Is it okay to shift gears while car is moving?

RLYNN0529

MEMBER
2003 FORD TAURUS
4WD
AUTOMATIC
90,000 MILES

I have the car listed above SES, and I'm wondering if I can shift from overdrive to drive and vice versa while the vehicle is moving? Someone told me that doing that will mess up my transmission. I drive up into the mountains frequently and was also wondering which gear is the best for going up steep hills, my car has overdrive, drive and #1?

Friday, October 8th, 2021 AT 12:19 PM

1 Reply

SQM

MECHANIC
6,383 POSTS

Hello,

You can go from drive to overdrive and vice versa, while the vehicle is moving, safely.
This is part of standard operations for the vehicle.

When you are going up steep grade and vehicle seems to be struggling you can take it out of overdrive and put it in drive. This will allow the transmission to go to a lower gear and provide more power.

I have attached the standard operations for the gear selector (look below)
Please let me know of any questions.
Thank you.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-service-an-automatic-transmission

Images (Click to make bigger)