At idle my transmission temp guage will spike and my message board will read Check Guages. It will stay at max hot for 3-4 seconds then go back to normal. Now my engine light is on and is staying on. Transmission is operating normally as far as shifting is concerned. Truck has about 108K miles. Any ideas???

 

Sounds like it might be a bad temperature sensor. Normally, the temps change too slowly for "spiking". I guess it could also be your display that is having problems. Are you experiencing any other unusual display issues?

(As for the "Factory" transmission temp gauge, it is a glorified "idiot" light as its response is severly damped. Between 100-220F the needle will remain in the same position on the gauge. At 230F it will move up slightly to the middle of the normal range. At 250F it will move to Yellow. The gage moves to red at 280. This is supported on page 36 of the OBDII Theory and Operations manual. The tow/haul light will flash at 275.)

 

The tow/haul light will occasionally blink when the guage is spiked. The guage will spike sometimes under way but typically it is doing it at idle. I noticed it this evening while idling for a while and shut the engine off and it still did it when started again. This is the only time I have seen the engine light come on and stay on with this issue.

 

When was the last time you had your transmission flushed? Isn't there a thermostat in the transmission (lines) somewhere? Maybe it has failed? Keep us posted please.

 

It's not the thermostat. It's the temp sensor.

 

I just had it flushed at the Ford Dealership a month ago. This was happening before and after I had it flushed.