OD light flashing

[Bill_52]

OverDrive light flashing

The Overdrive light on my sons Explorer (95) has started blinking... It seems to run good and he tells me it somestimes kicks in and out of OD.... I have checked other places and sounds like a trans rebuild is not the problem.... Whew... he is in the military and depends on his Explorer to come home and I wont let him until this problem is fixed..... He has not been able to take it to a shop and get the failure code off the computer yet... I am just wondering if anyone has encountered this problem and their solutions... If this helps... it didnt start acting up till he drove over something.... I have asked him if the trans pan is dented and waiting to hear back from him on that.....

Thanks for your help
Bill

 

[marragtop]

This is not too uncommon on the 95's. When the OD light starts blinking, the trans goes into 'cripple/limp' mode which results in hard shifting. Tell him to disconnect the battery for 5 minutes which will reset the computer and the blinking light should go out. If it comes on again (right away), he needs to get it checked out. On my 95, the light comes on about every year or so. I've pulled codes to no avail, and resetting the computer has always resolved it.

 

[Bill_52]

I know he has disconnected the battery an let it set for a couple hours while he was on ship... when he came back and reconnected it the light came back on in about 10 minutes....
I appreciate the reply... thanks

Bill

 

[marragtop]

With that being the case, he should pull the codes.

 

[Bill_52]

I have heard that replacing the PCM (computer) has done the trick..... was just wondering if anyone has experienced that too as a fix.......

 

[Lifted95X]

nope...usually something bad in the tranny. Take it from me...I am on #4.

 

[vinson]

I have had this before, it can be a number of things, transmission valve seals are blowin, or bad solenoids which keep the torque converter from either locking or unlocking

 

[Bill_52]

Well I think the mystery has been solved..... My son did a minor trans tune.... replace filter and fluid.... and he found a couple good chunks of metal in the pan..... oddly enough when he put it back together with the new filter it still ran.... and the light kept on blinking.... he went to a transmission shop to see what those pieces could be and come to find out the pieces of metal he found belong to the 2nd gear band.... so it looks like its time for a rebuild....
I want to thank those again that replied.... you helped a serviceman in need.... smiling.....

Thanks again.....
Bill

 

[diddysBLKsport]

This is not too uncommon on the 95's. When the OD light starts blinking, the trans goes into 'cripple/limp' mode which results in hard shifting. Tell him to disconnect the battery for 5 minutes which will reset the computer and the blinking light should go out. If it comes on again (right away), he needs to get it checked out. On my 95, the light comes on about every year or so. I've pulled codes to no avail, and resetting the computer has always resolved it.

I hope I did this right...Anyways I had the same problem and unpluged the battery for about 10 mins and it came back on after a short drive...Since I have about 130,000 on my 95 sport 4x4, I decided to unplug the battery and then drop the trans pan and changed the filter and the fluid just in the pan (bout 4-5 quarts)... this is all i did reconnected the battery and I have driven for the past 4 months and so far no problems.... hope this helps...

 

[Boda]

When my 96 started blinking I needed a rebuild shortly after. Good luck

 

[GTO2050]

My 96 was doing this and $1500 later, after a tranny rebuild, it turned out to be a worn OD drum in the tranny. It never did throw the code for that but I saw it with my own eyes. No problems since the rebuild and that was 20,000 miles ago.

 

[tenikiwon]

1997

Mine did this during a cold, cold, Wisconsin evening during a 1.5 hr trip. Then next day it went away and didn't come back until I starting towing my Zuk. I was on the highway for about 30min with the Zuk in tow when it stated. Continued my trip (another 1hr) let it sit overnight. Drove to my wheeling spot (1 hr) then home 2.5 hrs with no light.

On my way to VIrginia towing it, it came on while still in WI and stayed on the entire trip. A few days later I started it up, light was blinking and quickly went away. About a week after I got to VA I drove for 1 hr and it came one after about 30-45 min but didn't do it on the return trip the next day.

I have owned the X since 60k miles and have about 160k on it now. I have never changed the fluid and have done quite a bit of off-roading and water crossings. I assume I need a new tranny soon, but was wondering what could 'cause it to trigger the light. Does this show a code a normal scanner for looking at CEL codes would show or is it a special one?

I current guess is that the fluid is not cooling and it's creating too much pressure. The underside appears to have some wetness (as if the vent is allowing fluid out).

Could I be lucky enough to get a few more miles with clean fluid? Or should I just drive it to a tranny shop while I still can?

 

[kf4nxs]

I have a 96, I had it rebuilt in 04 or 05. A week later I had an issue where it felt like it wanted to take off in 2nd. I took it back to aamco they ran a code test on it, said it was wrong gear ratio. He cleared it and told me if it done it again to bring it back. Well a year and a half later it started acting up again, and of course its out of warranty. It done it again, I cleared the codes and it was fine for a long time. Now after driving for 20 or so miles it starts flashing, rpms rise a bit. I can push the OD button and it will down shift, push it again it up shifts. Sometimes it still wants to take off in second, sometimes it will kick down in first and shift through all the gears. When it wants to take off from second I can shift it in First and it takes off fine. With all I have read, a number of things can be wrong. I am going to get the codes read again and post back later.

 

[kf4nxs]

ok codes are read, and there is a list of them.
0731
0732
0734
0741
0751
0761
and lastly 1783 which come up as over temp on the trans on the reader.
So am I lucky enought to get away with the noids or is it a rebuild?

 

[drdoom]

Rebuild, valve body, and converter.

 

[kf4nxs]

rebuild the valve body or whole tranny rebuild

 

[koda2000]

Just remember it's almost NEVER the PCM. These things are solid state so unless you short something major out or get one wet what's to go wrong? I used to work in an auto parts store and I've had more than a few customers come in wanting to buy a new/reman PCM. I'd always try to talk them out if it because electronic parts couldn't be returned and even a cheap reman PCM was over $100. Of course, if the customer really wanted one I'd sell him one. Invariably they'd be back saying that didn't fix their problem and asking what t do next. One poor guy ended up spending over $1,500 (and about a month w/o the use of his truck) replacing parts on his Dodge truck only to find out the problem was a blown fuse. As such the PCM is the last thing to suspect. My advise is to take a deep breath, pull your codes, do diagnostics, THINK and start with the cheaper parts first.