Hello!

I changed M45 with M46 yesterday on my '79 244Gl...
The donor was '86 245. The first thing that seemed odd was that when I removed the OD relay complete with wires I noticed that the red wire that goes to the OD unit was disconnected at the blue connector near the shift hole... Instead of it there was another piece of wire going from blue connector back to relay (not sure which terminal..). From relay back to relay,excluding the red wire that goes to od unit....
I guess this is the reason why the OD did not dissengage when I shifted from 4th down... I could engage the thing in *any* gear...
Anyway now when I moved the thing to my 'new' brick I tried the way that it should be (removed that extra piece of wire and connected the red wire) and now I get some really strange thing going on down there... When I start the car there are bulb failure,parking brake,amp,etc. lights on and won't go of. When I shift to 4th gear and press od button I can hear the od engage and the control lights go of. I went to test drive and all seemed to be OK until I shifted to reverse... Uuuu, some unhealty sounds from below...
My guess is that OD somehow stays engaged (even if I hear relay click when I shift out of 4th)????
I remember briefly I once forgot to turn of the OD on (donor) 245 and tried to go backwards... Sth. like the clutch slipping...

Any ideas???

Can somebody tell me where the yelow wire going from OD relay to instrument pannel connects... On 80- bricks it's terminal 4 on the round connector in the back of IP...Is this the same for older cars?

Thanks for help in advance!

'79 Ivch
'79 244Gl
'82 244Ti
'86 245T parts car

I managed to solve the thing!
Thanks for help to you all!

I disconnected the red wire going to the 4th gear switch and put another piece of wire instead...Connected all together again and now it works fine...

No more backwards with OD on, now it works *only* in 4th gear.

Ivch

The doubling back of your Red wire was probably to bypass the 4th gear switch by connecting it to the Black (permanent Ground) wire at the relay harness plug. This may be indicative of a failed or misadjusted 4th gear Sw. As you know, this workaround can be hazardous to your OD's health.

Be sure you have the momentary contact pushbutton on the gear knob - not the earlier slide switch which is always-on or always-off.


OK....Wires in the harness plug to the OD relay:

Thick Blue, from Fuse panel, joined in plug's spade connector to thin Blue which goes to OD switch on shift knob (via a two-prong connector under carpeting on trans tunnel). Has 12V whenever ignition is on.

Thin Brown goes back from shift knob switch to that connector under carpet, but there it's joined to a Black which then goes to OD relay plug (I think to the 'central' terminal)

Other thin Black goes to chassis ground on central console frame.

Red goes to 4th gear switch on trans (when grounded, allows relay to operate)

Two Yellows joined in spade connector..this is the relay ouput. Thick goes to OD solenoid, thin goes to OD light in cluster - don't know pin ID.

Going on my memory here...be warned. I have all this in an Excel diagram and can send tonight if you give me your email.
--
Bob (son's 81-244GL B21F, dtr's 83-244DL B23F, 'my' 94-944 B230FD; plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, hobbycar 77 MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)

Sounds like a bad relay.

--
Mike!

Possibly the wiring to the 4th gear switch on the transmission, or the switch itself. I'd probably put the wiring back as-original and troubleshoot from there.

My '84 has a nonstandard OD relay now (an experiment gone wrong) and my wiring kludges have allowed the OD to remain on in all gears. REVERSE WITH OVERDRIVE ENGAGED CAN CAUSE SEVERE DAMAGE. I've done it twice out of forgetfulness, but caught myself before anything broke.

Good luck!

Al A.
'82 245 GLTi