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95 Ford Taurus gear simple question.

Hello, I recently bought a used 95 Taurus. I didn't bother to ask the dealer the gear I should be driving the car. There is the Park, Reverse, Neutral, some drive with a small D, another D which is the same size as every other gear letter and last a 1. There is only one D letter that is small in size, all the other letters and number 1 is same size. I have been driving it around in the small D gear... I even drove it at around 65mph the other day. If that is the wrong gear would it damage the transmission in any way?

Please reply asap. Thank you in anticipation, regards, PRasad

Reply to
MK
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The small "D" is actually a "D" inside an "O"... and it stands for "Overdrive", which on the Taurus is 4th gear, the regular driving gear. The regular "D" is "Drive" - or 3rd gear on this car... Seldom used except to eliminate gear-hunting during towing or in hilly areas. OD will give best fuel economy.

Rob

Reply to
trainfan1

Actually, I have a question about that.

Many moons ago, I had an 87 Chev Caprice with a 305 and 4speed O/D. The dealer told me (as well as quite a few others) that I'd get much more mileage out of the transmission if I kept it in Drive in the city, and only toss it into Overdrive on the highway. I got into the habit with that car, and truth be told I've done it with every car since, including my current 97 Taurus GL 3.0 (Vulcan) sedan. Never seems to have hurt the transmission(s), I just don't know if the theory still holds true (longer tranny life if you keep it out of O/D except on the highway)

Reply to
Teknical

I should mention, that by "mileage out of the transmission" I meant longevity not fuel consumption :)

Reply to
Teknical

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