Morning all. Sorry for my first post to be a question, but I am in a bit of a bind.

My 94 Ram started having typical tranny problems - hesitating to go into reverse and not wanting to make the 1-2 shift. So, I bought a filter and fluid, planning to change them and tighten the bands. The truck has 161K on it, 5.9L 4x4. I knew that the PO had changed the tranny.

The problem that I found is that the machined ID on the tanny shows a build date of 1987 so I don't know which model of tranny this would be and what the band "turns" would be when adjusting the bands for that model.

For my searches here and elsewhere, I can't get a clear model designation. It points to an A518 as "pre 94" but another place showed the A518 as 88-94. I guess my 1987 build date could be an 88 model year, but I can't be positive. If it is an A518, it would be 2 1/2 turns front, 2 rear. Can anyone confirm? It is a 14 bolt pan.

 

They are all 14 bolts im afraid. But maybe they mean 88-94 as in, changed in 94, so pre 94 just means the old style.

Try these links

http://www.teufert.net/trans/trannyid.pdf
http://www.carcraft.com/newlook/crc_...ans/index.html

should be able to measure it.

 

I went with my gut and tghtened the bands to the A518 spec of 2 1/2 front and 2 rear. It runs well again. Reverse hesitation is gone and shifts well in the forward gears.