WTF?!?! ever since I swapped the rad and put the mechanical fan back on, my shift light keeps flashing now... WTF would cause this? and why is it all the sudden doing it now? how does the shift light work? is it through a knock sensor or what? I have noticed it feels like the motor has picked up a slight vibration now when you wind it out a bit... could that be the cause? guess I will convert it back to the electric fan...
Is this in your MN12?
Are you referring to the 'O/D OFF' light in the cluster?
If so, I think it flashes when there is something wrong with the transmission. You may consider scanning it for codes to see what may be active and/or pending.
I once pulled the pan to do a fluid and filter change and found some parts laying in it (fantastic!). As it turns out, the TC shift solenoid blew itself up and never threw a code. My O/D light has never flashed.
no it is my XR-7, my MN12 is a 4.6L which has an electric fan.... It is my "shift" Light in the lower right hand side of my guage cluster.
From the 84 shop manual:
Turned on by the EEC based on engine speed and manifold vacuum levels.
There is a top gear switch on the transmission case. The switch opens to keep the light off in top gear.
Really they had a shift light? Why would an auto trans car have a shift light?
Maybe a canadian car thing but I think that is an O/D light here in the states.
I think he's talking about his 88 XR7. It's a shift light (an arrow, IIRC). I was not even aware that it was active in these cars, kinda like the "Check Turbo" light in the full digital cluster.
Dunno about the early TC/XR7s, but we had a '86 2.3 Stang 4 speed with the shift light... Mostly ignored it...
Didn't know any 5.0 bird/coug had a active shift light...
yep, for all the people that dont understand here are some pics....
(http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/1WLDBRD/DSC03980.jpg)
(http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/1WLDBRD/DSC03981.jpg)
(http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/1WLDBRD/DSC03982.jpg)
I just noticed today that it didn't come on, so I am not going to worry about it now...
Wow I didn't even know that had a bulb in that socket on those cars.
This is a new one on me as well. I cannot find any hint of it in my 1984 & 1986 EVTMs, nor my 1987 shop manuals. Softtouch, what is the circuit number/page number in your book? Is this a 4-cylinder thing, or a V8 thing, or a Canada thing? Seems like most of us Americans haven't heard of it. I've certainly never seen that indicator in any of the clusters that have gone through my possession over the years.
RJ, did you swap this cluster in or is it the original one?
wow i've never seen one of these at all, but i've got a aport coupe. (i got the other 2 lights on the left side as many of you do.)
From the 84 shop manual:
Body Chassis Electrical Section 33-15.
Shift Indicator Lamp:
Vehicle Application-- LTD/Marquis, Mustang/Capri with 2.3L engine and manual shift.
It's purpose is intended to provide optimum fuel economy
Emission Diagnosis & Engine/Electronics.
Pinpoint Test KL shows it turned on by the STO (Self Test Output) pin 17 from the EEC.
This is the EEC pin that outputs the codes and, if you have one, turns on the check engine light. Since 84's didn't have a check engine light there was no conflict.
This is not on 84 T-Bird/Cougar
It is the original cluster, and The bulb has alway come on, everytime I start the car, (like all the regular warning lights do) then goes out right after start up....
It has NEVER came on when driving, even when reving up to redline before I shift, even before I swapped to the electrical fan, til I swapped back to the mechanical fan.
RJ
i was out in my garage last night at 2am trolling through this in my manuals.
I cant find a thing about the existance of a "shift" light on that buttstuffog cluster , especially with an AOD. I even flipped through the AOD rebuild section in the power train book with no mention of the shift light.
My first thoughts last night were to ask you if the car previously had a standard trans and you were not aware of it.
Im still digging
Ill take a wild crack and look through my emissions manuals just for the heck of it. I suspect if the info exists, its buried in an obscure topic.
Thanks J, but please tell me when has the FACTORY '88 5.0L XR-7 EVER came with a 5 speed?
the way you guys are talking, I am thinking it must be a Canadian car thing, since it sounds like you guys are calling me an idiot that is seeing things... (even with pics to prove it)
I've seen it in US clusters. I bought a cluster from somebody on here (Crystal maybe?) a few years ago that had it. The US cluster was identical to the Canadian ones I've had (including the one in my car), except for the metric speedo.
As for why that is coming on in YOUR car, I have no idea. I've never seen it lit up before in any T-Bird I've ever owned (including the brief stint with the 5-speed TC). It might be a Canuckistan thing, or it might even be another market thing, but even still, it should be a M/T only thing, as in "only in Turbo Coupes and four-cyl XR-7's".
I don't know, RJ...when you've got several people pouring through their manuals on their own free volition and trying to figure this situation out logically (with very little success to this point), I wouldn't exactly consider them to be condescending. Especially when one of those people is a 20+ year veteran of these cars and has still never seen this.
We already know that Ford employed several different versions of the Turbo Coupe cluster between 1985-88, and not just the gauges...the actual housing too. It's probable that, at some point, this one with the 'shift' light was used on some cars but we don't know which cars, nor why. As Carm said, it was probably intended for manual cars but we all know that no 1988 XR7/T-Bird Sport had a factory manual transmission. Now, with that in mind, we're simply trying to backtrace the whole thing using the resources at hand.
In my mind it's either legit or a mistake. Legit, as in, if the light's tracer wire does indeed go all the way back to the EEC-IV module and/or transmission. Mistake, as in, the bulb should have been hooked to the 'Check Engine' tracer instead. Either way,
something triggers the bulb. Once we find out why, we can deduce why it's suddenly not working as before.
I found part of the old cluster that I got from Crystal and lo-and-behold, it has the light. I also checked my car (cluster from Canadian '87 TC) and it has the light too, but not active. If only I could find the white plastic "bucket" with the PCB on it from this old cluster to see where the traces go...
*EDIT* I've just checked my '88 owner's manual and it doesn't show the light (scan of pg 18 below). I dunno if Canadian manuals are different from American ones, but I doubt it because there are plenty of "USA ONLY" and "CANADA ONLY" notes throughout it
Carm, I'll see your owner's manual scan...and raise you two. ;)
1988 Cougar owner's manual, September 1987 printing:
(http://www.coolcats.net/ximages/88xr7cluster01.jpg)
1988 Cougar owner's manual, June 1987 printing:
(http://www.coolcats.net/ximages/88xr7cluster02.jpg)
RJ, is it possible for you to remove the cluster and follow the tracer on the flexible circuit board from that light to where it plugs into the harness, and note the position and wire color in the harness? That will help a lot.
yeah I'll try and get around to it later tonight, or by next weekend... I have a ton of work on other cars to get done here yet...
wasn't triing to sound condesending, but when I show pics of it on and working and people still tell me it cant be.... well gets kind of frustrating.... and asking if it use to be a manual tranny when EVERYBODY knows they NEVER came from the factory with it that year.... you get the picture...
thanks for all the help and ideas though, I do appreciate it... could it be a "code" light, like the "check engine" light
the reason i mentioned the 5 speed was for a good reason. Back then, you could pretty much sit down with the salesman and layout line for line what options you want.
I have this thought that someone was persistant in thier demand for a 5 speed behind a 5.0 and is willing to pay the price as well. Said salesman walks back and talks with the manager. Manager says ill talk with the techs and get back with you in a a few minutes. Techs say hell yeah we can do that, told you ford should have seen this coming. "send that car back here and we'll show you it can be done".
So, rolling forward, you inherited a xr7 with the possibility of it previously having a 5 speed.
There should be evidence of its previously being there but im not sure if you have looked at the hump to locate the shifter hole.
It was just an idea because i cant for the life of me understand why a shift light would be useful on an AOD, stick shift yeah but not an aod.
So, as of a couple nights ago while talking about this with my brother in law, we both concluded its likely a mistake or, Its likely an option the dealers got a memo on that would become an added feature due to the high public demands for a stick on the 5.0.
Isn't the check engine light on a separate harness than the rest of the bulbs on the cluster? Does your check engine light work?
yep, check engine light works too....
Try pulling codes and see what blinks.
Does your "BRAKE" light work?
Nope. You could perform slobbing the on a salesman and it wouldn't have gotten you a 5.0, 5-speed XR-7. Just didn't happen from the factory. A dealer might install one if you paid enough, but that wouldn't get you a special cluster.
It's more likely that the instrument cluster bezel was common from 85-88, and in '85 the SHIFT light may have been a consideration (even if it wasn't actually used). An automatic car wouldn't get its own bezel, nor would an XR-7 (I'd bet that if any XR-7 or Sport owner were to look closely he'd have the ABS and Check Turbo lights, but not active).
A similar scenario would be the "Check Turbo" light in the 85-88 full digital "Disco" dash. The full digital was never available in a turbo car, but the light is there. At some point FoMoCo probably considered it and just didn't change the cluster when the idea was nixed.
None of which explains why Ron's is lighting up...
yep...
and X2 to all that...
1 thing that the light would be useful in an aod.. at least for me. a couple years back i got stuck in a parking lot b/c my car wouldnt shift out of park. this was before i was mechanically trained, but anyway, the button on my floorshift auto broke and my dad got it fixed with a ziptie. so basically i can shift on the fly (OD to D is the most common) but i can use 1-d-od if i so choose, and when in 1 a shift light would come in handy so you dont over rev.. ??? just a thought but i have no idea why someone would either order it from a dealership with that or it could be anything but a mistake.
And on top of all that, every engine, tranny, rear end combo had to be emissions certified...
You could special order/delete certain items in the OLD days(like maybe into the 70s), but it ain't happened in the last 30 years... Process was done through District Special Order(DSO), where the car would have a six digit DSO instead of the normal two... Usually even then it was for special trim or paint... At one time your car could be painted any color available for that particular model year... Have a woodie for School Bus Yellow??? No problem... The full size Fords Hi Po 406 & 427s were one of the exceptions... BUT with those it wasn't what you could get, but what was NOT available when you ordered the engine... NO P/S, P/B, or AC, no exceptions... Now days District Special Orders are mostly Fleet vehicles...
One of my cousins was assembly line maintance supervisor over at Norfolk assembly... He mentioned his son couldn't get a rear in his F250 truck like he wanted, that the particular rear was only used in Diesel models... I said "Hell Lee you can't fix that"??? Reply was "no chance, every piece is accounted for when it arrives, would screw up inventory for all the models being built after it(this was '94)... Anyway in Lorain assembly you'd probably been hard pressed to find a 5.0 5 speed tranny much less the bellhousing, clutch, etc...
Have that light in my 91SC,It only comes on in the top of the rev range in 3rd gear.
It's like a (don't blow my motor light) i ignor it anyways as it comes on at like 4000rpm in 3rd(have an aod)and goes out when it goes into od.