Wont go into overdrive!
01-24-2017, 10:09 PM
#1
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Nebraska
Posts: 55
Wont go into overdrive!
Found a new problem with the 2003 Mustang my daughter just bought 2 weeks ago. Today we were heading out of town, as she was gaining speed it kept shifting back down from 3rd to 2nd, then back. When we got out onto the highway I noticed the tach was reading about 2800 rpm's. I pushed her OD off button, the light on the dash came on but it did not shift down, leaving me to believe it was not shifting into OD.
I cant say what was happening when it kept shifting from 3rd to 2nd and back because I was a passenger. She might have been pushing it causing it to downshift due to the position of the accelerator. It seemed to ride fine with the exception of the high RPM's and the overdrive button not changing the shift.
When we got back to town she had to take a lap around town before heading home. It shifted fine through first, second and third around town but she never got over 30mph so it never tried to go into OD.
The car has the 3.8 engine with 94000 miles. The OD off light comes on when the button is pushed. No check engine light and the OD light is not flashing.
Got home I checked the fluid, it looked nice and pink like it should and did not have a noticeable burnt smell to it.
I cant say what was happening when it kept shifting from 3rd to 2nd and back because I was a passenger. She might have been pushing it causing it to downshift due to the position of the accelerator. It seemed to ride fine with the exception of the high RPM's and the overdrive button not changing the shift.
When we got back to town she had to take a lap around town before heading home. It shifted fine through first, second and third around town but she never got over 30mph so it never tried to go into OD.
The car has the 3.8 engine with 94000 miles. The OD off light comes on when the button is pushed. No check engine light and the OD light is not flashing.
Got home I checked the fluid, it looked nice and pink like it should and did not have a noticeable burnt smell to it.
04-28-2017, 05:36 AM
#3
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: ohio
Posts: 3,628
Im surprised nobody answered this question, from the op. But these auto transmissions are electronic. They rely on a slurry of data from various sensors, from engine temp, to rpm, throttle position and even speed values. The very best thing to do is take the car to a dealer or somplace that can put a tech2 scanner on it and get some live data .
04-30-2017, 11:53 PM
#4
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Nebraska
Posts: 55
So far we have not done anything to fix it, but it has been working fine....... for now.....
At the same time this was going on, she was blowing her starter fuse every few days. She hasn't blown a starter fuse in over a month too, so I am wondering if these are connected.
She did blow a starter fuse just the other day, first in a long time. It was raining when it happened, so I am wondering if water is getting into something causing a short.
I can only assume that the transmission and overdrive issue is either something electronic that has not acted up in a while, or it was maybe a fluid issue. The car was parked in storage for a while before she bought it. As soon as it warms up I am going to change the fluid and filter just in case it had some sludge in the transmission that was causing troubles. The car has 95,000 miles on it, and I don't know the previous service record, so it is time to go through and change all fluids.
At the same time this was going on, she was blowing her starter fuse every few days. She hasn't blown a starter fuse in over a month too, so I am wondering if these are connected.
She did blow a starter fuse just the other day, first in a long time. It was raining when it happened, so I am wondering if water is getting into something causing a short.
I can only assume that the transmission and overdrive issue is either something electronic that has not acted up in a while, or it was maybe a fluid issue. The car was parked in storage for a while before she bought it. As soon as it warms up I am going to change the fluid and filter just in case it had some sludge in the transmission that was causing troubles. The car has 95,000 miles on it, and I don't know the previous service record, so it is time to go through and change all fluids.