Weird transmission issues on a '95 Celica AT (possibly electrical) Options

[deadwolfbones]

Today I was driving home from work on the interstate at 75mph and suddenly the Overdrive Off light came on my dash, then it disappeared, then it came on again, and it kept flicking back and forth like that (with resulting gear shifts/RPM changes) until I manually pressed the toggle off and on again (probably 4-5 on/off cycles). After I manually toggled the switch, it stopped doing it for the remainder of the drive.

Any idea what might have caused this, whether it's a symptom of a larger problem, or what it might cost to fix if a cost is necessary?

The car is running perfectly otherwise, btw.

This post has been edited by deadwolfbones: Nov 13, 2012 - 11:16 PM

[Smaay]

thats an indicator that its time to get rid of an auto and get a 5 speed.


just kidding, i wish i could answer your question but instead im just going to clutter up your thread.

its possible that the ECU is seeing a short in the connection between the OD button. the button itself could be failing. the transmission might need servicing.

This is why i dont do autos

[zfjohnson07]

Did u check ur over drive oil?

[Special_Edy]

Overdrive shift Solenoid?

[deadwolfbones]

Update: commuted to/from work again on the interstate today without any issues. Weird.

[zfjohnson07]

look under the shifter it might be coming loose.

[Galcobar]

Overdrive engages only when the transmission is up to the necessary temperature, and engine RPMs are high enough. When the overdrive is flipping on and off, your first suspect is the overdrive solenoid or speed sensor.

[deadwolfbones]

New update. Car did another weird thing today.

I was in stop & go traffic on the interstate forever, basically, and after a while I noticed it was having a hard time getting going again after traffic had come to a stop. Eventually realized it was staying in 2nd gear and not shifting down to 1st.

I drove like that the rest of the way home. Once I got home, I put it in park, then back in drive, and it was still launching in 2nd. I put it in 1st manually and it behaved as it normally would in 1st gear. Back to Drive... still tried to launch in 2nd.

So I turned the car off, started it back up, put it in drive... 1st gear, totally normal. I took it out for a quick drive and it never repeated the odd behavior.

I figure there's some kind of weird electrical glitch going on, but I have a feeling it's still gonna cost me big bucks, even if it isn't mechanical.

[trdproven]

I suggest pulling the tranny error codes. That's your first step. This time u count the o/d blinks for tranny.

[deadwolfbones]

I suggest pulling the tranny error codes. That's your first step. This time u count the o/d blinks for tranny.

Yeah, definitely will do.

In the meantime I drove it to and from work today and it performed totally normally.