Yup you should have the 46RE which you said you did.

 

When checking the TV cable also check the the mounting points on the tranny. I had the outside sheathing mount become disconnected and hte tranny acted really wierd. Like all cables, the sheathing has to be attached at both ends AND the cable has to be attached at both ends or the cable cannot slide through the sheathing. Another forum member had the same problem as I did and found his connections at the tranny had come loose.

 

well i have an hour before the girlfriend gets off work so im gonna head out there and take a look and see if i can find something simple thats out of whack

 

ok, let me tell you how funny life is and how much I love this town! I went out back and started pokin around, the tv cable looked fine, checked the connections, etc. Now my check engine light has been on for a while. it was throwing the code for cylinder #4 misfire. One of those things i keep meaning to figure out and fix but haven't had the chance. So I get to thinking maybe its throwing a code for the TPS or something tranny related now. So I decide to drive the Ram 5 blocks down the street to my local Auto Zone and use their code reader to see what codes its throwing. I get there and its packed so I get on line for the parts counter to borrow the reader. when its my turn I ask for it and the guy standing next to me in line says, "neah, i got a better one you can use. what are you driving?" I told him its a 98 Ram 1500 and he says "Oh perfect, I'm a Dodge mechanic!" ok, cool.

So we head out to the parking lot, he grabs his code reader from his truck and we go to mine, he plugs it in, its now throwing codes for cylinder #4 misfire, number 6 misfire and random cylinder misfire, but nothing for the trans. So he tells me to pop the hood and start it, i did. he takes one look under the hood, points his finger at the passenger side exhaust manifold and says "thats causing your misfires". the gaskets on the exhaust manifolds are leaking and sucking in air. ok, sweet, thats a pretty cheap and easy fix for that, but im having real issues with my tranny. So he says go down three blocks and hang a right, go down half a block and pull into Pacific Transmissions, ask for Jesse, tell him Scotty sent ya (my name is also Scott BTW) and he'll diagnose it for you for free. SWEET!

So I go over another couple of blocks, walk in, theres Jesse sitting behind the counter. I tell him I just ran into a guy named Scotty at Auto Zone and he sent me to see you. Jesse asks me what i drive and what its doing, I describe my problems. He asks if its here, I say yes, he says ok, lets go for a drive. So we get in, he drives and amazingly the tranny was doing exactly what it has been doing. (that never happens) So he drives it around for a bit, shifts around manually on the column, listens, etc. we go back to the shop, he checks the fluid which is full. then grabbed his reader, hooks it up, it doesnt throw any codes so he says ok, lets go for another drive. we take off again and again hes trying various things, different throttle, etc. now we get back t the shop and he says he thinks theres a stuck valve in the tranny. as we are pulling in now we hear a grinding noise that was not there before. He says ok, leave it here, I'll drop the pan tomorow and see what the problem is and call and let you know what i find then you can decide what you want to do from there. He asks where i live and if i need a ride, i said no, im only about 8 blocks away, so i handed him my keys, left my info and walked home.

So tomorow i should be getting a call from Jesse to see what the deal is. I'm praying its just a small part in the tranny that went south or something and its not totally destroyed. If its something major I'll see what he would charge me for a rebuild, a new tranny, etc then weigh my options out from there.

but hows that for a weird series of coincidences?

 

I'm not quite sure the "gaskets" are leaking.... Im about 99.9% sure that the stock manifolds do not have gaskets at all. So is the dodge mechanic really a dodge mechanic?? You may have fallen into some luck, but just be careful. Most of the time for the random misfires, usually a tune-up is done, and if that doesnt solve the problemthe cat is replaced because it is clogged. The only other time that I have seen for missfire codes, would be for heads that are cracked. Wish ya luck.

 

well I'll say one thing for this shop, they are fast!! and the customer service is great. Seems Jesse, the owner is working on my truck personally. Anyway he called me at about 10 am this morning, he had dropped the pan and found ALOT of metal shavings in it! Now bear in mind I just drained and changed the fluid 2 months ago and that pan was spotless when i put it back on. Se asks me when i can be there to take a look, i got off at 2 and went straight there. He greeted me with a smile and asked if i wanted to see the pan. walked me back into the shop and showed it to me. man there is a hell of alot of metal shavings in there. like a good sized layer across the whole bottom of the pan. He said thats whats causing the problem, the shavings are getting into the vavle body and makin the valves stick. So he said next step is for them to pull the tranny out and tear it apart to see where the shavings are coming from and to check and clean out the valve body. $325 for that and he said that 325 will get applied to whatever work they need to do to fix the problem. So not too bad at all in my opinion, though admitedly i've never had to have any tranny work done on any of the vehicles i have owned so i dont have anything to compare to.

So he said hes gonna pull the tranny out tomorow and tear it apart, then call me when its apart and tell me what he found. also said when he calls if i want i can come in and check it out myself in person which i will of course do. I'm hoping its just a washer or something that got chewed up and that it didn't destroy anything else internally. guess i'll find out tomorow

 

OK, I REALLY like this shop!!

Jesse called me up this morning, told me he had my tranny out and on the bench and to come on over. So I go over and theres the tranny in one piece on the bench. he tore the entire thing down right in front of me and walked me thru everything he was doing and looking at. there was alot of metal shavings everywhere in the tranny. Jesse said its also been rebuilt somewhat recently as the torque converter was red and the clutches were all in very good shape. As Jesse had predicted after the test drive, the problem had started in the overdrive unit. the planetary gears in the OD unit were blackened from heat, they were also loose or had alot of play in them and one of the teeth on one was chipped. we found the chip floating around in the housing.

So Jesse said he really only needs to replace three smaller parts in the OD unit. hes still gonna pull apart the valve body and check it over and clean it out. Also needs to replace the torque converter because it too is full of metal shavings. Hes gonna call the manufacturer and find out the stall speed on it. then get prices for the other parts and call me back with a quote this afternoon.

So I asked since its apart if we can install a shift kit while hes in there, he said no problem. so what shift kit should i be looking at and what stall speed torque converter? My truck is my Daily Driver and hauling rig and I use it to tow my YJ with. So what would you guys recomend?

 

stay with the stock stall for towing , shift kit : transgo TFOD-HD2 , either replace the check valve or take it out (as i just burnt my OD gear again) either get a deep trans pan or get a drain plug in the stock pan.. You see the overdrive gear ?? nice and black..lol..

 

oh yeah, it was definitely pretty black and nasty. Like i said i really like that Jesse walked me thru the entire tear down and showed me every part as it came off. Hes gonna fluch the lines really good and I will mention removing the check valve to him. Is this the right shift kit here?
http://www.transmissionpartsusa.com/...-052930hd2.htm

i already have an aux tranny cooler and temp gauge installed on it.

 

our trans are a 46re , A518 , torqueflite , this is what you want..
http://www.transmissionpartsusa.com/...-54931ahd2.htm