my overdrive light started flashing and all of a sudden it started going into gear real hard.
parked it and left it running and checked the fluid. it was perfect like always, and i check it every other month and have never had to fill it. i parked it awhile and did what i had to at work. about 30 mins later i started her up and the light never came back on and it drove fine.
about 30 miles. any ideas what i should do? or what the hell that was all about.

 

The OD light flashes when there is a serious tranny issue. Kinda like when the MIL flashes. Once you stop and restart the truck it resets, but the issue may still be there. Could be overheating, slipping, alot of things.

I'd take it to a mechanic, and get it scanned. It should have stored a code.

 

well since your transmission light didnt come on but rather you OD light I would say its and OD problem...not transmission. Now as to what that problem is...idk. But I can tell you that your OD unit ts that ump that sticks off the back end of your trans. incase you didnt know. start looking there

 

thanks, i have put over 200 miles on it since starting and stopping a lot the past 2 days since it came on that one time with out it coming back on......of course now that i said that it will probably die tomorrow. thanks. i searched the net and no one ever said about a tranny light and that maybe its the o/d itself.. most people point to torque converter

 

Yup tranny probs.

 

well its been almost a week now and almost 1000 miles later and the light has stayed off. so my question for u guys is this. i was gonna drain the fluid and change the tranny filter before this happened cause i just hit 80,000 miles. so the question is should i do that or not??????

 

Check the speed sensor on the trans (My 05 has it right by the fuel filter on the trans). My truck would do that, cleaned the sensor and connector and it hasnt given me a problem since.

 

How long has it been since you changed tranny fluid?

 

what do i do to check a speed sensor... clean it? i think mine is on the rear. i hear its just magnetic and u just clean it with cleaner and stick it back on. is that right? and i just bought the truck 10,000 miles ago and im assuming the trans fluid was never changed.

 

you'd have an ABS light if it was the speed sensor. yes it is magnetic clean brake clean

 

My O/D light started flashing after I got my F-150 stuck in a ditch. I tried backing out and... no reverse! I had a buddy pull me out and off I went. It didnt wanna shift or anything, just kinda stayed in 2nd and slammed when upshifting. Got home, parked it, went out the next mornin, nothin... Smelt the fluid... O yea, burnt to a crisp .$600 mistake

 

anybody have an opinion on if i should change my tranny fluid or not. i was going to anyway cause its time.

 

how many miles are on the truck?

 

84,000

 

fluid and filter of course. no flushing either, just draining....

 

ok here's reality it won't hurt to change it too soon but it sure will if it needs it and u don't. May make a littl repair a 1000$ job. Since you do not know the history of the truck AND it is acting up i would not give it a second thought i'd change it in a heartbeat. Clear it up for you?

 

My 01 3.0 4x4 showed similar symptoms Friday night. Driving highway speeds, O/D Off light started flashing. Shut it down, restarted, and it drove another 2 miles before it started flashing again. Once it was flashing, the 1-2 shift became really rough. (no cell phone reception where it broke, of course). Towed into the shop, where the tranny had just been rebuilt a month ago. They did pull a code, did a few minor adjustments, then put a bunch of miles on it with no recurrance. I'm hoping it's fixed once & for all. Just got it back tonight, but I'm encouraged by your experience.

 

haha, well im glad to help. and thanks to everyone that has helped me. so far so good. but who knows.

 

[QUOTE=Red01Ranger;1869117]My 01 3.0 4x4 showed similar symptoms Friday night. Driving highway speeds, O/D Off light started flashing. Shut it down, restarted, and it drove another 2 miles before it started flashing again. Once it was flashing, the 1-2 shift became really rough. (no cell phone reception where it broke, of course). Towed into the shop, where the tranny had just been rebuilt a month ago. They did pull a code, did a few minor adjustments, then put a bunch of miles on it with no recurrance. I'm hoping it's fixed once & for all. Just got it back tonight, but I'm encouraged by your experience.



* Do you know what they had to do my 01 ranger is doing the same exact thing?

 

Red01Ranger hasn't been around for 7 years, chances are he will never see this.

 

My 2004 4.0 4x4 was shifting into 2nd pretty hard then the OD light would flash.
I changed the transmission speed sensor and now it shifts smooth and no light flashinflashing.
Literally took 5 minutes.
Got the tip from user EddiefromCali.