I have 3200 miles on my new truck and the OD controll fuse keeps blowing. It started blinking on saturday and then it totaly went out and I could not switch og ff the overdrive. The dealer replaced the fuse and reset the computer and said all was fine. 20 miles down the road the OD light starts blinking again and then the fuse blows. Anybody have any idea what may be causing this so I can clue the dealer in?

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2000 F150 XLT Supercab 3L55, 5.4, Cheastnut & Gold

 

Shadow,

Your dealer is just as bad as mine)o:

I had the exact same problem a couple of years ago with my '97 F150 4.2L.Just as with yours,it would blink and then disappear all together.Sometimes it worked and other times not at all.After checking the fuses I took it to the dealer and actually left it for the night so they could fix it.I think they charged me about $150.00 and it worked fine.I was quite happy.That was at about 20,000 miles.It worked for 2 days!!!I was so upset and worried about major problems in the overdrive that I just decided not to use it and put it out of my mind.

Well,my lease ended a few months ago and I decided to keep my little truck and set out to find why the OD was out.

(I know it's a long story but I need to make my point)

One day when I returned home from work I decided that I would take a look at the wiring up to the OD switch on the gear lever.I turned the engine off and moved the lever all the way over to 1st gear and noticed that on the lever,just off from the stearing column there is an opening into the gear lever where the OD wires run up to the switch and I could see that 1 of the 3 was frayed and completely seperated.I simply pushed the 2 ends of wire back together and the OD light went on.

It may be worth your time (and money) to get a good look at the wires.If the wire is unsheilded inside the lever itself this would cause a fuse to blow whenever it touches the metal and grounds.

I assume here that you have an automatic Transmission as I do.....

Put your gear lever all the way over to 1st and pull out the pin holding the lever on the column.It pulls out with a pair of pliers,no problem.

If you don't already see the break in the wire you'll want to take the OD switch off at the end of the lever.(Very simple)Just pop off the cap with you finger nail and pull out the inards.There are 3 pieces including the cap.If you have to you can pull the wire ends out of their retaining harness and then slide the gear lever right off the 3 wires to find where the break is.

How you fix it is up to you but if you want a long term solution you'll most likely want to replace the broken wire from the break up to the OD switch.

If you should find that it is just an exposed wire then you just need to insulate it with a small piece of electrical tape.

It really is a very simple process.Maybe an hour at most unless you creat more problems along the way(o;

Just remember to disconnect the negative battery cable before you start or you be blowing fuses for sure.

 

AjRagno:

Thank you for responding.

The truck was in the dealer on Wednesday for another attempt to fix the problem. They replaced the wiring harnes in the stearing column, the shift lever and the controll module for the overdrive. now it does not blow the fuse but the OD light is still flashing. The have temporally disabled the overdrive untill they can get the new electronics for the inside of the transmission which appear to have been damaged due to the short in the steering column wiring. I will post a followup after Sept. 29 to let you know if it is fixed.

 

Well the truck went in on Friday 9/29 and it is still in the shop. They were unable to resolve the problem sofar. Fortunately they have given me a free loaner car to use until they fix the truck. I'll let you know what happens.

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2000 F150 XLT Supercab shortbed, 3L55, 5.4, Chestnut & Gold, Parchment interior

 

Well I finally have my truck back. I got it back yesterday. It turned out to be a short in the wires that run through the gear shift lever. Unfortunatly that short caused alot of other damage, so the truck has a new valve body in the transmission, all new electronics and wiring in the transmission, a new gearshift lever, a new wiring harness for the transmission OD and a new computer. Everything seams to be working properly, I'll see for sure this weekend when I tow my camper for the last time this season.

 

Well I finally have my truck back. I got it back yesterday. It turned out to be a short in the wires that run through the gear shift lever. Unfortunatly that short caused alot of other damage, so the truck has a new valve body in the transmission, all new electronics and wiring in the transmission, a new gearshift lever, a new wiring harness for the transmission OD and a new computer. Everything seams to be working properly, I'll see for sure this weekend when I tow my camper for the last time this season.

 

Shadow,

It's very good news to hear that they finally found the root of the problem with your transmission.
Your service manager sounds like a good one, (free loaner makes life so much easier) but it boggles my mind to try and imagine why it took the tech a month to get around to looking in the gear lever.Makes me wonder what else he took apart in the process before looking for simpler solutions.
The sooner the problem arises the better I'm sure.At least it is still under full warranty and they replaced more than just the wiring harness to create a long term solution.
Great news.

[This message has been edited by AjRagno (edited 10-12-2000).]

 

AjRagno:

It sure is nice to have the truck back!!

Thanks for the lead on the wiring in the shift lever, they checked it after I mentioned your problem. Unfortunately it had caused so much other damage by then that just replacing the wiring didn't fix the problem. Thats why all of the delay in diagnosing the problem.

 

Well it has been 9 months since I last posted and the OD problem reared it ugly head again. Unfortunately when my wife went to start the truck this morning to take it in for its appointment to have the OD switch fixed, the truck would not start. My wife called the dealer and they had the truck towed to the dealership which is about 25 miles from my house. It turns out that the crankshaft position sensor went out so they fixed that problem and then the mechanic immediatly checked the wiring in the gear shift lever. It had broken again, so now the lever and wiring have been replaced for a second time. Fortunately there was no other damaged caused this time. The dealership has been terriffic, everything was covered by them under warrenty including the tow. I just hope I don't have any more problems. This board is awsome for the knowledge I have gained about my truck.