New way of 'clearing codes' ?

[kps36]

My son called me this am on his 95 Ranger w/77K on it. The dreaded 'flashing OD'. Well this being the first signs of tranny failure I called my tranny guy (more on him). We talked awhile, he said to clear the codes, to check and see if it was a 'tranny phart' (his words). I siad yeay yeah pull the neg cable. He said make it 'brain dead' by pulling both cables. touch the cables together, while together, turn on lights, hit the brakes a few times. Reconnect. This allows "ALL" residual charges to drain completely. FYI, he says, the GM PCM stores power to the GEM/PCM for up to 4 hours with the battery unhooked, only way to do it !

I'm gonna try it tonight and report back.

A big shout out to Tony Randall (no,not that one !) at Transformance in Charlotte,NC. Was recommended by Tarhill 4X4 here. Even though Tarhill speaks 'JEEPinese', they know TRUCKS!

later

 

[RTStork]

Is there any risk of damaging anything by doing this?

 

[TarHeel085]

hey KPS where is Mathews, NC never heard of there before.

 

[kps36]

I just got back.
I did the above, drove about 20 mi all types stop/go slow agressive stomp it OD OFF/OD ON the whole bit. Tranny feels fine, no OD OFF light, so far so good.
He said when the lite comes back on, maybe a day, maybe 6 mths. (he says he's seen this B4), give him a call, when the lite is on, and he will scan it for codes and try to pin down EXACTLY what may be the prob and we will take it from there. We'll see (borrowed time, I figure).
But the procedure worked fine.

 

[kps36]

same county as Charlotte, just southeast of Charlotte near the Union County Line.

 

[kps36]

Sorry ...correction... that is TarHEEL 4X4 in Charlotte.

 

[Bill Kemp]

Dont know if this will help with the OD light but its intresting.
Dead Link Removed

Good luck and thanks for the info....

 

[kps36]

Thax Bill. Those posts reflected what the tranny guy was tellin me. 'There's $700 of electronic 'stuff' inside that tranny, any any little burp somwhere, possibly anywhere, can cause the condition'. That why he told me to reset the light, so far so good. That makes sense on a 95 Ranger, 4 cyl., 3.73 rear, hauls and tows 'NOTHING'. In fact my son has removed the tailgate for weight/mpg reasons. It is a sport truck, light duty.
Here's a thought, this happened one week after putting on Hella 500 driving lights. Hella 450 Fogs, Hella 500 Driving,and a major sound system which will cause a big time draw on the system.
Just sumpin' else to check out.
With an Ex and Ranger and the associated 'electrical' and 'emmissions' 'systems' I am very close to throwing it in on both !

 

[01EB5.0]

I was able to buy myself about 2 months each time i reset the battery. the third time, after 6,000 miles from the first flashing OD light...I decided to just give up and bring it in.