95 Ford Explorer 4x4 with 116,000. The trans just starting acting up. The symptom are; transmission clunks when down shifting, up shifts fine, cruises fine, trans OD indicator on dash flashes continously.
Ford dealer diagnosis is "Needs Transmission $2600.00" something about a cracked internal part.

Plan on taking it to a local recommended shop for 2nd opinion.

This is my sisters car, I'm just the middle man at this point. Is there any further diagnosis I can do on this? Has anyone seen this type of problem before?

Thanks, Pete

I also posted on the trans forum

 

The OD Light flashing indicates the PCM (Computer) has a stored error code about the tranny.

You can go to auto zone and they will read the code for you.

The clunk when downshifting is probably because the computer has raised the fluid pressure in the tranny because of the error "Cripple Mode"

if you don't want to get the code read then you can remove the positive lead of the battery for about 5 minutes to reset the computer and then see if the code comes back.

If it doesn't come back and the clunk goes away then I would immediately have you old fluid flushed and then have the pan dropped and filter changed (about $100.00 at auto zone or PEP boys)

You should try to get the error code read so you know what happened.

Don't trust the dealers. there goal is not to fix your car. there goal is to make money and do the big jobs.

 

Truck was just picked up from the dealer. According to the workorder the following DTC's were pulled
111 (system pass)
10 (separator code)
647 (incorrect gear ratio obtained for ord)

I believe these numbers are correct, they came from a fax that was tought to read.

At this time the trans service light is out (must have cleared codes) and the clunking/banging is gone. Will keep driving to see if problem re-appears. Also found out that this is not the original tranny. It was replaced by dealer under warranty. Would it be worth doing a fluid/filter change before going any further or does this sound like an electronic problem?

Thanks again

 

Sounds like your overdrive didn't engage when the computer tried to use it.

get the car to 60 mph. on flat ground you should be exactly at 2,000 rpm. If you deselect overdrive (by pressing the button on top of the shift selector) the rpm should go up to about 2300 (around there)

if you are not at 2,000 to begin with then you have a problem with overdrive or the torque convertor clutch not engaging.

If I had this problem (which is very common) I would just keep driving without the overdrive (you just need to keep the overdrive deselected so you don't keep getting error codes)

The reason the clunk is gone is htat when they cleared the error codes the computer put the tranny fluid pressure back to normal. The next time is gets a O/D error it will raise the fluid pressure again and the clunk will be back.



I would definetaly get the fluid flushed and the filter changed (PEP boys also adds a trans conditioner that might help) and see if it helps


What work was done on the tranny.

I can also tell you how to read the codes yourself with a jumper wire and looking at the check engine light If your interested

 

Make sure you get the old fluid flushed (not just the pan dropped)

It sounds like it might be a fluid problem. I doubt it is electric in nature

 

Thanks for all of the info.

I took it out last night and went thru the overdrive checking procedure. It appears to be working fine at this point. It's going to a reputable trans shop this week for a filter and fluid flush.

Hopefully this was just a freak fluid problem.

Thanks again and will keep you posted.

 

About a month ago I had a '00 Mazda B3000 whose OD light was flashing. It was upshifting very late and very hard. It also wouldn't downshift on it's own.

I was told that the 'valve body plate' was cracked and the fluid wasn't moving around like it should. They replaced the entire transmission.

I traded it for an '03 Sport Trac two days later. Not necessarily because of the transmission, we had been considering a trade for quite some time.

 

When you run diags on a 95, you need to engage and disengage the OD during the diag process. Every couple of months, the OD light on my 95 comes on, I pull the codes, and nothing. I reset through the reader and it's good for another couple of months. The hard shifting you referred to is when the OD light is blinking, the computer puts the trans into 'cripple' mode which forces hard shifting.... not good for a trans. I'll be very interested to see the results of the fluid change that you are going to have done. Please let me know how you make out. Our mileage is about the same

Mike
mroettger1@comcast.com

 

marragtop, been almost a year since your post on this, but have you figured out the problem. I had the O/D light flashing problem and eventually O/D went out all together. I had the tranny rebuilt and have been working with the tranny shop ever since to get it right. have changed out the valve body a couple of times. O/D light is still coming on, but gives no error codes when hooked up to scanner. The scanner resets the code and then O/D light stays off for about 5 miles and then comes back on and puts tranny into "criple" mode. Computer/Sensor issue???