I have a 03 Ford Ranger 4X4 4.0 SOHC.Every other drive when im traveling at or around 55mph my OD OFF light flashes.When it flashes and I slow down or have to come to a stop, the shift from 1st to 2nd gear is rough every other shift point seems smooth.I can turn off the ignition, restart the truck,the light not flash and everything is ok until that random time it reaches the 55mph.Any ideas?

 

trans rebuild sounds like, how many miles?

 

That happened to me at about 80k miles, and my 1st and 2nd gears had got thrown off. Had to get the transmission rebuilt.

 

mine randomly did this when the truck had 25k miles on it. happened once. wouldnt go into reverse for about 5 seconds. then it never happened again. then out of nowhere my trans let go after i put 35's on it. either way. its bad news. lol

 

MINE JUST DID THAT THE OTHER DAY!!!! After a day of offroading... i have an automatic and it would shift fine from 1st to 2nd.. but wouldnt shift out of 2nd gear it would just revv wayyyy up and would not shift. I figured it was an electrical problem.. took off the fuse panel lid and blew all the **** out from in my fuse panel. Not sure if this is what fixed it, but honestly just before the tow truck came i was liek **** it ill drive it one more time see if it fixed itself, and sure enough it did...

not sure if thats what it was but give it a shot?

 

Id also try undoing the negative terminal on the battery, leaving it for 10 minutes and hooking ti back up again, reboot the computer. May be electrical as i mentioned

 

the flashing od light is bad news either way. From what Ive heard, when it flashes, the trans detects slippage.

 

it did that to me after i burried my truck in the mud drive it around for a while and it will burn up the mud and your trans will be back to normal

 

It seems like it can also do that if you overheat the transmission. Personally I would pull the battery terminal to reset anything, flush the transmission and not worry until it happens again.

My mom's last husband had a 99 explorer and the o/d off light flashed one day. The next time he started it up it was off and never acted up again.

 

There is a way to reset the transmission program. When the truck is cold start the truck without touching the gas. When the idle kicks down run the shifter thru each gear and put it back in park. Let it set and idle until it reaches normal operating temp and shift it thru the gears again. The transmission will relearn all of the shift points. It would also be a good idea to do the trans filter and fluid and possibly adjust the bands.

 

wow, Ive never heard or seen that on the boards since Ive first joined. Great info!

 

It worked on my 2000...

 

i wish i would have known. My 02 started flashing at 40k. But it did last another 4 years lol

 

Mine wasn't flashing but it wasn't shifting right.

 

who touches the gas to start their truck... lol most our trucks are fuel injected now a days

 

Sometimes when the tps is starting to go bad you have to touch the gas to start it

 

Have a Ford dealer or transmission shop pull the Diagnostic Trouble Code(s) to help point you to where the trouble is. Otherwise, you are just guessing like everyone else in this thread. The flashing O/D OFF light is the transmission's equivalent of the Check Engine Light.

This should be done ASAP. It could be a minor electrical problem or something much more serious. Driving an automatic with a problem could be asking for expensive trouble.

Don't disconnect the battery or otherwise reset the PCM because the code will be lost.

 

I'm not so sure that I'd flush the tranny if it were me. My buddies 99 Exploders tranny was slipping and a local mechanic (us as well) thought it would be best to drain it, clean the filter and refill it. We did that and all of the friction material was apparently in the old fluid, giving it whatever grip it had internally on the parts. It hardly ever moved again. Unless you revved it to about 3 grand. Then it barely even pulled itself on flat ground. Before that it was at least driveable.


GB :)

 

I have the same OD flashing issues with my 2001 3 speed w/overdrive. It's been doing this for 1/2 a year. I cleaned the sensors but didn't help. I just the other day remembered I drove through standing water (6 inches deep) and realized this is about the same time the OD started flashing so I checked connections for issues and started to clean the speed sensor on the rear end when I noticed a drip of water coming from the connection, as I pulled the connector off I saw a crack in the wiring harness and but continued to remove the connector, I couldn't believe how much water was in the connector and harness. the top of the sensor looked dry but I think it may need to be replaced. Any one else have this same issue?

 

I just had mine rebuilt 6 months ago and is doing this . it should be under warranty, rite ?

 

I recently started having the same problem. First the check engine light came on. Then the O/D off light started blinking and the truck started shifting hard into 2nd gear and reverse.

The code it was throwing was for the Neutral Safety Switch. I replaced this and the problem remained.

I saw a video in Youtube that a bad ABS sensor in the rear differential could cause the problem. I accidentally bought the transmission output speed sensor. I ordered an ABS sensor and changed it but this didn’t fix my problem. Since I still had the new speed sensor for the transmission, I figured, what the heck, why not go ahead a replace it too. The transmission immediately started shifting smooth again and the o/d light stopped blinking.

You could jump straight to replacing your transmission or you could try a $20 sensor first...

 

2005 4.0 ranger, is it difficult to reach and replace the output transmission sensor while the truck is ground level, I have to lift or ramps

 

I have a 2003 3.0 Ranger so I'm sure there are some differences, but I was able to swap out my sensor fairly easily at ground level. I would be very careful if you do have to put it on ramps, because I had to remove the neutral safety switch to get to the speed sensor on the transmission. To remove the neutral safety switch, you will end up putting the truck in neutral so if your wheels aren't chocked good, you could be in trouble. Even if you do this job at ground level, make sure your e-brake is set and your wheels are chocked. If you have access to a lift, it could make some parts of the job easier, but I don't think it is necessary.

The rear ABS sensor on the differential was easy enough to replace without lifting the truck as well. I just removed the spare tire and had all kinds of access to get to it.

If you end up removing the neutral safety switch, here is a little tip that will hopefully save you some headache. There are two markings on the switch that you should line up before reinstalling. Many guides will tell you that you need to move the switch around until it works, but if you line these markings up and make sure they are lined up before bolting it back on, you will get it right the first time. Before reattaching the linkage to the transmission and bolting everything down, you can start the truck to make sure the switch is in the right spot.

To get the gear selector bracket to line up with the linkage, move the bracket towards the rear of the truck all the way and then click it back two times and you will be in neutral. Change your gear shifter inside the cab to neutral and it should meet up perfectly.

I hope this helps.