overdrive switch only works in park and D1

[BobCarter]

My overdrive switch decided not to work today. I tried to use it and got nothing. However, If I am in park it lights up, and if I am in D1 it lights up....but all others it doesn't work at all. Any ideas?

 

[BobCarter]

Well...I've figured out a little more about the problem. It will work, only if I pull back on the shifter (as if I were going to change gears). This explains why it works in D1 because all the way down in D1, the shifter is just about pulled all the way back. However, I still can't figure out what sort of switch there must be that isn't allowing it to work without pulling back on the shifter.

 

[Alec]

Sounds to me like a pinched wire or loose harness.

 

[twomedicine]

Try adjusting the tilt steering wheel too for testing a wire flexing fault of some sort.

 

[BobCarter]

You guys are good! I think we're gettin close, but not sure what to do now. I went and checked, sure enough, with my wheel at its lowest position, the o/d switch works perfectly. Unfortunately, I drive with it in the next to lowest position, and here, it doesn't work except if I pull back on the shifter. So it sounds like some sort of short or pinched wire, but where should I begin in physically examining it? Thanks again guys!

 

[twomedicine]

That's funny you found it works in the down position...now just lower your seat, don't adjust the tilt again and you are good to go

No, I don't know what else to tell you except that I had a similar problem with a car (Ford) of mine that lost its cruise control and I thought that the most likely thing to cause the problem was due to frequent use of the tilt wheel feature. I found I was right after opening up the steering column and found a stressed out wire

I cut and then soldered in a new section of better wire and was proud to have the cruise control working for the rest of that car's life (another 10yrs).

 

[BobCarter]

finally got around to looking into the problem. Took it all apart and found a severed wire inside the shifter stalk. Went to the dealer and popped in a new one. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[twomedicine]

Nice going, glad you could fix 'er