so yesterday was my bachelor party. and a bunch of us guys went camping at alleghney st park in ny. and i drove out there cuz i have tons of space for camping stuff. and on our journey out there. the d did great except for when we stopped and stated to go again. it seemed like the d was slipping while trying to engage into 1st gear. but only happened in 1st gear. and only after i had been driving for a while. but last week i did the tranny filter gasket fluid change. and when i did that the fluid seemed bubbily. one of my friends told me he had a similar problem with his f150 a while back. he said his 2 in 1 radiator got plugged on his tranny side. and he ended up just putting an external cooler on the front of his radiator. because his fluid wasnt circulating and causing his tranny to get hot and causing it to slip as well as his fluid looking bubbily. do you guys know of this happening to d's often. having the tranny cooler getting plugged in the radiator. also could i just do the same thing he did and purchase a front mount radiator for the tranny and just remove the lines from my existing radiator and splicing it in to new lines for the front mount radiator.

 

which transmission are we looking at here?? i have heard of filters being installed incompletely (incorrectly) causing them to not seal properly and cause low fluid pressure, low fluid pressure causes a slip condition.

 

my truck has the 5.2ltr 44rfe transmission. i know i put it in correctely. immediately when i drove it it felt likea new truck. the old filter had never been changed. it was still the original steel cased filter it was caked in gunk. the new one i got from autozone had no casing on it. i was suspisous of it being the wrong one when i dropped the pan saw it had a steel casing on it and the new one didnt. but it was the same shape and all the holes lined up.
so i guess what im asking is if my tranny cooler is clogged or slightly clogged or if my tranny is just going bad due to the previous owners neglect. and i know they severely neglected the d cuz i have only owned it for almost 4 months now, and i have dumped almost 4 grand into it trying to get all the problems worked out. and im way past the point of trying to sell it cuz i would lose out on thousands. i may as well keep it and finish fixing it.
so my fluid is bubbily,1. and after driving it for a while it slips when in 1st gear after a stop. but after 1st gear every other gear shifts fine.2. except for when i try to pass someone and then it doesnt want to down shift far enough to excelerate pass someone.
please i need some advise.

 

the filter problem is usually on the 45rfe, not the 44re (yours is an re, rfe means fully electronic control which means no bands)

i do have to ask if you adjusted the bands while you were in there?

also is the fluid foamy even if the trans has not been slipping (as in drive it and all the shifts are ok, is the fluid foamy?

 

the fluid never got foamy. just looked like cherry soda with bubbles. and no i didnt adjust the bands at all. i didnt even think of that and i dont know how to do that. nor would i know where to look for the adjuster. lol. sorry. probably wrong terminolagy. i just need some serious help and i really appreciate all your input. and helping me trouble shoot this issue.

 

Did you change your governor and solenoid ?
Also you check your speed sensor?

Here Found this in the forum> https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...-issues-5.html

 

I would get the bands adjusted and make sure it's filled to the correct level with ATF +4 and go from there....

 

People don't just swap out parts when doing a simple fluid filter change, it's not needed and most likely replacing it will have no effect? It is simply unwise to just go replacing parts for no reason.

Anyway,

I see 3-5 issues you can look into.

1. Fluid will become "bubbly" if you are overfilled with fluid, or if you are under filled. You first need to check the fluid. To do this you have to have the motor running and have shifted through each gear for at least 2 seconds. Now while the engine is still running place the trans in neutral and set the park break and test the fluid level, ensuring you are parked on flat ground. There is a "COLD" mark which is just a slight reference point, but then you really need to have it to full operational temp and check to see if it is at the "HOT" level, add fluid as needed or remove fluid.

2. Use of incorrect fluid. Make sure you are using ATF+4 or ATF+3 fluid only. Do not use any other fluid saying it is compatible, because it isn't.

3. The filter, there is an O-ring style seal on the outside of the filter neck the plugs into the valve body. When removing the old filter you have to ensure that you remove the old one because they like to stick to the inner walls of the orifice. If it was left in there the filter does not seat correctly and will suck air causing your issue. Most likely you have the right filter, but I would ensure that you do as well. This can cause "bubbling" of fluid as well or lack of fluid.

4. Trans adjustment, while you have the pan down you should adjust the transmission bands. The front band adjuster (forward) is on the drivers side next to the linkage on the outside. It looks like a nut with a head inside. You hold the bolt inside and loosen the outside nut, then adjust and lock it back down. Anyway once you have the pan off and your looking in at it you will see the armature hooked to the adjuster. Now find the center of it that is hanging down and pull down toward you snug. Now adjust the adjuster to give you 1/4" to 1/2" clearance from the drum. The rear (reverse) adjuster is located inside the pan and same adjustment applies.

5. TV Cable adjustment. Search for it here in the Durango section. I don't think this is your issue, just an idea.


As for the radiator being plugged, that is most likely a incorrect analogy. Manufactures sometimes install one way check valves to keep the systems full, so they don't bleed back to the pan. It is usually inline on the "HOT" side (Pressure) side. It can stick and cause lack of fluid and that is what most likely happened to your buddy. When your buddy took off the lines he most likely removed the valve not knowing what happened. On yours you do have an inline check valve, it is located right between the hard metal line and rubble line interface, right under the main fan. If you notice one has a metal part in the center of the connection, and one doesn't. The center connection piece is the check valve and that is your "HOT" line. It can be removed but you need to do some playing around to get them not to leak of course. If you do take it out you have to shift out of park for about 10 seconds when cold to prime the system before taking off, meaning you just can't take off without causing damage.

Did you notice anything in the bottom of the pan that was broke? Hopefully you cleaned off the magnet an re-installed it back in the bottom of the pan.