OD not engaging, OD off light flashing

[Mikey]

Hey guys, looking for any input. Driving home ambient temp 86F. Car did a lil buck when pressing the gas about 10% down. When getting up to highway speed I noticed that OD was not engaging...only 3 out of 4 gears. Then the terrifying thing..OD off light flashing when I got off the highway at the first stop light.

Took the car out 2 hours later after it cooled off.....perfect operation through all gears at all RPMs.

Did some research and saw this does not look good.

Please note...there is a coolant leak I haven't been able to find yet...drips down the inside of the passenger fender in front of the wheel. Really hoping I just overheated the ATF due to low coolant on a hot day. Wishful thinking.

Thanks everyone!

 

[tommyturbo]

Coolant leak sounds like overflow tank, it is on / in drivers fender area. Check tank and hose to it. I say try a very good filter and fluid change, and see what happens.

How does your atf fluid look?

 

[SHOMEX]

The coolant leak it's more likely a crack in the underside of the coolant tank; as cheap insurance I would just replace it. If the transmission is working ok after cooling down, you just overheated the tranny fluid and before doing a filter and tranny fluid replacement I will recommend you to install an aftermarket transmission cooler (big one) or a gen2 cooler; that will take care of your transmission overheating problems. Have the same problems many year's ago and what I just recommended solved my problems.

 

[stephen newberg]

Shomex is on target. The coolant tank is known for dying as they get older, and an extra transmission cooler is a simple fix to most of the problems that occur for the transmission in normal use.

pax, smn

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

I remember something I rode something on V8SHO.com. Someone had this O/D light flashing and it's appears that it was the transmission cooler in the radiator was obstred and restricting trans fluid flow, causing overheating... There is a TSB explaining how to clean it also. If I remember, Ford reversed the flow direction into this cooler to help. In 96, the fluid enters by the top and then all the particles stay in their place into the cooler. With the reverse change (not sure, 97 or 98), the particles will return at the bottom by gravity giving less change to be obstrued.

A simple solution to this it's just bypass this cooler because it's more and "heater" than a cooler for winter. Even if it's not your prob, this bypass can help cooling the trans fluid.

http://www.v8sho.com/SHO/SHO RadiatorTransmission Cooler - How To Clean.htm

But I also have the crack on the bottom of the coolant tank, very stressful thing until you find it... I was able to hear pressure going away when I shut off the motor on my SLO. I rode 2 or 3 times that clear plastic ones are better (no black top).

Hope it can help,

 

[Mikey]

Guys thank you all for the responses. All very useful and helpful. GEN3shofan I read that post in the past but thank u for bringing that up, good write up.

I have an aftermarket aluminum B&M trans cooler, just haven't installed yet. Just became a priority.

My 98 mustang pal just had the same problem with the overflow tank...he purchased a pretty cheap after market aluminum overflow tank.. Going to see if it will fit under my hood to eliminate that problem.

His car was a craigslist purchase....shortly after finding the leaking overflow tank...he blew 1 or a couple of spark plugs right out of the heads...tried to rethread and got metal inside the cylinder...dead pony. Suspect it was ran low on coolant and overheated....I'd like to avoid this fate.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Also, Ford made new cap in 2010 for their coolant tanks, I rode on other Ford furums that this last one is better because the spring is stronger (have less chance to fail with time). I found 2 in scrapyard and put them on my cars, run great. They fit on our early Ford bottles (gen 3 for sure, not sure for ealiers ones).



The cap can fail too and it's more difficult to find than a crack with the same consequense...

No prob, have a good day,

 

[Mikey]

Awsome, I figured there was an upgrade for the cap of some sort. Will be adding that to the parts list. Thanks!

 

[98SF19]

The cap can fail too and it's more difficult to find than a crack

I remember watching a youtube clip on a SuperDuty channel where the guy emphasized how common a problem (and how simple the fix) a bad coolant tank cap is. He had a gadget that could pressure test the caps, but he must have custom made it cuz I can't find a store or shop that has anything like that. I got a Dorman tank a few years ago and it seems to be decent.

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

We probably saw the same video. The guy spoke about pick-up most of the time.

However, I rode somewhere that this new cap doesn't fit on Dorman tank (mines are Ford)... But this info must be verified.

Not sure if it's related, but before I put one on the SHO, my temp gauge was fluctuating up and down rapidly (anywhere on traffic and rural road). I was wondering what causing that, fans finnaly come on and cool down for some time. Maybe it's the coolant which was boiling in the system with the pressure lost, giving false infos to the temp sensor...? I searched here for some infos but nothing.

After I put the new cap, the needle seems a lot more stable at 1/4 to 1/3 and going up progressively in traffic.
(I realize that I had probably something wrong as I spoke with you guys !)

 

[glockcoma]

Hey guys, looking for any input. Driving home ambient temp 86F. Car did a lil buck when pressing the gas about 10% down. When getting up to highway speed I noticed that OD was not engaging...only 3 out of 4 gears. Then the terrifying thing..OD off light flashing when I got off the highway at the first stop light.

Took the car out 2 hours later after it cooled off.....perfect operation through all gears at all RPMs.

Did some research and saw this does not look good.

Please note...there is a coolant leak I haven't been able to find yet...drips down the inside of the passenger fender in front of the wheel. Really hoping I just overheated the ATF due to low coolant on a hot day. Wishful thinking.

Thanks everyone!

I had this same issue on my 97, it was a shift solenoid.
I had a warranty at the time but FORD had my SHO for a few weeks.
The part had to come from Germany, and the trans control valve body had to be removed to access the solenoid.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Mikey]

Oh dear lord, please let that part have been replaced during the transmission rebuild......

Haven't been driving because we are in a nasty heat wave here in PA.

Thank you kindly for sharing the more info the better!

 

[Mikey]

Does anyone have any experiences changing a shift solenoid by themselves?

Curious to know how deep of crap I'm in. Thanks everyone. Going to my favorite scrap yard tomorrow to get a coolant tank and cap. Eliminate that possibility.

 

[Mikey]

Hey guys update here, after I topped off the antifreeze and haven't let it get low. The transmission has worked flawlessly. Pretty sure and also hoping I just over heated the transmission after 12 mile drive in stop go traffic, low coolant, and ambient temp of 95-98F that day.

Will keep updated after the pressure tank is replaced. It hasn't been driven more than 12 miles a day. And I check it every time I start the car until the tank gets changed.

 

[SHOMEX]

Now that you know that the transmission is ok and to have peace of mind with the transmission; I will recommend to unhook and bypass the lines of the tranny going to the radiator and run them from the transmission to the little factory tube cooler in front of the ac condenser and from there to your aftermarket transmission cooler and back to the tranny. That's how I have my 2 Sho's for more than 10 years and never had any overheating issues.

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Yes, similar for me. I replaced the rusty metal hose behind the radiator by another factory cooler (original finned tube), then bypass the rad going directly to the front finned tube, I then linked it to an aftermarket serpentine finned tube (12x5 inches) and then return to trans. With a bypass and 3 coolers, I hope the trans will last longer (but isn't good for winter, mine is a summer car). I put only tubes with fins because they cannot be obstrued with time unlike radiator ones.

Also, I must say that 96 ones just have a tube (not finned) as front cooler... (which I changed for a finned one).

 

[Mikey]

Guys thank you both very much. I was thinking about bypassing the radiator, from reading other threads. You both have convinced me to do it. There is a nifty diagram of this procedure somewhere. If I can find it I will add.

 

[gamefanatic]

If you really want to get tricky, depending on where you live you may want to use an oil thermostat to bypass one of the coolers until it gets up to operating temperature. This is especially useful in cooler climates / winter. An inexpensive model might be the Perma-Cool 1070.

 

[Mikey]

That's the kinda of info that's makes this place great, gamefanatic! I do live in an area where this would be beneficial. NE Pennsylvania. Happy holidays to everyone also!