My 95 Ford 250 diesel intermittently drops out of cruise. It is happening now more often now than a couple of years ago. When this happens it is as if the torque converter is not working. If I change speed it slams from one gear to the next. Sometimes when this happens the OD light flashes on and off. This usually lasts for 5 or 10 minutes then it corrects itself and drives normal. Could this be the speed sensor in the differential, the barometer sensor under the dash, the solenoid pack in the transmission, or something else? Whatever it is how do I check to identify the problem and correct it?
Thanks,
Mac

 

Have you pulled the codes? They might point to the cause of the problem.

 

Check the codes as said above.

 

Yes it could.
Yes it could.
Yes it could.
Yes it could.
Take it to someone that can read the codes that are stored. The places that read codes free CANNOT read these codes. You need either a good independent shop or a Ford dealer. And it isn't going to be free.

 

Thanks for the assistance.
Mac

 

that would tick me right off not being able to get my own codes.
i would swap in a psd ecm for a manual trans,this way it's engine would be taken care of,then swap in an older idi e40d controller and make quick work of that nonsense.
id still be stuck without the ability to pull codes for my own engine i guess,but id get my trans codes.

 

A $10 bluetooth elm327 usb or bluetooth OBD2 adapter, your laptop and the free ForScan software will be able to pull your codes. Look under your dash, the OBD2 port will be there.

 

You said the speed control cuts out and then the transmission hard shifts ,most likely the psom is failing. I've had the same issue on my E350.

Even though the speedometer appears to be working fine on the needle and odometer,but is not sending out the correct speed information to the ECU causing speed control and tranny to act up.

 

Would a '95 F-250 diesel be OBD2? I'm thinking half ton gassers didn't go to OBD2 until '96, and I know that the F-250HD and F-350 gassers didn't go to OBD2 until '99 (except in California when they switched with the half tons in '96).

I don't know about diesels, but it doesn't seem like they'd have switched that much before the gassers.

 

All Powerstrokes have an OBD2 port, even the 1994.5 trucks.

 

It looks like a OBD2 port, but it is not.
I do not think it has a name like OBD1 or 2.
You need a New Generation Star (NGS) scan tool to read the codes.
I have not heard of anything else reading the codes.

 

It is an OBD2 port, and it will work with the above combination I posted. Some early trucks, like the 1994.5 and some '95s did not have the port enabled from the factory, but a dealer update flash update will enable it.