I drive a 1997 F-350 7.3L Turbo Diesel with an auto tranny

anyways..
I was out with some friends tonight in basically a FLAT field and it was raining.. and we were just kicking around mud..
no big ditches.. or crazy offroad bumps or anything.. (I live in Lubbock, TX)
anyways... I stopped on the pavement before I got in the mud and shifted it to 4WH.. I wasn't running low.. I didn't see a reason to have that kinda torque..
we drove around for about 45min or so.. got the truck crazy muddy.. I wasn't harsh on it or anything.. never got over 30 mph and never even switched it out of drive...

anyways... after we were done.. I got back up on the pavement shifted out of 4WH back into 2WH and it seemed to be driving allright if not normal... and I got about, I dunno.. 400 yeards up the road doing around 30mph and when I turned onto the larger road and tried to pick it up to about 40 the "Overdrive off" light started blinking on me (steadily) and wouldn't shift out of 2nd gear... anyways.. I got about 200 or so more yards up the road stopped at a gas station and turned the truck off..

when I would turn it back on the light was blinking steadily (while in park not even moving).. no code.. I'd turn it off again... turn it back on. same...
I turned it off let it cool for about 30 min or so...
back on.. same.. just a blink, wait, blink, wait, blink.... no pattern, nor code..

then I said **** it.. I'm quite a ways from home.. turned it on.. and it was shifting solid in the "fault protection mode" or whatever... and it hesitated to shift from first to 2nd... other than that its driving fine.. first, second, third, and overdrive... and made it back to my home with no problems...

as far as I could tell tonight there was NO problem with the transmission.. but that light will not reset itself...

I'm going tomorrow to get a code reader and maybe it can shed some light on the situation... but I am still confused as to why that light is so **** about that transmission.. its not malfunctioning.. and nor did it malfunction...

I'm posting here maybe you guys know of a simple way of reading codes on a 1997 F-350... without the code reader as on a GM with a paperclip on the jumpers under the dash...

or if one of you have had a simillar problem..

the only other thing I MAY have done that may have made it malfunction.. was one part where we were off-roading had a bit of a gradual ditch.. no steep sides or anything.. but there was a good 2-2.5 feet of water in the hole... the truck went through it fine.. but the water was right up to the bottom of the doors.. and yes.. was partially over the exhast pipe... I would never think that a small dip in the water would faulter a transmission.. but maybe it can? have you guys ever heard of something along those lines?

this is my first Ford Diesel.. and ford for that matter.. (I grew up on a chevy 1500.. and drove a camaro for quite awhile...)

and well.. I'm curious about this truck and I'd like to learn whatever I can about whatever problems it may encouner..

sorry about the book... I just wanted to get it all out at once..
oh and btw... I'm new to this board..

-Lathan

 

checked it again... this is the 4th total cool-down and start up... and it still does it.. but still drives fine.. its confusing the outta me and its 3am.. I'm going to bed

once it starts.. (while in park) it takes about 7 seconds and the light starts blinking...

I read on a different thread that if it CONTINUES to do it it was a "hard error" or something and not a "soft error" and its ALOT bigger of a problem .. now I'm starting to sweat... someone either tell me this IS a BIG problem or its just a retarted computer glitch... so I can stop freaking out... ...

... go buy a really nice huge F-350 casue the 700r4 tranny on the old pos 88' chevy died and the tranny on the new ford starts to go to ****.. life just isn't fair

 

Check for water in the rear diff, where the speed sensor is located. That will cause the O/D light to blink. The sensor is on top of the diff, maybe you got water into the wiring of it..

Older vehicles handle fording water much better than newer ones - though you have high clearance, there is a lot of electronics attached to things underneath. It is possible that you shorted out something, by submerging it.

Theo

 

possibly.. I'll check that on the way to the parts house to get a code reader.. I'm still gonna check whatever code it threw... thats the dumbest thing to do is to fix it w/o checking the code.. not that you said to do it.. but yeah... I'll check it and I'll be back

 

ok ummm.. they don't make a tool to check the codes on the tranny ? when it makes a tranny fault? I went to O'riley, NAPA, and autozone... all they had were engine code readers and its fine... but that damnned light is still blinking.. is there a way of checking the code from turning the key to a certin way, say accessory, and holding that button down and counting the blinks?, or is there a wayt of checking it by bypassing a resistor under the dash then turning it to on and watching the blinks.. like on a GM? or am I just completely lost... I'm new to ford and I'm not happy with what I've seen soo far.. somebody clue me in.. and as far as I can tell.. the relay ont he differental.. its pretty solid and completely dry.. if there is water IN the rear differental.. I don't see how it could get IN but that would casue alot more damage than just making the light blink.. that would ruin the lubricant in there.. not to mention the posi-trac you'd hear it thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk.. as you turned...

 

ok.. well.. I found a transmission shop here in town that has a pretty good policy.. they will even pull the tranny set it on the desk and manually diagnose every part.. internal and all... for free..
and if you decide not to fix it they will put it all back together and back on your truck.. free.. and let you drive it home.. still broken but free
screw paying the dealer 75$+ to hook only a computer to it

 

Lathan...
The word "free" would scare the H--- out of me...I've heard of that scam in Las Vegas..... Anyway.... I had a similar type quirk.. I was also four wheeling in some slimey muck and used a power washer to try to clean it off the undercarrage.... Afterwards, the tranny seemed locked and wouldn't move untill I reved it up a bit, then it broke loose with a clunk...The tranny didn't want to shift into overdrive... From other posts about that switch, I think I got water inside of the tranny switch where the linkage connects ...I could be wrong about the cause, but it's been working ever since.....Good luck ....
P.S. .. I also have a '97, 350. Auto trans..

 

The Manual Lever Position Sensor has been known to cause problems when it gets wet. It will make shifts much harder, and I guess could possibly make the OD light start flashing. This was a problem on the older E4OD trucks, and could be the cause of your problems. You might try to look into it. The MLPS is on the side of the transmission where the shift lever goes in. I would hate to tell you to replace it and then it not fix the problem, but that's where I would start investigating.

 

Count yourself lucky, my 97 250 went through some hub deep
mud & water, then 15 min later the engine lugged down. Got it
out of 4 whl dr, then about 18 miles later the trans locked up &
spit out a bunch of fluid. Had to have the trans replaced by Ford, but the new unit will from time to time leak or blow out several qts from the front, & 3 dealers don't know what the heck causes it.

 

well... mine might be a re-built allready then.... it blew the front seal.. (cracked it) and was leaking fluid.. it wasn't REAL low when it was flashing codes.. but it was low enough to give it a "slippage error" of some sort.. thats what the mechanic told me.. the computer spit that out..

anyways.. its gonna have to be pulled.. and the front seal replaced and new fluid min.. 350$

if I wanna inspect the internals.. 1250$
re-build with new parts (if needed) 2000$

.... it never "thunked" or made any strange noises... I just think it was low on fluid.. and YES I know that can ROYALLY **** things up.. but yeah... I dunno.. what do you guys think? re-build? or just hold out?

 

Well, mine made quite a "thunk," and felt like the brakes were on.
It welded itself together. Luckily, that time it was under warranty.
It was replaced, & I found out later there are no "new" units, at least this is what the insurance guys said, all replacement
trans are rebuilt. This latest gem started with a small drip from the front, coming from the flywheel bottom cover, which led me to believe it was the front seal, but it was intermittent, and would never leak or drip at the dealer. Lately, it belches out about 3 or 4 qts, and then starts slipping. I then filled the thing up and jacked the rear end way up to see if it would leak from the front,and not a drop came out. It still shifts fine, & no lights
or other indications. Do you have some type of warning light?
Right now it has about 100,000 miles total, with each transmission lasting 50k each. I guess I'll have to have it torn down, as it can't be trusted as is. Of course, the warranty guys
say it's past the 12 month, 12k. It just ticks me off to spend a
bunch of money on a seal, but I'll bet it's more than that.

 

so you're saying re-build?