1995 probe: overdrive light is flashing on and off constantly

wmichaelx

what are the possible reasons for this and how would i go about fixing it? please help!!!!

lngtonge18

Is yours a 4 cylinder Probe? If so, you more than likely have just encountered the major flaw with the auto tranny on the 4 banger. These trannys are known for failing due to inadequate cooling and/or not changing the tranny fluid often. The OD light flashing on and off constantly is alerting you to the failure of the overdrive unit. You can tell if the overdrive unit has failed by noticing whether the car will shift into overdrive or not. The only way to fix the problem is rebuilding the tranny to the tune of $1000-1500. Unless you are lucky and it is just a faulty sensor. Did the OD light start flashing after getting off the highway? This seems to be when the tranny fails most often as the tranny is under a lot of heat stress and that is what it was poorly designed to handle. Apparently, the interior passageways for the fluid are too small and constricting to allow proper cooling properties. Sorry to bring you this bad news, but I'm afraid to say you are looking at a tranny rebuild. How many miles are on your car? The tranny seems to fail between 40K-85K. If you would like to hear some more details and see just how widespread this problem is, go to the Mazda 626 forum. All 93-97 Mazda 626 four-cylinder, MX-6 four cylinder, and Ford Probe four cylinder used the same automatic tranny. It is a Ford design flaw, not Mazdas. Depending on the mileage of your car and whether you have any warranties, you may be able to get compensation for the repairs. Most have had to pay the entire repair but some have got partial repair compensation by Mazda, not sure whether Ford is as willing to negotiate. Hope this has been helpful to you and I wish you luck. Let me know if this is your problem.