Hi Reecekerley,
1995 G Limited MR2 Automatic.
I appear to have transmission problems.
Ive had a very small transmission leak for a couple of years and has never really been much of a problem. About a year ago I started to get hard shift so checked to dipstick and it was bone dry so I added a couple of litres of Dextron II and that solved the problem.
Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I drained the pan and chucked in some new oil and about a week ago started to get the dreaded flashing overdrive and no power (which im lead to believe is the car going into 'limp' mode as it detects a fault with the transmission). This happened intermittently but in the last couple of days has been pretty much constant. The flashing overdrive does not happen when car is started and is in park, only when drive is engaged. After checking the dipstick it looked like I had overfilled so went to drain some and the pan bolt is spinning and wont come free. I managed to get some out through the dipstick using some fish tank tube and a 50ml syringe. I took out about 1.5l. Checked today and the dipstick is REALLY low so now im a bit stuck as I thought the problem was an overfill.
I have since found out that new oil can be bad for a tranny :facepalm:
Does it need to be drained from the pan? If so I will have to get that pan bolt out.
Refilled another litre of tranny fluid last night and car is running half the time normally and half kicking into the fail safe with OD flashing. Its coming and going now.
Do you think a full transmission service would help?
Was hoping to get another year out of it but fully prepared for the "Your car is toast"
Any ideas anyone? Thanks
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Do you have access to a scan tool that can read stored transmission codes? That will point you in the direction of what's causing the lack of overdrive.
Here are some causes for loss of overdrive in your transmission (considering you have a 4L60E tranny).
Torque converter is failing to lockup, causing what could be mistaken as loss of overdrive. To test this out, drive on the highway and see if your RPM is jumping unsteadily with barely any changes to the gas pedal. If it does, your converter is failing to lockup.
Transmission is in limp mode - overdrive doesn't work in limp mode and limp mode is what the transmission will operate in when a serious fault is detected.
Problem with the linkage - the transmission linkage has a physical problem that's preventing it from going into overdrive. This would need to be corrected under warranty by the transmission shop.
Overdrive band failure - the transmission band responsible for fourth gear fails overtime and can no longer engage the overdrive gear. If this band wasn't replaced with the rebuild, this can be the culprit.
Sounds like it is stuck in second gear. Overdrive only drops rpm by a couple hundred. In third gears you should still be less than 3,000 rpm.
Second gear is a default gear when the transmission is in limp mode. Is the check engine light on? Does it shift if you manual shift through the gears with the gear selector?
the gearbox goes in limp mode if it detects any problem with either transmission or engine, if you have misfire in thengine,the transmission module might put it in limp home mode,have your car scanned for issues.
The overdrive light is flashing because there is a diagnostic code stored in the Transmission control mudule.You will need to have the codes pulled to know where the problem is.The 2nd gear only condition is not a symptom, it is limp mode caused by the code being stored.There are about 30 different problems that can cause limp mode,so there is no way to guess.There is a procedure to pull codes that I can give you if you want to do it yourself.Just let me know,Thanks!
Over Drive..... Generally speaking, overdrive (OD) is the highest gear in the transmission. Overdrive allows the engine to operate at a lower rpm for a given road speed. This allows the vehicle to achieve better fuel efficiency, and often quieter operation on the highway. When it is switched on, an automatic transmission can shift into overdrive mode after a certain speed is reached (usually 70+ km/h [43+ mph] depending on the load). When it is off, the automatic transmission shifting is limited to the lower gears. For an automatic transmission, it is almost always best to select overdrive and allow the transmission to control engagement of the overdrive. (It may be necessary to switch it off if the vehicle is being operated in a mountainous area or when towing a trailer.) With a manual transmission, overdrive should usually be selected when the average speed is above 70 km/h (approx. 43 mph).
Your Ford is in 'limp mode,' which is designed to protect the engine/transmission from damage when the car's computer detects a problem. You are going to have to check for any codes stored in the cars computer to help determine what is wrong. Most major auto parts stores will scan for trouble codes for free, they will plug a hand held scanner into the cars port, and read any codes. Since the overdrive light is flashing, it is obviously a transmission related problem.
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