dorge ram diesel tranny problems

[oops!]

i have a 98 ram 2wd diesel. auto trans.

yesterday with out notice, the truck wouldnt shift out of first gear.

i pulled over and down shifted, then up shifted into drive......after a few moments....it shifted normally....????

it did it a few times only after i turned the truck off.

i checked the fluid....it seems high, and very watery.....but no milky looking fluid.

i am about to change the fluid and see if i can pressure test the in radiator auto trans cooler.

an i off track>.....should i be looking in a different direction?...possibly a shift valve or filter somthing or other?

the tranny was re built about 30,000 ks ago


thanks
oops

 

[ssb33r]

Re: dorge ram diesel tranny problems

sounds electrical, there is a relay, usally on the firewall for the transmision, if you want i can email you a wireing diagram for the truck. Also the TPS can cause erratic shifting issues

 

[oops!]

Re: dorge ram diesel tranny problems

i just checked the tranny cooler......i just quickly looked....it is a total seperate cooler.....and no water flows thru it.

noklu looked at the fluid and sait it was ok....not burnt, and said the watery condition was normal...????

it seems to shift only after a while......allmost like its building up pressure ....after about 5 mins after starting....it shifts fine......but slips after it starts????

 

[ssb33r]

Re: dorge ram diesel tranny problems

it slips after it starts?? follow the lines from the remote cooler, im pretty sure youll find they run thru the rad as well, ill pull up the truck and see what i can find. gimme a few

 

[ssb33r]

Re: dorge ram diesel tranny problems

does it have a SES light or anything of that nature on??

 

[oops!]

Re: dorge ram diesel tranny problems

does it have a SES light or anything of that nature on??

nuthin....all indications are good.

 

[ssb33r]

Re: dorge ram diesel tranny problems

ok if the rpm gets high enough will it shift?? You know when you normally leave a light and mat it and it runs to almost redline it finally shifts?? If you take it way up does it shift to second??

 

[oops!]

Re: dorge ram diesel tranny problems

basic answer....no.

i found that it will come out of bull low....(but it still seems like low gear as the top end of that gear ratio is only about 10 mph.....i can drop it into low....and it will shift down.....but not up.

if it was elec....what is the possibility of an intermittent shift? or a normal running after about 5 minits?

 

[ssb33r]

Re: dorge ram diesel tranny problems

if i still had my scanner id come out and tell you in about 5 min whats happening, sounds like governor issues to me, whether it be governor pressure solenoid or pressure sensor or tps, all of witch are well known issues. Hell it could even bee the speed sensor. Speaking of witch, your speedo workds right?? If i had to bet on it i would say its prolly the governor pressure solenoid. You said you had planned to change the fluid?? If its been 30k on the rebuild and not done yet its a good idea to do that. When you pull the pan look for chunks of crap, some on the magnet is normal but chucks are bad news. Who rebuilt it?? Did they convert it to take dextron 3, or does it still need ATF+3??

 

[Numlaar]

Re: dorge ram diesel tranny problems

Even though it was rebuilt 30k ago, it sounds like you have a valve body going bad...

When the internal seals in the valve body start to deteriorate they shrink, and allow fluid to seep past, which causes it not to shift... when it warms up, the seals swell enough to stop the seepage, (sending the fluid where its supposed to go), and its starts to shift normal...

I drove a car like that for years, just let it warm up about 15 mins in the driveway before I took it out.

GL with it.

 

[jimr]

Re: dorge ram diesel tranny problems

I bet the little fork that holds the shift band is broken. I had one at work do it on that one it happened to jam in there in such a way it wouldn't go into park all the way so I found it when I dropped the pan.

 

[pmat1]

Re: dorge ram diesel tranny problems

Torque Converter Solenoid?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: dorge ram diesel tranny problems

I started to have slippage with my '90 Chevy and it was recommended I have a fluid change done where they drop the pan and replace the filter (I had previously had a flush done). That solved my slippage problem completely.