I recently bought a '98 Exporer that has a small problem......
The O/D OFF Light flashes intermitently! I took it to the dealer to have the prblem diagnosted only to pay them $85 to tell me the transmition fluid is dirty and in need of service! They also told me that there may be internal damage that wouldn't be noticed till the fluid was changed! I took the car to my mechanic, had the filter and oil changed. This solved the problem for about two weeks and now the light is starting to flash intermittenly again. The tranny doesn't seem to be sliping....any ideas, anyone?
Thanks in advance for your reply

 

I have a '95 explorer. one day on my way home from work my transmission started slipping like crazy and the o/d light starting blinking on and off.

I took it to a good transmission shop and they explained what had happened.

the o/d light flashing indicates an error code involving the transmission has been reported to the OBDII (OnBoard Diagnostic computer).

They hooked up the computer to the car and showed me the message. It read out in plain english "2nd gear did not engage". The transmission slipped every time it tried to shift into 2nd gear.

The OBDII also had a diagnostic mode which ran the car through a few tests and reported a ton of information (this test is fun to watch. the wipers come on by themselves. the windows open. the washer comes on and so forth). Because of this I was also able to tell that My MASS AIR FLOW sensor was bad.

The transmission ending up costing me $3,000 to have rebuilt. I know you don't want to hear this

The owners manual says that if the o/d light blinks you better get the car to a good repair shop fast.

Your car doesn't sound as bad as mine, But if I was you I would get my car to someone who has the capability of hooking up a computer to the car and doing the same test I had done before your transmission does go completely south.

If the dealer you brought it to did not hook the computer up that day then I would go somewhere else. These transmission are controlled through electronic speed sensors and maybe one of the sensors is going bad.

Make sure you get to watch the computer messages that come up.

your car is getting an error message, otherwise the o/d light would not flash. I would distrust any mechanic who refused to show me the message on the computer as it comes up. I bet is a minor problem that the wrong guy would gharge you an arma and a leg for


Good Luck

 

Something you can try before doing anything else, is disconnecting your battery for about half an hour. Sometimes your tranny sends the wrong info to your computer and makes it do weird things. Disconnecting you battery will reset your computer settings and shift points to normal. Try this and let me know how it goes.

 

I wouldn't try the battery disconnect yet. If you get someone to hook up the computer you might be able to find out what the computer "thinks" is wrong.

I you reset now and lose the error message the next time it comes in might be when your transmission really fails