EL1XR8

My EL XR8 has an intermitent fault with the auto, with which the gear position appears to be lost momentarily. WHen it occurs it has the effect of allowing the engine to rev well past its normal shift point (under full throttle), or almost stall at idle, as the idle rpm isn't increased for being in gear. WHen this happens you can manually still select other gears. At other times everything behaves normally.

As part of my troubleshooting, i have had the odometer in the 'diagnostic' mode, but this has shown no pattern in the cause. It can occur if the engine is hot or cold, engine running or not running. As well as showing 'd' when in reverse (for example), the odometer display may show '0', presumedly as it has no idea of what gear is selected at all.

The fault codes i obtained from the trans were:
27 - shift lever input fault
67 - data output link fault - 8 cyl (I am aware that code 67 will be generated if you do the trans and engine self tests incorrectly, but i did this so as not to generate the fault that way).

Jiggling the wire connectors at the inhibitor/gear selector switch on the trans, and the trans ECU appeared to eliminate faulty connections, and the trans oil is clean.

I tend to think that it may be the inhibitor/gear selector switch on the side of the trans at fault, but i am unsure why this would produce the "data output link" fault. Has anyone else had this problem (and solved it !) ? Thanks

EDXR8

I had the same problem and it was the neutral safety switch (inhibitor/gear selector switch). By memory, they are about $60 from ford and only take about 5 mins to fit.

EL1XR8

Thanks for the info.