The O/D OFF light flashed briefly...

[WeirdArchives]

Okay, here's what happened.:

I was having some trouble with the automatic transaxle. It was shifting oddly. Then, suddenly I got a brief downshift and the O/D OFF light was flashing for about a minute. I thought the car was going to cronk out on me once and for all, but things were running all right aside for some rough shifting for a moment. Then as suddenly as it came, the flashing stopped and things were doing okay. I checked the manual and as far as I'm guessing it's the auto tranaxle. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Stats on car:
1997 Ford Contour with automatic drive. About 161300 miles on it. Still drives in spite of not replacing oxygen sensor.

 

[AliasJerk]

flashing OD light indicates a malfunction somewhere within the transaxel, check your trans fluid, make sure its still red, if its a different color that means its burn, you probably will want to get a trans fluid flush.

Without reading the code its impossible to tell you what it means, however, since you need a new O2 sensor I can only assume your check engine light is on, go and get those codes read from a local auto parts store, and post those codes here on CEG, we can interpret them, and there also could be a code being thrown for something related to your trans as well that dont know about. -

 

[FIND]

flashing OD light indicates a malfunction somewhere within the transaxel, check your trans fluid, make sure its still red, if its a different color that means its burn, you probably will want to get a trans fluid flush.

I hate to have to keep mentioning this, but burnt transaxle fluid cant just be flushed to get rid of a problem. If your tranny fluid is burnt then that means that the clutch packs in your transmission are burning out. Thats what burns tranny fluid. If its just dirty, then flush it, but burnt.... That means your tranny is on its way out.

Dirty transaxle fluid is a color other than red but still smells like tranny fluid, or maybe smells dirty if that means anything to you. Burnt transmission fluid usually takes on a brown hue and smells like burnt almonds.

Also to the OP.... Did your engine bog down as well when it downshifted like that? Where were you driving? on the highway, city streets, uphill, downhill?

 

[Tony2005]

1) Do a drain and refill 3x.
2) Check wiring to the VSS and TSS (and their respective connectors).
3) If the weather was very cold, chances are it was flashing until the engine/transaxle warmed up. The CEL P0715 probably came on for a TSS fault. Then the CEL code went away after a few drives. This is symptomatic of a failing TSS or wiring.

 

[andreslobo]

Listen to north dakota

Listen to north dakota

Draining and refilling trans oil 3x is not going to work for your issue, if the trans fluid is burned replacing it will just throw money down a rat hole, especially if you are at the point that the trans od light is flashing. If the oil is burnt, then trans time. Given the low value of these cars, you might want to look for a replacement car. We assume that you have checked that the oil is at the correct level, if not make certain it is correct before you do anything else. Then checking your wiring to the mpls, tss, speedo sensor on the trans will likely prove to be the cheapest and given your symptoms the most fruitful. If these don't fix your issue, then you may be looking at much more expensive items.

Best of luck

 

[zorrex]

Yes, changing the fluid CAN help the problem! The torque converter UTILIZES the fluid in order to make the car freaking go! If the viscosity of the fluid is FUBAR because it is getting burnt (which happens over time with normal wear), then the tranny won't function properly.

 

[FIND]

he hasnt actually stated whether the fluid is burnt or what, he just said it cut out on him and the OD light flashed, hasnt given any details other than the fact the transmission suddenly downshifted, which could be a number of things, like low line pressure in the valve body, or even a bad electrical connection sending faulty information to the PCM. Also for instance it could be a sign of a TPS going bad. Or like tony said earlier bad wiring to VSS, TSS, or TSS going bad. hell, it could even be that he bumped the switch on his shifter. I am not ruling anything out with more information.

BTW tranny fluid doesnt BURN over time as a product of normal wear. Burning tranny fluid is a sign that the clutches are worn out because that indicates excessive slippage of the clutch packs which generates high heat. You are thinking of what most people apparently confuse with burnt tranny fluid and that is just simply dirty or worn out fluid. The easiest way to tell the difference between burnt and worn out tranny fluid is the smell. When you find Burnt transmission fluid in a transmission, then the transmission is shot, but dont take my word for it, call a ford mechanic or any other local tranny guy if you want. Pour all the transmission fluid you want in a tranny thats full of burnt fluid, but dont complain to me about the money you wasted on making your tranny limp by for an extra week or so.

 

[jd2-98s]

I had this happen once about 5years ago, never had it happen again...