Calling all electrical system gurus! I have a 1995 Contour GL, V6, ATX, 102,000 miles. Two days ago things started going haywire. It's not a consistent symptom but basically:

I can start the car and drive a while and everything works fine. But if I turn on the wipers, or sometimes without doing so, the coolant light and the O/D (overdrive off) light will light up. They come on together and stay on. After this point, the O/D feature no longer works: pressing the O/D button has no effect. All other car systems work fine. The ATX continues to shift fine through all gears. If I turn off the car and let it cool a few minutes, it starts up fine until this all starts again after a few minutes.

That is the "main" symptom that happens consistently on every drive. But during a long drive yesterday I also witnessed the following things sporadically, each only one or two times, in no particular order:

- Coolant and O/D lights gradually fading/flickering to black;
- O/D light on and off when tapping the brake pedal;
- O/D light on and off in sync with pressing the defroster button;
- Coolant light flickering in sync with the wiper motor;
- O/D light coming on when driving over one bump once.

These symptoms were coming and going with no obvious trigger. Aside from O/D lockout not working (every time) there are no other problem actually running the car. The coolant level is safely above the Max line. ATX was recently serviced and has no slippage or rough shifts. Engine sounds fine. All exterior lights are good except I just found both license plate lights were burned out (and could have been for years). All interior fuses are good. (Haven't checked the under-hood fuses yet.)

Other possible clues:

- The brake/shift interlock failed several weeks ago. (See "Failed shift interlock solenoid" topic.) Dealer diagnosed it as a failed solenoid, said the whole shifter needs to be replaced for $600+. I haven't tested the solenoid myself yet. Pangloss (thanks!) posted information that the dealer may well not have tested the solenoid either, but just reached the end of the diagnostic steps where the manual says replace the shifter if all else fails. So there may be an electrical fault elsewhere else.

- I did open the console a couple weeks ago while troubleshooting the above problem (and finally just installed a rubber band to hold the solenoid open) but was careful to not damage the O/D wires and wiring harness in there.

- The clock light burned out within the last couple days though I didn't witness exactly when it happened. Quite possibly related to all this. Still keeps time.

- Over the past couple years, the (factory) radio has spontaneously lost its station presets about 3 or 4 times, many months apart. Once it happened while driving: I turned off the radio, turned it on later, and the presets were gone. The other times it happened when first turning on the radio after the car had been parked.

That's my story. Anybody have any ideas?