Was off roading today and got caught in some pretty nasty sand. Had to engage my rear airlocker to get out because my front driveshaft isn't hooked up yet. Took about 4 back and forths to get out of this stuff. Finally got out and stopped the truck to let my dad get back in. As soon as we started moving forward, it jumped out of first gear. I immediately let off the gas. When rpms came back down it shifted into second and threw a check engine light. I hooked up the reader and found a P1763. The transmission is practically brand new. It was a standard rebuilt for like $1300 ordered online from transdepot if I remember correctly. Since I installed it I've put maybe 6 tanks of gas in through the truck. We had to keep driving because we were deep in the woods. It shifts great from 2nd to 3rd to 4th to O/D. Only prob is I no longer have 1st gear. Climbing a couple hills was really rough. Even if I put it in manual 1st, it still starts off in second. Every time I take off, it feels like I'm driving with the parking brake on.

What I'm wondering is will this problem correct itself? I was thinking that maybe because I was giving it hell to get out of this sand trap, gov pressure got too high and is having a hard time coming down. Is that even possible? What's also troubling is I haven't really even hit the big hills or holes yet because I don't have my front drive shaft hooked up yet. The truck right now is 2wd and already having problems. I'm running 4.10 gears and 35" tires.

 

Call the company you got it from, and have a chat. See what they have to say.

 

So I hooked up the code reader today and cleared the code. Took the truck around the block and everything is back to normal. Code stays cleared, truck has first gear again. I guess when I was romping on it, pressure got to high. Hopefully it will not do this in the future when I really start hitting the trails hard lol

 

Well, I thought I dodged a bullet but I guess not. Took the truck out today. Drove great for about 20 minutes. I was sitting in a drive through line and noticed the check engine light came on. When I went to pull away from the window, I noticed immediately I didn't have first gear. I tried clearing the code, but as soon as I went to move the check engine light came on. So frustrating.

What I want to know is what is causing this P1763 code. With the transmission being practically brand new. I'm stumped. Governor solenoid or the governor pressure sensor?

 

If it's under warranty, it's not your problem

If they won't give you a 1 year/10,000 mile warranty....pick a new shop.

 

Unfortunately I've had the thing for over a year. I ordered it then couldn't work on the truck because of school. I still have the old transmission. I'm thinking of taking the governor solenoid and sensor out of that one and swapping them into the new one to see

 

Unplug the electrical connector on the drivers side of the trans, about halfway back. It's an 8 pin connector, plugs straight down into the top of the valve body. See if you now have first gear. (you won't have ANY automatic function though, no TCC or O/D either.) So shift up/down when appropriate. (doing this when the trans is warm, and tends to fail, would be best.) If the trans now works, and goes into the gear you tell it to, when you tell it to, just replace the electronics. Governor pressure sensor AND solenoid. Don't do just one, do both. Use the Borg Warner heavy duty solenoid set. Better design than stock.

 

So, today I had to move the truck. I never cleared the code from yesterday. Take it out of the driveway and with the code still thrown, it somehow has first. Really confuses me. I decided to keep driving it to see what would happen and drove around for a while having first gear even with the code. I still went ahead and cleared it with the reader. Next time it throws the code and actually takes away first, I'll unplug the connector and go through the gears like you said.

To get it straight, your test shows that everything is working fine mechanically inside the trans and the electronics are messing things up?

 

Correct. Quick and simple test.

 

It's been consistently into the 90's down south and I'm starting to wonder if this is an overheating issue. When I rebuilt the engine, one of the few things I didn't replace was the radiator. I'm also running without the fan shroud right now. The other day in that nasty sand I remember the temp crept up to almost 220F by the time we got out of it, and the truck also got close to that temp during the longer than normal time waiting in that drive through line. Both of those times the P1763s were thrown shortly thereafter. What's interesting is I never get the Trans Temp light no matter how hot may engine gets. Could it be a heat issue?

I was looking at radiators the other day and found one for a Dakota with the 5.2 that had an external trans cooler attached to the front of the radiator. Would that work with my 3.9? My ideal setup is new radiator with external trans cooler with and electronic fan in addition to the serpentine fan.