tonybass

I own a 1995 Ranger Splash,My overdrive off light on the dash flashes on and off on occasion and the trans rides rough.I found out that if I shut off the engine wait a few seconds and restart the engine,the overdrive light stays off.Is there some sensor that is bad or is this a more serious problem? :fly:

 

Ranger04

I know this sounds non-pertanent to the problem, but check under your hood for a vacuum leak, i.e., the PCV valve connection, or the vacuum hose on top of your plenum, I am not as familiar with the 90s model Ranger as I would like to be so bear with me.

The transmission is NOT vacuum controlled...(bear with me, this has a point to it)...I experienced the very same symptoms with my wifes Windstar---the flashing light, the hard shifts, the punding nagging sensation!

It ended up that I had a leak---the PCV valve was hanging out of its hole, which seemed to cause a performance imbalance between the O/D function and the available torque of the engine at O/D speed. Almost like the PCM was wanting to drop from O/D back to High, but couldn't accomplish it because the RPM's hadn't deteriorated enough for it to abort automatically. It was weird, but the problem went away after reinstalling the PCV valve. That happened at around 80,000 or so...I now have 185,920 miles on the original unrebuilt drivetrain.

All madness aside, look for a vacuum leak that would cause a slight sag in engine performance at 48-55 mph...it may be so minute that the PCM won't give you a C/E light but cause the OD light to flash as it is. Good luck.

kbluee2

my 98 ranger is doing the same exact thing, I'll look for that vacuum leak

red chainsaw

i have this same problem on my 96 ranger, its a 2.3 with a 4 auto.... trans will not handle overdrive, constantly lags until it catches the lower gears... to combat this id just shut overdrive off and run it in 3 speeds, with torque converter lockup on 3rd. can anybody diagnose my problem? it runs fine in lockup 3rd, will go to 4th but will not hold it or wont lock up in it. the trouble code in the computer says its a shift solenoid, but is this related to anything mentioned in this above thread? yo im pretty desperate for this kind of info cause my stickers old, i need to get this truck legal to drive. if you have any idead email me at unblood@yahoo.com and i would be forever grateful

tario

Hey I have the same problem. And it sound good for me because my scantool told me that EGR is working bad, I tested the EGR sucking the vacuum line with the engine off and the valve works fine, I was thinking that the EGR problem was the effect of other thing, so maybe PCV affect the measurement of differential exhaust gas pressure, I will check this.

Thanks for your help!!!