Bricksters,
1986 245 B230F Auto Trans. The OD was permanently disengaged this morning when I set off for work. I pulled the fuse cover while driving and worked out fuse was blown, replaced it at traffic lights and it blew again. There is obviously a bad short there somewhere. Fuse panel says 'overdrive, rear demist, heat seats' (I do not have bum warmers) Any ideas on where to start or should I go straight to O/D relay re-solder.
Thanks
Karl

The relay is always a good candidate for getting resoldered, unless it already has been...

But, that won't be the reason you are losing fuses. That reason has two very common and likely causes, one, the frayed wire at the OD solenoid (dirty job) and two, the broken wire in the hinge of your 245's tailgate.

You can eliminate #2 if you can say with confidence you haven't attempted to demist your rear window between fuse outages.

If you attempt to put a larger 25A fuse in place of the 16A fuse, you may discover the OD relay will now require a jumper around one of its printed circuits that will vanish when the solenoid wire contacts the transmission housing next time.

Thanks Art,
I did not attempt to demist the rear window when I replaced the fuse. I asume there is no power going down there unless the switch is on. Live wire on the back of the switch could be shorting but unlikely.
Most likely then... My transmission was serviced last week (new seals in cooler lines to stop leak) They may have moved/exposed wire to solenoid, I will get under and have a looksee. I also asume that if I remove the O/D relay then I should be able to replace the fuse without it blowing (ie no power down there)
I have never looked for O/D relay, I assume it is behind the centre console (where all the switches and heater controls are) what does it look like? 700/900 FAQ says white hella relay?
Thanks heaps
Karl

Absolutely right, far as I know. The relay is found best by removing the glovebox and reaching in there to the left for a white plastic relay box. If you pull it there will no longer be a path to the solenoid and the fuse should remain intact. It is really a very common trouble even without being aggravated by human intervention.

By the way, if you pull the relay from the socket with the fuse out but key on, you'll see the OD-off lamp get just a bit dimmer, but not go out. The relay actually grounds the wire to the solenoid when de-energized, giving the cluster indicator lamp a solid path to ground. With the relay out of the socket, the ground is supplied through the OD solenoid -- not enough to engage the solenoid but plenty enough for the indicator lamp.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

My problem with relay location is... I have a RHD car (Euro/Australian). So if relay is left of your glovebox it is in fact left of my instrument cluster. I wonder if any RHDvers out there could let me know the best way before I rip into it.
Thanks a lot for your help.
Karl

Sorry, Karl, I've been reading your posts and know you're in Australia. I knew that US-centric view was going to get me again. Maybe this will help. I find my OD relays, and the one I got from the junkyard a week ago, clipped up near the top right of the console front, so if your glove box is just to the left, you might have to reach a tad further into the console area.

The socket for the relay has a blue, one white, two gray (or grey), a red/yellow and one black ground (or earth?) wire. Whoops, now I'll be over-sensitive for a while if that's possible;-) You might be able to follow the gray wires up from the switch on the shifter. With the possible waste of a fuse, you could try to find it by listening.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

Got it out, it is behind soft trim panel that covers the steering column. Re-intalled fuse, fuse does not blow, rear demister works OK, O/D light does not come on either. I am at work now so can not get under there in carpark, it will be dark when I get home to0, will just have to do without O/D for a couple of days.
BTW I will re-solder relay this afternoon at work (large electronics manufacturing facility).
Thanks Again
Karl