The Glade 4.0

I have no idea if this is even the right sub forum for this, but I figure it can be moved if it isn't. I'm also not really sure if we have any car people here, but I figure it's worth a shot since you guys have been pretty awesome in the past for various other things.

Our 2005 Kia Rio has an overdrive button that can turn overdrive on and off. That's always worked fine until recently where the car just goes in and out of overdrive for no apparent reason. The button isn't pushed, it just switches in and out. And it's not just the light coming on saying it is. It actually goes in and out. We are going to have to take it to a mechanic(obviously, but we need to save up a bit first), but I would still like to know if anyone here knows why it would be doing this or if you know of a way to fix it.

It is kind of a pain only having 2 working cars at the moment when three of us work. Getting the Kia back up and running would be fantastic and we just want to get as much info as we can before we let some unknown mechanic work on it(we haven't really had need of a mechanic until recently, so we don't have one we can trust here in Idaho like we did back in California). Thanks in advance. Feel free to move this to the proper subforum if this one isn't the right place.

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Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

Is "overdrive" on a Kia Rio something other than just 4th or 5th gear?

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If overdrive is off, it won't shift into 5th gear, but with it on, it will(or can, would be a better way to put it). It's supposed to improve gas mileage for highway driving. Apparently. But it keeps switching on and off without any input from the driver and makes for a rather rough ride.

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Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

That can't be good for the transmission, if it is actually shifting into 5th gear at inappropriate speeds.

I don't know much about the Kia, but I am not a fan of "push button" systems like that. Most likely it's an electrical/computer problem, and therefore... expensive.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

I think you need a visit from Emer.

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This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

My guess is you have a tooth chipped off a transmission gear somewhere and it is getting in the way. It might be fixable, it might need a new transmission, and they won't know until they get it apart. The good ones will tell you that. No matter, good or bad, they will try to sell you the new transmission sight unseen. A great mechanic might be able to pull it apart, locate the broken tooth, replace the gear, grind up what needs to be ground and put it all together cheaper than replacing it entirely, but you probably won't find one.

Between the cost of labor and parts, you will pay more to ask them to try and fix it first, then agree to replace it because the damage is already too severe to fix. If you ask them to replace it they will order the parts and then replace the dang thing without checking to see if they can fix it. It is faster and cheaper that way - usually. it is still going to cost a bundle.

Actually, with due respect to you, the Kia Rio was a piece of crap when you bought it, and it hasn't gotten any better. It was the cheapest car on the market for a good reason, they aren't reliable and they aren't put together well. Save the money trying to fix it and go buy a decent used car.

My two cents, its your car and your decision.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Why not just disable the overdrive so that you only use gears 1-4?

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This. Just turn it off. Its not going to save you *that* much gas. Even if you do a ton of freeway driving.

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Holy shitsnacks!

Not saying it is a bad idea, just asking you to tell Raltar how to do that himself.

Remember, it seems to shift itself, and I'm guessing this is a gearshift button.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Before I took it to a mechanic, I'd try to reset the codes. You might want to try disconnecting the battery for 15 minutes then reconnecting to see if the system resets. Another issue may be with the transmission control module; if it got wet inside or dirty, cleaning it may help. Good luck.

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

From what he's saying, the overdrive button *is* disengaged.

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

I'm not sure. If it's the case that the overdrive button is in a disengaged state, but will activate itself unwanted, that's going to be the electronics. However, simply engaging itself shouldn't present a problem at speeds below about 50-55 mph, I would think. I don't drive automatics, so I'm only guessing. Hopefully, like Vindi recommended, it's a simple reset of the controller. They can probably do that at Valvoline (I'd say Jiffy Lube, but we've got another thread...). If a reset won't do it, then hopefully the overdrive feature can be disabled in the controller. I suspect that, worst case, Raltar will need a chip replaced. I don't know how much that might run, but it's a lot less than transmission work.

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Probably an overdrive switch going bad IMO. I had an old car that the switch went bad in, and someone disabled it so the car worked 1-4. I never had it fixed, as I didn't plan to keep the car long and didn't want to shell out the high cost of having a new switch installed.

Yea, it's entirely possible it's just a defective switch, which should be fairly trivial to replace or bypass.

Make sure you trust whoever you take it to.

Battery doesn't hold a charge anymore, either. Just gonna take it to a mechanic on Monday and see what's what.

_________________
Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

Just pull out the rifle and put it out of its misery.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Shoot me a PM and I can give you my number. A bit more info is needed to get a better diagnosis. I'm sure I can find you a fairly local shop too that's reputable and can take care of you. It's a tranny shop you need, not a mechanic. With all things of that nature, you can get good and bad pretty easily. In the Transmission world it can get expensive pretty fast if you're not careful.