O/d light was flashing, and car is stalling

Maintenance/Repairs
1

Good Evening,

So I left my house tonight to head to the gym, and after approximately 3km, I see the o/d light is flashing and suddenly the engine cuts out, I start it up and continue driving, it revs really high and is stuck in permanent overdrive!

The gym was around 20km away, so I decided to cancel my workout and just drive back home. It cut out a few times, and I had to put the car in park and restart it.

These codes were there before this o/d issue started occurring:

• 106
• 300
• 1141

I went to a shop today, and the kid tried to run OBD→ but the code reader couldn’t pull up any codes (?)

When idling in park, the O/D light doesn’t come on, but as soon as I put into D/R/1/2 → O/D light starts flashing!

Some other symptoms:

• The red battery light came on (brand new battery)

• The dashboard lights brightened and dimmed randomly (must be some sort of electrical issue)

• There is water sloshing about in the passenger footwell→ which may have triggered a short? (Hope my PCM ≠ wrecked)

• Car starts, but wont run on a steep incline , but on a flat it runs fine , tank was full.

• I do remember that there was coolant leaking onto this one connector

What are the quick easy things I should check first?

  1. Input speed sensor?
  2. Vehicle Speed Sensor?

I tested the O/D switch→ its fine.

No I haven’t changed the transmission fluid, since I got the car at 160,000km and followed the advice of my mechanic (which many agreed with) to not bother changing it since it may cause more damage.

I plan on getting another car in the winter (will have some cash inflow at that point) → but this protégé will have to do until then.

What do you think it is ?

Thanks for the sincere help.

2

Get the battery checked, we have seen weird issues with a bad battery as the cause.

3

Older Mazdas are notorious for the grounding straps oxidation causing hard to diagnose issues.
The trouble was that few of grounding straps are located in places regularly bathed in water (and salt in the winter).
Check grounding connections, if oxidation is suspected, clean it up and protect well from further damage.

4

brand new battery

5

I saw that, but there can be bad batteries or connections, start simple.

1 Like
6

You need a scan tool that can connect to the transmission control module, cheap code readers only read PCM faults.

The battery symbol indicates a charging system failure.

The erratic charging system might be the cause of the transmission going into limp mode but the water damage might also be the cause and may mean the end for this car.

1 Like
7

Are those codes you posted “P” codes? “C” codes or what. There is a prefix letter indicating which system has a problem.

8

Thanks for the reply.

How do I find out where these grounding straps are?

9

Yeah I plan on buying a car in feb

10

They are P Codes, don’t know what C codes are

11

look for the thick wires (often with no insulation) bolted with one side on the engine/transmission and the other end on the vehicle body

from my recollection, Protege has 2 of these coming from engine/transmission transmission toward the under-frame elements next to wheel arches, drenched with water, probably there are another few around as usually there are 3-4 straps to make sure engine has a stable ground

on my 13-years old truck I had 2 of straps to rot from the salt water, they were on their last leg and disintegrated the moment I gently pulled on them, easy to replace

when working on grounding straps, pay attention that water will attack them again, unless you protect it.
I used something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Permatex-22058-Dielectric-Tune-Up-Grease/dp/B000AL8VD2/ref=asc_df_B000AL8VD2/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312442771380&hvpos=1o16&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17242715797215479701&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9008156&hvtargid=pla-434092625191&psc=1

12

I have exact same problem:

https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123854188-O-D-Off-Flashing-No-codes

13

Finally got the code checked :arrow_right: Po753 shift solenoid

I’ve also never seen so much water in the car before it’s all on the passenger side

14

https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123852234-P0753-amp-AT-Light-2007-Mazda-2-3L-Transmission-Fluid-Change-amp-Troubleshooting

Need to find a way to check shift solenoid

15

You need to dry out the passenger foot well, that is where the PCM is located. The PCM controls the shifting.

17

Would it be bad to drill a tiny hole in the floorboard so the water
can leak out?

18

With all the other problems your car has, Drilling a 1/4" to 3/8" hole in the floor is probably the best thing you could do to it.

1 Like
19

Rusted fenders , smashed into a curb , thing has lots of problems and this person is concerned about drilling a drain hole in the floor board . Lets hope they don’t hit something vital like a brake line or put a hole in the exhaust.

2 Likes
20

There’s probably a rubber or plastic plug in the floor already that he could remove.

1 Like
21

UPDATE

Located three ground straps, and parked the car on a steep hill so the water could accumulate in the rear passenger footwell, then scooped it all out, and heated up the front passenger footwell as Nevada recommended, I couldn’t get the PCM cover off since I didn’t have the right socket.

Did research on the 753 code: most people say its the TCM, some say the PCM (which is likely because of the major water leak in the car)

Next steps:

  1. Check TCM: Find out where it is and how to test it
  2. Check Continuity on ground straps
  3. Inspect and Clean the connectors → Find out how to remove JC 03 connector
  4. INSPECT RESISTANCE

• Check resistance between ATX connector

terminal A (transaxle case side) and body

ground.

• Is resistance within 1.0—4.2 ohms?

(See 05–17–28 Inspection of Resistance (Onvehicle).)

  1. Check input speed sensor

I just need this car to last until February.