Hello all, hoping I can get some help from one of you, as I’m not the most mechanically inclined. I bought a 2001 Ford Ranger about a month ago, and didn’t notice this issue until driving it home. Truck shifts totally fine when O/D off is not flashing. Would never think anything was wrong with it. When I reach a cruising speed of somewhere between 45-60, O/D off starts flashing without feeling anything happen in the truck. First to second shift is hard (shown in the video) only when light is flashing, all higher gears shift smooth. To stop light from flashing, all I need to do is stop the truck, turn it off and then turn back on, then first to second shift becomes smooth again.



I got code P0741



So far I’ve replaced



-TCC solenoid

-Rear differential speed sensor

-output shaft speed sensor

-tried swapping instrument cluster



Also dropped the transmission pan and added new transmission fluid. The guy who did this for me said the TCC wiring looked good. I know I could need a new tranny, or it could just be a broken wire somewhere. Truck drives like a dream when light isn’t flashing, and hard first shift is the ONLY issue when light is flashing. Any feedback would be amazing thank you!

 

Also, to add to this, my transmission fluid level while hot is about 2” past the max level it states on the dipstick. Been thinking about siphoning some out, maybe that’s causing some torque converter slip?

 

I'm no professional by any means, but I'd wager that even if this isn't what solves the issue, it could cause problems further down the road. Make sure you've shifted through all of your gears before checking fluid level (i.e. shift to reverse, neutral, 1st, 2nd, then drive, then back to park).

 

You got it. Will make sure to shift through all gears when I next check the fluid. Have a siphon pump coming in the mail tomorrow. Will update. I figure even if it doesn’t fix the flashing OD off light, will be better for the truck overall to have proper level of fluid.