O/D Light Flashing, No Fifth Gear

[Drew Lonker]

Hey everyone, so I need some opinions on what this could be. Driving to work yesterday, I felt my 01 ST 4x4 shutter when going into fifth gear. It slipped out of fifth and my O/D light started flashing. The truck wouldn't go into fifth the entire drive. When I went out about an hour later, it was as if nothing happened. Shifted fine into fifth and no O/D light. Haven't had any problems since. I haven't found anything online as to what it could specifically be (pretty much anything according to other explorer forums). Any ideas would be great!

 

[Bo Loo]

From what I've read on this site, that's a sign of a pending transmission failure.

 

[Richard L]

How many miles are on the truck, and when was the last time you had the transmission serviced (fluid change or fluid flush) ?



It could have just been a transient gremlin. Occasionally the computer can have a momentary problem (usually memory corruption) and need to be rebooted (restarted). Not much different than PC's, Smart Phones, etc. When you restarted the truck, it resets/reboots the computer and that probably cleared up the problem.



I would not worry too much about it unless it continues doing the same thing again, and more frequently.....then you need to have the trouble codes read to determine the sources of the problem.



...Rich

 

[Sam Wooten]

What's an OD light?...............Just Kidding!:banana:

 

[Taylor Corn]

Be proactive and service the transmission with fluid and filter.

 

[Drew Lonker]

121k on the truck now. I had the transmission fluid and filter changed about 10,000 miles ago.

 

[Vic Sorlie]

Is trans fluid level correct?

 

[John G]

The computer software rebooting idea is worth a try. It costs nothing. To speed it, I would try disconnecting your car battery and then reconnecting it.



I had a different transmission problem, what seemed to be a flare or slipping when upshifting from 2 to 3. After a few weeks it went away and hasn't come back after several years. So I'm guessing it was just a software learning problem that had to be unlearned.

 

[Drew Lonker]

I disconnected the battery for about 15-20 minutes and so far everything seem ok. I will just have to see if the problem returns in the future. Thanks for all the help

 

[Rick Kent]

Did you try to see if there were any fault codes tripped before disconnecting the battery?

 

[Drew Lonker]

Yes I did check, no codes. If I had my reader with me when it happened (with OD light flashing) I would have probably been able to read the code. I now keep the reader in the truck with me in case it happens again