Transmission and odometer acting up

[tjt756]

I have a 2003 Ranger with auto transmission and O/D. This morning I pulled out of my driveway but seemed to be stuck in first gear. I could switch to neutral, park and reverse just fine, but it wouldn't leave first gear.

I then manually switched to 2nd gear on my auto transmission, and it shifted. I then switched back to "D" (drive) and it started working normally by switching gears, but I noticed that when it automatically shifted from first to second and second to third it was rough. It felt like when you drive a manual and don't know how to release the clutch slow enough. I also noticed 2 other things when it started switching gears correctly:

1. The O/D light blinked on and off. Pressing the button that would enable/disable O/D had no effect, it just kept blinking.

2. The odometer and speedometer stopped working.

When I got back in my car an hour later, I had the exact same phenomenon. It was at first stuck in 1st gear, but the odometer worked fine and so did O/D. When I forced it out of first gear (by manually switching to second gear) the O/D light began blinking and the odometer stopped working.

I've only had the truck for a month, but it was working fine before this.

Any ideas what to check for?

 

[tjt756]

One other thing...

I just remembered one more thing that might be interesting... In a few instances I've noticed that my car won't start when I turn the ignition because although I have it in park it doesn't seem to think I have it completely engaged with "P". But if I shift out of park and back into park, then I can start the truck fine.

I'm wondering if I've got an issue with a cable line or something that controls the gear shift?

 

[enjr44]

I just remembered one more thing that might be interesting... In a few instances I've noticed that my car won't start when I turn the ignition because although I have it in park it doesn't seem to think I have it completely engaged with "P". But if I shift out of park and back into park, then I can start the truck fine.

I'm wondering if I've got an issue with a cable line or something that controls the gear shift?

In a word, yes!! Do a search here and then Google adjusting the Ranger shift cable and watch a couple of you tube videos.