Lights flashing: 4WD & O/D Help!

[C Jeff]

Last night my 4WD and over drive lights started flashing.
I have a 95 with the control trac 4WD and I turned it on yesterday afternoon and about a minute later both 4WD light flashed 5 times and went off. I tried turning it off and then back on and nothing happened. When I got to a traffic light I turned it on again and it worked, but anothe 1 to 2 minutes later they started flashing again and went off. A little later I tried 4LO and it worked for about 1 minute and again the lights flashed 5 times and went off, but I was still in 4LO, but it felt really weird and the RPM's were over 3000 at about 10MPH and then to top it all off the over drive light started flashing and it doesn't stop. I called a Ford dealer this morning and for $119.00 they would be happy to hook me up to a computer to possibly llet me know what might be wrong. I am hoping someone here has had this kind of problem and can guide me to a quick resolution.

 

[Lifted95X]

Usually the O/D light flashing means it's time for a tranny rebiuld.

 

[C Jeff]

That's not what I wanted hear this early in the morning, but thanks for the response.

 

[Lifted95X]

It's happened to me twice so far. Sorry.

 

[C Jeff]

What did you pay for the rebuild on the tranny?

 

[Lifted95X]

around 2100.

 

[C Jeff]

Well you really know how to brighten my day! I wonder what part the flashing 4WD lights have in my dilema?

 

[dwnthehatch]

It happened to my old 97 sport and my 98 expedition. In both cases it was a faulty speed sensor.

 

[C Jeff]

Is what happened on your 97 & 98 indicated by the 4WD & the O/D lights flashing and did you fix it yourself or have it done? Thanks

 

[Robert]

There are so many different things that can cause the lights to flash that your only real solution is to get the codes read. It could be as cheap as a faulty speed sensor in the transfer case (about $50) to a tranny rebuild (about $2200).

For what it's worth, the OD light flashing may be related to the transfer case (which could be just a faulty speed sensor). I have my transfer case shift solenoid disconnected while I do some mileage studies. This results in my High/Low lights flashing. Last weekend I decided to see if it would shift into Low. I wasn't expecting it to but I was having a hard time driving up my ramps without pushing them around my garage floor. I switched it into Low, and as I expected nothing happened. I switched it back to Auto and gave up. When I started it back up after my oil change, my Low light was on, but it wasn't in Low. I figured that once I started driving it would clear the Low light and go back to flashing the High/Low lights in unison since my connector was still disconnected. As soon as I started driving down my street, I noticed that my transmission revved way up before shifting. After the first shift, my OD light started flashing with the Low light still on. I pulled over and restarted it but nothing changed. I disconnected the battery to reset the shift solenoid home position so that the computer didn't think it was in Low anymore. I think what happened was that since the GEM (General Electronics Module) thought I shifted it into Low but my PCM (Powertrain Control Module) wasn't seeing what it expected to see it tought there was a fault with the transmission. You can always try disconnecting the batter for a few minutes. The lights may go away. If they come back, then there is something wrong and it has been detected more than once.

 

[C Jeff]

Here is where I currently stand. I took it to AAMCO this morning and had them hook it up and they got a few codes one of them being a bad ratio for second gear and when the looked in the tranny pan there were a lot of metal shavings. I also noticed on my way there the EX was not shifting into overdrive. So right now they are dropping the tranny out to open it up and see how bad it is. I know I am going to be spending money I don't have and that really sucks!

 

[Robert]

Metal in the tranny + no overdrive = tranny rebuild

Just did it to my Wife's Sable a few months ago. Money I wasn't prepared to spend either.

 

[taxx]

sorry to hear about your luck. Let us know what they find.

 

[C Jeff]

What are some opinions of me buying a used transmission and putting it in myself?

 

[dwnthehatch]

Originally posted by C Jeff
Is what happened on your 97 & 98 indicated by the 4WD & the O/D lights flashing and did you fix it yourself or have it done? Thanks

Both the lights were flashing. I took it to the dealer and the replaced the sensors under warranty. If I remember right, the faulty sensor was telling the computer that the rear wheels were slipping and was causing the 4wd to kick in.

 

[taxx]

I wouldn't think it would be too bad to just pull it out and put in a replacement. Everything will just bolt right back together (in theory)

 

[C Jeff]

Well the verdict is in and it is going to be $2300 to fix. The torque convertor blew and sent metal all over.
I guess this means no more mods for quite a while.