Ok, just went and drove it again. I couldn't hear any gear crunching, or notice any slippage. I drove about 10 minutes, over a bridge, train tracks, getting up to 55 mph, and slowing down and driving 35 and under.

The light never came on.

I also turned the overdrive off three times-twice while parked and once while driving. I could feel the OD kick on when the button was pressed after being turned off.

I'm taking it tomorrow for the exhaust and state inspection, and I'm going to have my mechanic check the cable connections on the transmission for any signs of corrosion as well as making sure they are all solid in place.

Any other suggestions? And thanks, fellas, for the input thus far!

If you can, have the code read by your mechanic if he has one of the advanced scanners. Post it back up here so we can get a better idea of what the trans is doing. Your problem sounds alot like my problem, an intermittent unexplained O/D Off light with no trans operation faults.

Thanks, sounds like a plan!

Hey guys, sorry for the delay...Just got it back from the shop today after having my exhaust manifold replaced and suspension looked at, as well as my state inspection.

The trans wires looked okay as far as any corrosion, and they didn't get any kind of bad transmission code, but they did notice the transmission cooler lines were starting to leak. Could this be the issue, and how much would it be to fix?

Ummm, if your O/D Off light started flashing, there will be a code stored in the transmission control unit. I'm wondering if the shop you took it to doesn't have a scanner advanced enough to read the transmission codes. The transmission codes are not stored on the main computer, they're stored on a separate transmission control unit.

As for the leak, if the trans is getting hot due to leaking trans fluid, then the TCU could definitely pick that up. Have you checked your trans fluid level?

Great info, been looking this up for days now. Only had my Ranger not even 2 weeks(this is my second one, havent had one in years and I missed it so finly got another), and then only drive it on the weekend to get back and forth from work. When low and behold the O/D off light starts blinking and freeking me out. Your info is pointing me in the right direction. After reading alot on this I'm not as freaked out thinken I need a trans. And I'm thinking it may be the speedo sensor (of course Im gona get the codes and post here first to make sure).

Reason I'm coming to that conclusing is everything is shifting fine, fluids are good, however being a truck drive I felt I was going faster then the speedomiter was saying so I clocked it and did the math and found above 50 Im really doing 7-8 mph faster then what its saying. So I got a strong feeling thats gona be the case, and with what Ive read here sounds like a faluty speedo sensor causes the o/d off light to blink, at least I hope thats all it is. Soon as I find out I'll let ya's know.

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1995 Extcab Ranger V6 4.0 Auto

Ya, as I already posted, when my speedo went out the O/D light was blinking and my truck went into that "fail-safe" mode where it wouldn't shift out of 1st gear. I ended up getting it towed until I replaced the sensor. Easy fix, and pretty cheap, paid $40 for the sensor, putting it in is basically a bolt-on procedure.

The VSS is the easiest thing to swap. Glad this info has helped calm your nerves a little about the problem!

Bump for those that can use this thread.

Bump, which is what you'll feel when your O/D Off light is flashing and the transmission is in Fail Safe mode.

I saw this thread and it immediately caught my attention. I have a 2002 ranger, 3.0, automatic trans. My o/d off light flashes, but I haven't noticed when it starts flashing. When I put it in reverse it lags into gear. When the engine and trans are cold it shifts through all of the gears fairly easy, but after it warms up it shifts from 1st to 2nd abruptly. I had the engine completely rebuilt last week and had it in the shop yesterday to have the cam/crank sensor replaced and they put a diagnostic tester on it and a trans code appeared. The code read PO735 gear 5 incorrect ratio. The shop wants to do a rebuild. I think I want to get more opinions, any suggestions?

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Mike

How many miles are on the truck?

Unfortunately, most trans shops are in the mind set to rebuild, instead of properly diagnose and repair the problem. It will be hard to find a shop that will honestly diagnose the issue and then repair just this issue.

The truck has 135,000 mi., but this is the second trans. Ford replaced the first one before the warranty was up. I think that was in 2005. This trans. probably has about 100,000 on it.

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I finally got 500 miles on the new engine so I was able to try the truck at higher speeds. The trans shifted into all gears and seemed to shift at the correct speeds. After it heated up it had a hard shift between 1st and 2nd as usual, but still shifted into all gears as speed increased. It also down shifted when gave more gas to pass someone.

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Mike

Hmm, it kinda confuses me that you're having problems with the gear range you specified. Not sure if you know, but 1st gear is D. Whenever you put the truck in D, you're putting it in 1st gear. Then the next gear you feel as you accelerate is 2nd.

Any idea what transmission you have? If you don't, go to fordparts.com, type in your vin, and at the top it should tell you the small specs of your vehicle, like year, model, engine, and trans type.

i have a 96 4cyl automatic single cab it did it randomly after i stoped then took off i stoped the truck turned it off drove it since then and it has never came on again any clues?