I hear ya. Didn't mean it to sound like it did. What I meant was, I had problems with the same year and engine size and was surprised of the differences in transmissions. My 01 Ram was a different beast that this one is.

SJ02

 

swung by a shop this afternoon and had them scan it, came up with four codes. P0740 torque converter open circuit, P0868 line pressure low fault, P0867 line pressure fault, and P0218 high temp.

 

today I stopped at a few auto stores, nobody had transmission cooler flush kits. the dealership only sells the fluid ( come to find out its just mineral spirits). so I went to hone depot and picked up some tubing, hose couplers, hose clamps, and a gallon of mineral spirits ( all for less than what the dealership wanted just for the flush). tomorrow after work I will flush it myself and see how that goes... going to gravity feed the flush into the cooler via the return line, and use air pressure to blue it all the way through the inlet line. while at the dealership I got the torque specs and diagram for removing the valve body. just in case it turns out to be the solenoid...

 

well the flush worked great... flows nice and smooth... the only problem was that it wasn't clogged with anything.... and I mean it was really clean!

 

I stopped by a different shop today, and they scanned it and drove it around a bit. they said they can only see it is getting hot, but they're computer doesn't allow them to see what percentage the tc is slipping. That think it's the tc and not likely the solenoid. guess I'm in the market for a new tc now!

 

That's what mine turned out to be. Mine was $600 installed, but you can get the TC's by themselves for around $300.

SJ02

 

that's the price the shop said as well. I found one online for $130 reman... thinking of doing this myself at the base hobby shop with the help of a buddy.

 

Go for it!

SJ02