Another Fix For "Transmission Surge At Cruise Speed"

Racinfan83 · #1 08-20-2006, 04:17 PM

This was e-mailed to me from another forum, I believe. It is VERY interesting. I wonder if some of those of you that have replaced the TPS and still have the problem have THIS problem instead......

I was researching the auto forum and saw your
posting and was shocked to see that your Dodge has the same problem
mine
had. I also have a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4. I was experience the same
problem you were stating. On a level road at around 65mph the tach was
turning 1800rpms and it would feel like the trans would slip and the
tach would raise to 2300rpm momentarily and return to 1800rpm. It
would
also do this going over a bump at 65mph. I went to the local Dodge
dealer and had them look into it. A very long and expensive story made
short, I ended up having the governor solenoid replaced. The slipping
issue still did it when I got the truck back. I gave the truck back to
them and they said that they could not find any problem so they
reprogrammed the PCM and had me come in and go for a ride with the
mechanic to show him when it would slip. The mechanic saw and felt the
slipping and told me that it felt like the "two/four clutch pack" was
slipping and would require a full trans rebuild. After the rebuild the
mechanic took the truck out and it still slipped! After several days
of
troubleshooting and a full tank of fuel and the problem being escalated
all the way to Chrysler Tech Support the problem was found. There's a
5
volt signal cable internal to the transmission that tells the torque
converter to lock-up/unlock that rubbed through the insulation and was
momentarily shorting out on the side of the transmission's valve body.
So the slipping was not the transmission it was the torque converter.
On our truck when the drive train is put under the load the manual
operation of the torque converter works normally but when the drive
train is not under a load such as on a level road and maintaining a
speed the electrical operation of the torque converter control circuit
takes over. Well, after that 5 volt control ware was replaced and
secured so this will not happen in the future the truck is running and
shifting great. I paid for the trans rebuild but I'm going to Dodge
through the local district manager and demand the part of the bill that
I paid for labor charges refunded. I should not have to pay for
unnecessary work done to my truck as a result of misdiagnosis.

I hope this helps you. I tried to respond on the forum page but I was
unsuccessful at creating a profile for that page. Please post this on
the forum so that other's can benefit from my misfortune. This issue
can be verified by calling the mechanic that worked on my truck. His
name is Isaac and he is located at Pearson Dodge in Midlothian,
Virginia
(804) 794-0300

This is interesting. Many of us have fixed the problem with just a TPS replacement, but I know some have replaced the TPS with no results. I also wonder if the wire he describes goes to the TPS somehow...... I replied to him to find out what forum he was on, and to get him to come to THIS ONE. Hopefully he will get registered on this one shortly.....

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Rogmatt · #2 08-20-2006, 04:32 PM

Forgive my ignorance. What is a TPS??

RideNfree · #3 08-20-2006, 05:18 PM

ROGMATT :

TPS Is Throttle Postion Sensor, If Im not mistaken.

DieselDemon · #4 08-20-2006, 05:21 PM

I'll tell ya another common problem that was always misdiagnosed by dealership mechanics. I kept bringing my 95 Ram back because it was coming in and out of lock up. Hit a bump and the tc would come out of lockup, then lock back up again. Anyway, long story short, the plunger switch for the brake lights was improperly set. There was a small amount of loose travel in the brake pedal. When I hit a bump, the brake pedal would move just enough to allow the brake light switch to be activated. And of course, the tc would unlock.

It wasn't until the mechanic finally road tested the vehicle and discovered what was causing the problem. He discovered it when he set the cruise control. Again, we'd hit a bump, but this time the cruise control also disengaged.

I understand that your problem was not the same as mine, but I thought I'd pass along that info in case someone else was experiencing erratic tc lock/unlock.

Adios...

shott8283 · #5 08-20-2006, 06:55 PM

man... in the end thats exactly what happend to my truck.. TC locked and unlocked and wore itself out

jkbarger · #6 08-20-2006, 10:44 PM

I'm the person that e-mailed my problem to Racinfan83 and he posted it here on this forum. If anyone has questions about this I've redgistered on this forum now.

titan2087 · #7 08-21-2006, 06:22 AM

HAHAHA dam its a small world (Pearson Dodge in Midlothian,
Virginia) I live just 20 minutes from the dealer and thats where my dakota came from (back when it was chesterfield dodge) and thats also where i payed 120 frecking dollars just so they could pull up the computer code just so i could diagnose a bloody gas cap seal gone to crap......

Biggmee · #8 08-21-2006, 01:08 PM

Okies ...

I am still doing battle with the dreaded surge ...

I am gonna look in the manual from the Christmas Thread ....

SOunds like the Tranny will have to come out to fix it though, and I do not have the place/tools to do it ... [:@]

Ram4Aaron · #9 08-21-2006, 02:37 PM

Okay, so now where is the wire? Is it easier to change that than the TPS. Sounds like one wire would be more simple than changing the TPS.

Any ideas?

steve05ram360 · #10 08-21-2006, 03:03 PM

wow! Thanks for that info Racin.

For anyone with the problem of the TC locking & Un-locking, start with by checking the brake switch as mentioned earlier, it's free if it's just an adjustment, then go to the TPS, it's cheep and easy to swap, then if that doesnt fix it, bring this info to your tranny guy and see what he can find.