O/D Off light Blinking, no DTCs

[BustedKnuckles24]

Guys, I need some help.

My 2000 Explorer, Limited, with 4.0L SOHC and 5r55e transmission is misbehaving. On the way home last night, I noticed the transmission was not going into overdrive, and not locking up the torque converter. There were no lights on the dash at the time. When I got off the freeway, the O/D Off light began to blink on and off. I pulled over, shut off the truck for a few minutes, then restarted. The O/D Off light did not blink. I drove home with no issues. But, I did not exceed 45 mph, so I don't know if overdrive and torque converter lockup were still not working. Hooked up my CAN/ODB-II scanner, and got no codes.

Drove to work the next day, and turned O/D off. The light started blinking halfway to work. Had my code scanner with me, but, again, no codes. I shut down and restarted, then continued to work with O/D off and no issues. On the way home, ran normally, and, again, O/D off light begins to blink halfway home. Again, I pull over, shut it down, and restart it. Tried again to pull codes, and still nothing.

Am I going to have to wait until a DTC is set before I can diagnose this? I don't know if it is mechanical or electronic, but the transmission shifts smoothly, even with the O/D Off light blinking. I have no shutters, slippage, or hanging shifts. I'm at a total loss.

 

[JK080]

Your scanner may not be able to retrieve transmission codes on this particular vehicle. You may have to have it checked by someone who works on transmissions or get a better scanner. Auto Zone will check codes for free but a lot of the time they have problems with trans codes too.

If the OD light is flashing there is a code that is set, by your description of the problem and when the light starts to flash I would think that you are going to be dealing with a converter lock up problem.

 

[bandit11]

my understanding of the blinking od light is the trans is overheating, has it been serviced oil level checked etc, is the cooling system working ok, the list goes on.

 

[BustedKnuckles24]

[MENTION=210410]JK080[/MENTION], I have two, a CAN-ODB-II code reader from Innova and a scan tool that gives me live readings from the engine sensors. However, they may not read trans codes. I'll have to see if I can find a decent shop to pull those.

[MENTION=225246]bandit11[/MENTION], I forgot to mention that I checked the fluid level. It is fine, and the fluid is nice and red. No leaks and no signs of overheating.

 

[jagbucket]

service the trans oil and filter and have the pressure checked

 

[drdoom]

James is right, probably converter clutch related. Get it checked on a good scanner, my former boss read mine with a Snap-On SOLUS Pro, and sure enough that's what the problem was.