My 1984 245 has the AW70 auto trans w/od.

Started the car today, and the yellow OD OFF light came on immediately - and stayed on. Tried clicking the switch on the side of the gearshift, and got no response whatever. Tried turning off the key and restarting. Same problem.

Started driving. Got up to speed, and OD would NOT engage. Switch still useless. I gave up on the switch. Finally, 2 miles down the road, there was suddenly a click. Light went off and OD engaged. After this, the switch worked normally. Got to my destination. Let the car cool off. When started again, everything normal.

Is my relay starting to go? I've heard about people re-soldering these relays...where is it located (somewhere behind the glove box?), and how do I fix it?

Sounds like a standard, run-of-the-mill OD relay glitch. Before you spend a penny, pop the cover off your relay and resolder the small internal printed circuit board. $0, 15 minutes, no risk, clean 'n easy work. If it doesn't help you're out $0.

The first pix below shows the relay location (your relay is either white or orange, the blue relay is for the standard tranny).

The second picture shows the circuit board for an OD relay, and if you look carefully you can see several cracked solder connections.

The third picture shows the same relay after I resoldered it. The relay still works great.

Take off the glove box, and look to the right, It usally is clipped on to the dash there. You can find used ones on ebay for about 10 dollars. Or scout around at the Pick'nPulls for one.

-Bruce