Why is my Overdrive dash light blinking?

[ckennedy]

Last year I bought a used '93 Corolla (automatic, 1.8 litre). It only had about 100,000 km, it was an autopac write-off so was refurbished. Unfortunately it did not come with an owner's manual. It has been running well until recently. Lately the overdrive dash light has been blinking off & on (is not on initially when I first turn on the car but comes on after 3 or 4 minutes in traffic). When I click the O/D button off, the rpm's go up like it's supposed to. The other thing that is happening is that I sometimes do not have power on acceleration. When I put my foot on the gas peddle the car moves very slowly, then all of a sudden the surge kicks in after maybe 5 - 10 seconds. I don't know if this is related to the O/D lite blinking or not but it started happening at the same time. I took my car my garage and they suggested a tune-up, which I got (plugs, wires, rotor and cap, fuel filter). The problem actually seems to be worse since then and my gas mileage is crappy. When I took it back to the garage, they said they did a computor diagnostics and couldn't find anything wrong. Being of the female persuasion I am not mechanically inclined, so am finding this very frustrating. Does anyone know what the problem might be?

[ksbrace]

I googled for "corolla overdrive blink" and came up with this:
http://www.faqfarm.com/Q/What_causes...n_a_1988_Camry
It says you have to go to a shop that specializes in transmissions. It sounds like the blinking light is an error signal that Toyota transmissions use for self-diagnosis.
It is also discussed briefly in another thread in this forum:
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t95700.html
I'd take it either to a dealership or a transmission specialist for a diagnosis.

[ckennedy]

Thank you for your help! I shudder at the thought of taking it to a transmission shop but I guess I'll have to break down and do that.