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Driving home tonight, the overdrive indicator on the shift lever started blinking on my '97 Ford 250 diesel SD. I also noticed fairly "hard" shifts. I checked the Trans fluid, it was normal color, & full, also just warm, not at all hot. Transmission temp guage read the normal +-140 degrees. What could this indicate?
Best bet is get the tranny codes read. Then post them here.
Usually, when the OD light flashes and you get harsh shifting, the sensors are telling the computer that the tranny clutches are slipping. The computer raises the pump pressure to "bandaid" the problem. This causes harsh shifting.
You need to diagnose the problem soon. If the clutches are slipping, the damage will only get worse over time.
Could be something simple like a bad or out of adjustment sensor. Or it could be the converter clutches or tranny clutches going.
When the OD light flashes it means something is wrong with the transmission. It doesn't always mean a clutch is slipping, that's just one of about 50 things that can go wrong and make the light flash.
The only way to know what's wrong is get the codes read.