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2002 Explorer "OD Off" light flashing



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 17th 07, 04:46 PM posted to rec.autos.makers.ford.explorer
Bill Jeffrey
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 29
Default 2002 Explorer "OD Off" light flashing

This is the 5R55W transmission behind a 4.6L V-8, and 3.73LS rear end.

Last night we came home from a week in our camper. The camper is light
(3500 pounds) compared to the tow rating of the Explorer (7000 pounds),
but there were a lot of steep grades, and altitudes to about 7000 feet,
so the vehicle was working hard during the week. We kept the OD turned
off at all times using the button at the end of the stalk.

During the trip, we experienced perhaps a dozen hard 4-to-3 downshifts
on steep upgrades at mid-to-3/4 throttle, but not WOT. As we got within
a mile of home, the "OD OFF" light began flashing rapidly. I parked the
camper and turned off the ignition. Restarted it half an hour later, and
the light no longer flashes.

I will take the vehicle to my mechanic (who is not a Ford dealer) later
today, but in the meantime, can anyone tell me what I should expect to
find? In particular, what does the flashing OD OFF light mean?

Thanks

Bill Jeffrey
Ads
  #2  
Old April 17th 07, 04:48 PM posted to rec.autos.makers.ford.explorer
Bill Jeffrey
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 29
Default 2002 Explorer "OD Off" light flashing

Forgot to note - 140K miles, no problems with this vehicle.

Bill Jeffrey
---------------------------
Bill Jeffrey wrote:
> This is the 5R55W transmission behind a 4.6L V-8, and 3.73LS rear end.
>
> Last night we came home from a week in our camper. The camper is light
> (3500 pounds) compared to the tow rating of the Explorer (7000 pounds),
> but there were a lot of steep grades, and altitudes to about 7000 feet,
> so the vehicle was working hard during the week. We kept the OD turned
> off at all times using the button at the end of the stalk.
>
> During the trip, we experienced perhaps a dozen hard 4-to-3 downshifts
> on steep upgrades at mid-to-3/4 throttle, but not WOT. As we got within
> a mile of home, the "OD OFF" light began flashing rapidly. I parked the
> camper and turned off the ignition. Restarted it half an hour later, and
> the light no longer flashes.
>
> I will take the vehicle to my mechanic (who is not a Ford dealer) later
> today, but in the meantime, can anyone tell me what I should expect to
> find? In particular, what does the flashing OD OFF light mean?
>
> Thanks
>
> Bill Jeffrey

  #3  
Old April 17th 07, 06:34 PM posted to rec.autos.makers.ford.explorer
JM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3
Default 2002 Explorer "OD Off" light flashing

In article >,
says...
> This is the 5R55W transmission behind a 4.6L V-8, and 3.73LS rear end.
>
> Last night we came home from a week in our camper. The camper is light
> (3500 pounds) compared to the tow rating of the Explorer (7000 pounds),
> but there were a lot of steep grades, and altitudes to about 7000 feet,
> so the vehicle was working hard during the week. We kept the OD turned
> off at all times using the button at the end of the stalk.
>
> During the trip, we experienced perhaps a dozen hard 4-to-3 downshifts
> on steep upgrades at mid-to-3/4 throttle, but not WOT. As we got within
> a mile of home, the "OD OFF" light began flashing rapidly. I parked the
> camper and turned off the ignition. Restarted it half an hour later, and
> the light no longer flashes.
>
> I will take the vehicle to my mechanic (who is not a Ford dealer) later
> today, but in the meantime, can anyone tell me what I should expect to
> find? In particular, what does the flashing OD OFF light mean?
>
> Thanks
>
> Bill Jeffrey
>

This is the transmission equivalent of the "engine check" light - it
means you probably have a transmission issue (or a faulty sensor?).

You should get somebody to extract the fault code.

FWIW, when this happened to me a couple of months ago (I have a '99
Limited with 120K miles), I had to get a new transmission. :-( Maybe
you'll be more lucky and it's something simple and much less expensive.

Jon
  #4  
Old April 21st 07, 01:30 AM posted to rec.autos.makers.ford.explorer
Bill Jeffrey
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 29
Default 2002 Explorer "OD Off" light flashing - update

JM wrote:
> In article >,
> says...
>> This is the 5R55W transmission behind a 4.6L V-8, and 3.73LS rear end.
>>
>> Last night we came home from a week in our camper. The camper is light
>> (3500 pounds) compared to the tow rating of the Explorer (7000 pounds),
>> but there were a lot of steep grades, and altitudes to about 7000 feet,
>> so the vehicle was working hard during the week. We kept the OD turned
>> off at all times using the button at the end of the stalk.
>>
>> During the trip, we experienced perhaps a dozen hard 4-to-3 downshifts
>> on steep upgrades at mid-to-3/4 throttle, but not WOT. As we got within
>> a mile of home, the "OD OFF" light began flashing rapidly. I parked the
>> camper and turned off the ignition. Restarted it half an hour later, and
>> the light no longer flashes.
>>
>> I will take the vehicle to my mechanic (who is not a Ford dealer) later
>> today, but in the meantime, can anyone tell me what I should expect to
>> find? In particular, what does the flashing OD OFF light mean?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Bill Jeffrey

-----------------------------------------------
> This is the transmission equivalent of the "engine check" light - it
> means you probably have a transmission issue (or a faulty sensor?).
>
> You should get somebody to extract the fault code.
>
> FWIW, when this happened to me a couple of months ago (I have a '99
> Limited with 120K miles), I had to get a new transmission. :-( Maybe
> you'll be more lucky and it's something simple and much less expensive.
>
> Jon


---------------------
Jon -

Thanks for your input. Unfortunately, when they went to extract the
stored fault code, there was none! And everything looks/feels/smells
normal. So I had the shop drop the pan, change the filter and the fluid,
and reassemble. Since fluid was last changed at 90K miles, and I now
have 140K, it was time to do it anyway. We'll see what happens.

Bill
 




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