Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting O'D light flashing?

I recently bought a used 96 Contour SE with automatic transmission. This weekend I took it on a trip and after about 2 hrs with the cruise set to 80 my 'O/D off' light started flashing. I immediately pulled the car over to the side of the road and cut the engine off. I looked under the car and saw what appeared to be transaxle oil dripping down under the car. This slowly stopped and only leaked out a couple of ounces. I checked the level which was still above minimum. I let the car cool (the ambient temp was 70) for about 15 minutes and restarted the car. The O/D light was out and I kept my speed at 65. I only had about 50 miles left to drive and had no further problems or leaks. Does anyone know what the problem is and what preventive measure should I take? Did it overheat and forced oil out of the seals? The car's got 115,000 miles on it. Thanks for any info.

this was a precursor to the trans being FUBAR'd on our '97 Zetec ATX. My wife was driving it when it happened, then it wouldn't hold a gear and eventually wouldn't go up our driveway nor roll forward under its own power or otherwise. Known Ford issue, these transmissions are JUNK. Voices were raised, investigative calls were made to people on the inside, words were exchanged with the dealer, and most importantly the secret code word "P-O-6" which is an internal warranty "adjustment" code. I got a new trans for $500 out of pocket but the dealer wasn't happy about it.

yah, ford trans sucked, i had the same issue with my aerostar, would leak and then stop after like 4 hours of driving.