hey guys, so i havent been on too much in the past month. big blue didnt get driven for about two and a half weeks. however have since fired her up....

i know alot of threads come through here, and i see alot of new names:; so ill recap briefly.

i have a 46re and about a month ago or so, the tranny started acting up. It would not shift out of first. so i dropped the pan changed the solenoid and sensor, adj the bands, put new filter, and atf4. i also dropped the valve body and inspected/cleaned it and put it back. for about two days the truck shifted better then ever. on the third day, it started to not shift again. i took it to a tranny shop and spoke with someone. they said either the bands were shot or no friction in the clutch pacds. i drove it to work pushing it it in first gear, then decided i didnt want to do more damage so i parked it. that weekend i took a look and the pan was still oily but there was no oil in my driveway or at work or any where i parked. i dont have the money for a tranny so i shared my wives van for a week or so, to get to work. i really started to miss my truck, so i decided i would take another look. first thingf i noticed ws a bolt was missing. so i went to the junk yard and grabbed a couple. also grabbed a second magnet. came home check the adj arm on the rear band and put in a second magnet ( dont know if it would help or not) then i refilled with 4 qrts of atf4 and one big bottle of lucas, i figured if friction was an issue thiat **** is THICK its gotta help...
drove it to work the next day and checked the fluid, was a little low. so i added another qrt. i started to drive the truck to work again. i would manually shift from drive to drive2 and back to drive to get my rpms to drop a little so i wouldnt red line, also use the red lights on the main road i travel to help with the not shifting outa first. next day i checked it and it was kinda low again so i added another qrt (or is it liter?) and a half bottle of lucas. during this time besides manually shifting i would play with the gas peddle. next thing i know it started shifting, i picked up the clue..... soft minimal gas peddle pressure!!! now i can drive around town and even on the highway. my transmission will shift out of first or any gear if i put barely any and i mean minimal gas pressure and slowly accelerate to speed. if i have just a hair too much gas pressure it wont shift outa of first, BUT if i put the truck in neutral and coast a second down the road just long enough for the tranny to kick into neutral then reshift it to drive and stay easy on the peddle it will shift. no leak that i can see yet my fluid is funny and hard to check, no matter how much i add it always seems low, the hotter the truck the lower it will look. the pan is deff not leeking anymore. ive reset the pcm and i have a haynes and a service manual zman lol
oh yea and ive check the cable that goes from throttle body to tranny. i dont know why such light gas peddle pressure gets such good response but Big Blue is holding tough and im getting to work! almost got enough for a new tranny in about a month should be set to buy one

 

Strange that is is always low but no signs of a leak.

Are you going to have that one rebuilt or buy another one? Think Viper!

 

it is strange ive checked EVERYWHERE and spotted no leaks. when i run the truck for 20min to half hr around town and check it, the dip stick will just be wet, if i wait 5 minutes about 1/3 of where it should be will show up, wait ten minutes and itll be like a bottle short of where it should be. also when i pull the dip stick you can see smoke/steam coming from the dwell. however ive heard several times that tranny fluid will burn but not to the point of evaporation. also it seems that the more i drive it the better its getting with not being so touchy on the gas peddle and shifting. as i said when ever it doesnt want to shift ill coast in neutral for a second then put it in drive and be easy on the peddle and it will shift. i dont under stand why such light throttle would help it shift....
as far as rebuild probly not, but not quite sure i have about 500 saved up. i found a couple places for a new or rebuilt tranny for 1000 to 1300 even one from a local shop that has a pretty good rep for 900. so in that case id only need another 400 and can come up with that in a week. but if this tranny i currently got in there holds on then i could save for a nice rebuild and get away from the oem and beef it up a bit. its all up in the air, right now depends on a couple things for instance how long the current tranny holds out allowing me to save and such.

 

I would have it built better than stock such as upgrade gov solenoid and Sure Cure Kit. If you can afford the higher temp frictions, it will be worth adding. Hopefully the shop you are considering is knowledgeable in this. Also, don't cheap out on torque converter. If you have a wait a little longer and save up more it will be better in the long run.