HankJones
New Member
- Joined
- February 18, 2010
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Richton, MS
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '95 Eddie Bauer
Hey guys - I am obviously a newbie on this board so please move this post to the right place if this isn't it.
This is my attempt to describe a problem and a fix, for the benefit of other people. I am going to tell the whole story out so that someone's search terms might come up, wherever they are in troubleshooting this process. Let's just say I am as pissed it took this long to figure this out as I am glad that I have done so.
I'm a proud owner of a 1995 V6 Eddie Bauer Explorer that I rolled (multiple times) into a field in a Utah snowstorm in 2005 and still drove it another 2000 miles the next two days. The insurance company totalled it, but I know it's in good shape and I'll drive it into the dirt or my grandkids will.
My only complaint has been a recurring quirk with my transmission, and as of tonight I've finally 'fixed' it. This may all be obvious to the pro's on this board, but I hope and pray that Google finds this thread so that I can save someone out there the time I have put into it. I haven't been able to find any help for this particular issue anywhere on the web.
The problem: every few (~12 to 18) months, for some reason that I still can't identify, my O/D light will start flashing and, when slowing to a stop, the automatic transmission shift from second into first becomes really harsh. The very opposite of a smooth shift. I thought I had a major problem the first time I saw this.
I went to one Ford place in California, they looked at the codes, and when they test drove it they couldn't detect any problems. None of the codes said anything about a problem with first or second gear. Indeed, the problem had gone away. Great!
The exact same thing happened the next time I went to the same Ford place. I was happy that it got 'fixed' so easily but not happy that this was recurring, inexplicable, and possibly harmful.
The next time, I got someone to ride with me first. They heard it and felt it. Still, no diagnosis but problem fixed. All in all, they just weren't very helpful in educating me further about the problem or really caring about a real fix. Too bad.
I moved to Mississippi and had my wreck on the way. I had another episode a few months later and took it to a Ford place there. They said that the code said I had a "3-4 shift error" - that there was a problem shifting from 3rd to 4th or vice versa, probably due to low transmission fluid pressure - and as a result the automatic transmission was going into "safety mode". I have since heard and seen this called Limp Mode also.
Limp Mode or Safety Mode is what was causing the rough shift from second to first. Apparently this is a feature to protect the transmission when something is going wrong. In my case, the original problem really wasn't all that bad but it sure felt bad at every stop after that until I took it to the shop.
The next time it happened, either due to web searching or perhaps a pro telling me - I wish I remembered - I found out that all I needed to do was "clear out the codes" to get out of Limp Mode. And, that any auto service place could do this. Awesome!
Unfortunately, when I took my '95 Explorer to a non-dealer service place, they were completely unsuccessful at getting a connection from the connector under the steering wheel, so they couldn't clear the codes for me. Neither could the next two places I tried. I had to go to the Ford place and pay them, yet again, $85 to assess this problem I'd now had almost a dozen times. This time, the service manager told me that for this code (and it looks like for all codes on the '95?), you have to use a connector under the hood.
I got out my Haynes repair manual that I bought years ago and found the instructions for clearing out the code. Here's the brief rundown for those without this book:
- The connector, unlike what it says in the book, is on the driver's side near the under-hood fuse box towards the battery.
- The connector has a slip cover on it so that you can pull out a large black connector and a small gray one.
- The black connector has a row of two small slots over a row of four small slots. This is where connectors would go.
- Unfold a paper clip to act as a jumper wire and connect the small gray connector to the right slot on the row of two (it'll be the topmost rightmost place to connect something, looking at the connector face).
- Get a voltmeter and put the negative lead in the second from the left slot in the row of four slots. The paper clip will already be stuck in, directly above the slot to the right of where the negative lead is now.
- Put the positive lead from the voltmeter on the positive terminal of the battery which is close by. You should read 12V on the voltmeter
- Get a friend to turn on the key. I found out you have to turn the key AFTER getting this all set up, which can be a hassle to keep connected.
- All sorts of abnormal beeps and whirrs are heard, and you should see the voltmeter reading start to swing. Eventually it will settle down into a rhythm. Once it does this, KEEP THE VOLTMETER CONNECTED and pull out one end of the paper clip.
- You're done!
You should be, as I was, greeted with the lovely treat of turning on the engine and NOT seeing that flashing O/D light, and doing it without paying anyone $85 or having to waste time at a service station.
Of course, if this is happening every day you might have a real problem and you need to take it in.
Whew! That was long, but this has been an ordeal. I hope this helps someone!!
- Hank
This is my attempt to describe a problem and a fix, for the benefit of other people. I am going to tell the whole story out so that someone's search terms might come up, wherever they are in troubleshooting this process. Let's just say I am as pissed it took this long to figure this out as I am glad that I have done so.
I'm a proud owner of a 1995 V6 Eddie Bauer Explorer that I rolled (multiple times) into a field in a Utah snowstorm in 2005 and still drove it another 2000 miles the next two days. The insurance company totalled it, but I know it's in good shape and I'll drive it into the dirt or my grandkids will.
My only complaint has been a recurring quirk with my transmission, and as of tonight I've finally 'fixed' it. This may all be obvious to the pro's on this board, but I hope and pray that Google finds this thread so that I can save someone out there the time I have put into it. I haven't been able to find any help for this particular issue anywhere on the web.
The problem: every few (~12 to 18) months, for some reason that I still can't identify, my O/D light will start flashing and, when slowing to a stop, the automatic transmission shift from second into first becomes really harsh. The very opposite of a smooth shift. I thought I had a major problem the first time I saw this.
I went to one Ford place in California, they looked at the codes, and when they test drove it they couldn't detect any problems. None of the codes said anything about a problem with first or second gear. Indeed, the problem had gone away. Great!
The exact same thing happened the next time I went to the same Ford place. I was happy that it got 'fixed' so easily but not happy that this was recurring, inexplicable, and possibly harmful.
The next time, I got someone to ride with me first. They heard it and felt it. Still, no diagnosis but problem fixed. All in all, they just weren't very helpful in educating me further about the problem or really caring about a real fix. Too bad.
I moved to Mississippi and had my wreck on the way. I had another episode a few months later and took it to a Ford place there. They said that the code said I had a "3-4 shift error" - that there was a problem shifting from 3rd to 4th or vice versa, probably due to low transmission fluid pressure - and as a result the automatic transmission was going into "safety mode". I have since heard and seen this called Limp Mode also.
Limp Mode or Safety Mode is what was causing the rough shift from second to first. Apparently this is a feature to protect the transmission when something is going wrong. In my case, the original problem really wasn't all that bad but it sure felt bad at every stop after that until I took it to the shop.
The next time it happened, either due to web searching or perhaps a pro telling me - I wish I remembered - I found out that all I needed to do was "clear out the codes" to get out of Limp Mode. And, that any auto service place could do this. Awesome!
Unfortunately, when I took my '95 Explorer to a non-dealer service place, they were completely unsuccessful at getting a connection from the connector under the steering wheel, so they couldn't clear the codes for me. Neither could the next two places I tried. I had to go to the Ford place and pay them, yet again, $85 to assess this problem I'd now had almost a dozen times. This time, the service manager told me that for this code (and it looks like for all codes on the '95?), you have to use a connector under the hood.
I got out my Haynes repair manual that I bought years ago and found the instructions for clearing out the code. Here's the brief rundown for those without this book:
- The connector, unlike what it says in the book, is on the driver's side near the under-hood fuse box towards the battery.
- The connector has a slip cover on it so that you can pull out a large black connector and a small gray one.
- The black connector has a row of two small slots over a row of four small slots. This is where connectors would go.
- Unfold a paper clip to act as a jumper wire and connect the small gray connector to the right slot on the row of two (it'll be the topmost rightmost place to connect something, looking at the connector face).
- Get a voltmeter and put the negative lead in the second from the left slot in the row of four slots. The paper clip will already be stuck in, directly above the slot to the right of where the negative lead is now.
- Put the positive lead from the voltmeter on the positive terminal of the battery which is close by. You should read 12V on the voltmeter
- Get a friend to turn on the key. I found out you have to turn the key AFTER getting this all set up, which can be a hassle to keep connected.
- All sorts of abnormal beeps and whirrs are heard, and you should see the voltmeter reading start to swing. Eventually it will settle down into a rhythm. Once it does this, KEEP THE VOLTMETER CONNECTED and pull out one end of the paper clip.
- You're done!
You should be, as I was, greeted with the lovely treat of turning on the engine and NOT seeing that flashing O/D light, and doing it without paying anyone $85 or having to waste time at a service station.
Of course, if this is happening every day you might have a real problem and you need to take it in.
Whew! That was long, but this has been an ordeal. I hope this helps someone!!
- Hank
