po705 help needed badly!

[northern piper]

3 days ago I had to replace the starter on my 2000 windstar. Everything went fine. On restarting 1 day later I had a blinking od light and found out that my alternator wasn't charging the battery. I've just replaced the alternator and the battery is charging fine I think. I've got a po705 code now. Is this a sensor switch ...??

Please offer advice!

Piper

[CnlK]

P0705 Is: Transmission Range Sensor Circuit Malfunction. The Transmission
Range selector switch is accessible on top of the Tranny if you remove
the Air filter / MAF sensor assembly. A flashing OD light indicates that
a transmission malfunction was detected. You mentioned recently changing
the alternator. My windstar acted very strangely on low battery voltage
when the alternator failed. Try clearing the codes first and and see if they
return. I have not personally changed the Tranny range selector switch, but
there are several posts on this topic that have troubleshooting and replacement
information.

[wiswind]

You may also want to verify that your battery is good.
If it is the original......at 7+years.....you are pushing it.
The reason that I bring this up.....a weak battery will place a extra load on the alternator.....and, if serious enough, can cause your new alternator to fail.

Also, make sure that the battery terminal connections are clean and tight, as well as the connections at the starter (which gets a lot of salt spray down there).

[northern piper]

ok so I've replaced the battery and alternator. The van starts really well. When in park in starting the od light flashes, once you drive away it goes off within about 100 yards. So, I'm thinking it's the transmission position switch (neutral safety switch). I've ordered one but am wondering about proper alignment. Anyone replaced one of these on a 2000 windstar 3.8??

I'm doing this tomorrow (Sat) morning. Any points, ideas, tech tips really appreciated!

Piper

[Ed_Strong]

I'm sorry for resurrecting a very old thread!!!

But I'm having a very similar situation with my 2000 Windstar

It's intermittently flashing the O/D light and I got codes:
P0702 Trans Range Snsr CKT fault
P1702 TRS CKT Intermittent fault

So I would like to know how did it worked for you Northern Piper? Did the TRS Sensor, Transmission Position Switch (Neutral Safety Switch) fix your problem? How easy was it to replace?

[northern piper]

Hi Ed

yes, replacing the trs solved the problem. It wasn't a difficult job to do, a bit tough on the back leaning in. With the air filter housing etc out of the way it was ok. I didn't take the cowl off. The only thing I'll say is that the trs is a bugger to get off. The plastic within the switch was completely attached to the metal post that it moves within the trans. I had to completely break the trs in order to remove it. Once off, I shined up the post with some emery cloth, added a little bit of lube and slid the new trs on. The other thing I found was that it seemed impossible to remove the shifter cables individually but instead I just detached them as a unit. On the new trs I bought, it had an alignment mark so no special tool was needed.

Other than that, it was a pretty easy job.

p

[Ed_Strong]

Thanks for the reply Northern Piper...

I already picked up the replacement TRS and plan on put in it on as soon as the sun starts shinning again!

[Ed_Strong]

Well got it installed today... took about an hour and a half just because the switch was hard to remove and space is so limited. I had to break it aswell in order to be able to take it out. I had the perfect sized pry bar

I took the van to work to test (20 mins mixed driving each way) and everything seems to be in order now. So thanks for the help Northern Piper

[northern piper]

glad to know it worked!