bottoming out or shock crash-through, and no scrapping the exhaust on speed bumps.
I’ve been driving my wife crazy taking turns though. It’s so easy and precise to steer that you can lose a sense of your speed. Of course I was pushing the car a little, sending our case of Trader Joe’s Two Buck Chuck sliding around the trunk, and forcing Desiree to grab onto her seat. Fun!
But, as always, I’ve got a new gremlin in the car. No overdrive. It kicked out last week, so the whole drive was spent at 60mph in the right lane at 3200rpm. I gotta figure out if I want to check the OD solenoid, or just get the ipd bypass kit.