Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Overdrive light flashed

And yes I did search before posting, but found nothing exactly to my problem. Alright, last Wednesday it was snowing in the morning on the way to work. Got like a mile from work the the o/d light blinked a couple times then went off. I clean houses and I use my own personal car for it (which sux). On the way to the first house, didn't blink. On the way to the second house, didn't do it. On the way home, started doing it again, but did it continuously all the way. The trans wasn't slipping or grinding or anything like that. Also noticed the car was a little jerky when I was going 35-45 mph. So I decided not to drive it till today. Today taking my son to school, didn't blink and wasn't jerky. Trans was still shifting smoothly. One thing I noticed today was I bottomed out on some snow down a side street and my radio went out for a split second. Which made me think, I bottomed out on some snow when my car started acting goofy. I know it could be either one of two sensors or the actual trans itself (which I don't believe since it shifts smoothly), so could it be something maybe with the wireing harness or something electrical? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Could still be the tranny goin. Hard to tell sometimes. But definitely could be a sensor. See if you can get a code outta it. But less u got some obd2 software, that can cost a lil.

Generally, the flashing O/D light means that the ECM has detected a failure with something in the tranny. Most often, this is a sensor, but can be something mechanical or hydraulic. It's really hard to pin down.

What I would do, is continue driving the car and see if it (flashing O/D light) happens again. If it does, take it to a tranny shop or a shop that you know of that can hook a OBD-II scanner to your car and "read the data stream while driving it". This is the only way to find out what the flashing light actually means.

The jerkiness that you noticed is normal, after a flashing overdrive light, because the ECM goes into "Limp Mode" (aka Fail Safe). This limp mode program, in the ECM causes the tranny to run the line pressure a lot higher than normal. This higher line pressure is what causes the jerking. But it's actually not jerking, just engaging the clutch packs alot firmer than normal.

Best of luck!

Thanks for your response. It seems to be fine now. Drove it two days without any problems. But definately something to keep an eye on. Thanks for the help!