Welp, 2nd time since i owned my truck in 14 years that the check engine light came on. I am praying it is not my transmission as the truck clunked momentarily as i was rolling to a stop. When i took off. No 1st gear and possibly overdrive

I already had my tranny rebuilt back in 2003 by martin shane. If the tranny is indeed dead, i will have the tranny rebuilt again and then sell the truck.

I wanted to keep this vehicle for another 5 years as i normally get another vehicle every 20 years. My previous dodge did not make 20 years. It lasted 15 years. The dejavu ony two dodges, the tranny broke. Time to change my kharma.

I will contine to be a loyal dodge fan. Will have to get the 2016 durango R/T but i hate the rotary shift dial. My hellcat dreamcae may have to wait a few years.

 

What is the code?

 

It's probably the trans. How many miles? If you had planned to keep it another 5-6 yrs, why change that after you fix it. I make commitments to my D when **** happens . When the exhaust went a couple yrs back, after dancing around 'just get by' fixes, I did full front to back Magnaflow. When the trans went, I went big with a high end torque converter and kevlar bands.

I still love to drive the thing, every time.

 

I am about to find out later this afternoon when my son swim meet us over

 

Do the key on/off/on/off/on thing for the codes. Or, buy an ELM327 off e-bay and Torque for your smartphone.

 

I expect **** happens given the age of the truck. But having to go thru tranny rebuild a 2nd time is enough. The money i was saving up for this truck was to get an exhaust upgrade and possibly some head work to get better flow. Not happening now that the money is going to fixing the tranny. I guess it is true that these 46re trannys arent built to last long. I only had about less than 100k miles on the martin shane tranny. Never towed anything in it. Changed fliuds every couple years. Band adjustments every couple years. My truck was taken care of to the extreme. At least i know the 5.9 is rock solid. No issues at all in the 15 years of ownership.

But you are right. I still love to drive it. Love the 5.9 torque when taking off. Does not need much effort on the pedal to launch.

 

Yeah, those Torquefites were never known for their longevity. If any good at all came out of Daimler ownership it was the redesign of all Chrysler transmissions. The RFE series has proven to be a major step up. That said, 12 years out of a rebuild is pretty darn good though. If the condition of the rest of the vehicle warrants it, I'd have it rebuilt and keep it those 5 years you are looking to get out of it.

Might also want to invest in a cheap code reader. The Autel for sale for around $20 is a good investment to throw in the glove box. Reads and clears codes...

 

I have a odbii reader and also have my sct tuner that can pull the codes. Taking the truck to my mechanic to get a cost write up to replace it with a rebuilt one if it is the trany. I hope it is just a governor or solenoid actuator that may have gone out to save the tranny. I am approaching 153k miles on the truck with about 100k miles on the martin shane tranny.

 

Limped the truck to my mechanic shop. On the way there. Tranny was locked in to 3rd gear. Had to slowly take off from complete stop.

Hooked up to reader and my mechanic eead the code and codes says either pcm or torque converter clutch is out. I will take it could be clutch. If there were issue with pcm, truck would not be drivable.

He will start the visual check by pulling the pan, etc on monday. So far the possibly of the tranny going bad is getting less and less. Fingers crossed and many prayers.

 

Quick Update: Buddha must be watching over me. Tranny and torque converter and clutch checked out fine. We had to replace the governor solenoids and transducers. Truck running fine now! Now back on track to upgrade my exhaust in the near future.