Ford Explorer

I have an 05 ford exp xlt with well over 160k miles. It’s been pulling a little for quite some time now and I’ve recently had to have the fuel pump replaced. But it’s been working well. About 6 days ago a small suv side swiped me. Immediately after pulling away the od off light went on and my car had a lot of trouble getting out of 1st gear. Once out of 3rd it drives fine. But the od off light still stays on. Then about 2 days ago the engine fail safe mode and wrench light went on for a few minutes and turned off hasn’t been back on.

Sounds as if the transmission shifted. It may have damaged the driveshaft or moved over the rear end. I would get it checked out quickly.

Are there any oil puddles under the Explorer? Are they red? Automatic transmission fluid is red and that sideswipe might have damaged a transmission line. The hit may have damaged the wiring to the transmission causing the problems you describe. Does the truck actually shift into overdrive even though the light is off?

Have it checked by a mechanic right away in any event, especially because there is an accident and a possible insurance claim involved. There is no way for any of us to diagnose what might be wrong from the internet without a better description of the damage.

Get this checked out ASAP or you’ll end up walking soon.

Without checking the tranny codes and working on it hands-on it’s impossible for us to do other than speculate what the damage is from here, but I think most of us would agree that your Explorer’s ECU is doing everything it can to get your attention and tell you to head for a shop immediately. You might even want to have it towed, because if you have a damaged tranny coolant line and you drive it like that you’ll do more damage with every mile… and the cost to repair will rise accordingly.

Maybe a speed sensor was damaged. That should not be a major fix.

That would be fantastic, because it wouldn’t cause further damage.
Let’s hope that’s what it is.