7.3 OD Problem

[ckirkend]

'99 7.3 with auto tans./od. Sometimes after shifting from park, the OD light on the end of the shifter starts blinking. I read somewhere before that the wiring harness going through the steering column moves some when the shifter is moved from park into reverse, drive, and so on. The article said that this sometimes causes the wire for the OD light to short out and cause it to flash. When this happens in my truck if I turn the ignition switch off and then back on the blinking stops. Has anyone else heard of the wiring harness/shorting out diagnosis?

[Dave]

Could be that but it also blinks as a sign of tranny problems. and sometimes will reset if you shut down and restart

[MrJohnWayne]

Most the time the light flashing indicates problems.

[ckirkend]

It's been doing this for quite some time and runs fine. I had the trans. serviced by the dealership about a year ago. They said that it was fine, and that the light was a "malfunction", as long as the trans. didn't slip or otherwise act strange not to worry to much about it. Doesn't really sound much like they wanted to deal with it.

[MrJohnWayne]

I'd take it somewhere else and get a 2nd opinion.

[straycat]

If the wire breaks, the truck will not go into OD when you push the button, or will not come out of the overdrive position on the button, but the light will be out. You have some kind of warning code going on, you should take it into a good shop and get it checked out before you start having problems, just to be on the safe side.

Gord.

[2005F250]

I had a 2000 do the same thing and the speedo didn't work correctly and it turned out to be a speed sensor and it think also a sensor on the rear diff. or the rear of the tranny.

[dieselmt]

If you hav'nt pulled the steering column plastic cowl to check it then i would highly recommend doing it before commiting the tranny or sensor. Its not that hard to pull it & inspect it. The small loom will move around & sometimes grd. against the shifter arm worse when you move the tilt up & down. Check for a small break in the loom insulation where the wire is chaffing.

[wrs8574]

Originally Posted by dieselmt

If you hav'nt pulled the steering column plastic cowl to check it then i would highly recommend doing it before commiting the tranny or sensor. Its not that hard to pull it & inspect it. The small loom will move around & sometimes grd. against the shifter arm worse when you move the tilt up & down. Check for a small break in the loom insulation where the wire is chaffing.

I'm having this very same problem but my OD button just stopped working period. I figured it was a simple fuse but it's not so it would seem since I've pulled every fuse known to mankind. I tried to remove the steering column cowling but cannot remove the top piece due to the ignition. How do I remove the top cowling without removing the ignition if possible?

Also any other tips/info on the OD button would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[rankroddin250]

Originally Posted by ckirkend

It's been doing this for quite some time and runs fine. I had the trans. serviced by the dealership about a year ago. They said that it was fine, and that the light was a "malfunction", as long as the trans. didn't slip or otherwise act strange not to worry to much about it. Doesn't really sound much like they wanted to deal with it.

well most comon reason the OD light blinks is the speed sensor but it can be a number of other things my 98 f150 started doing it when my alternator was getting weak and it went away after I changed the alternator... the od light flash i believe is kind of like a check engine light for any thing electronic in your vehicle and if some one has a good code reader such as snap on or one of the really expensive ones they can actualy pull the electricle codes... its prety awesome when its running the scan your power windows lock and windshiedl wipers will start going crazy but it will tell you whats wrong with it
i ran one on mine because the abs light was on and it told me exactly what was wrong with it