Hey guys. So my truck is doin some wierd stuff lately. over the last two weeks I have been experiencing an on and off issue with the 46RE auto tranny in my 98 Ram 1500 Quad Cab with the 5.2L Magnum V8. Doesn't seem to matter if the overdrive is on or off, it still does it.

Whats been happening the last few weeks occassionally is the following:
Sometimes when I get in it and start it up, I put it in drive and go to take off, give it some gas and it very slowly begins to move, even if im on the pedal more. after a few seconds it catches and goes. Now the really troubling thing happens on the highway. when I accelerate to speed sometimes the tranny won't up shift. wont go from second to third or from third to overdrive. I have discovered when this happens if i let off the gas and shift into neutral for a few seconds then back to drive it will then up shift when i get back on the throttle. Now as i said this has been an on and off issue. another issue i have noticed is when i take off from a stop while turning it seems to shift into second pretty rough on occassion. Now as i said this issue has been on and off and liveable. Until today.

Just went to drop my gf off at work and boy was it having issues shifting! Wouldnt up shift from first to second, had to do the neutral trick. same thing from second to third and third to OD. then when i was cruising on the highway I moved over and barely tapped the gas to accelerate and pass and the tranny must have downshifted 2 gears cause the engine revved up to 4k RPMs then of course wouldn't shift back up until i did the neutral trick. then on the way back home when i was steady on the gas it would pretty much shift out of gear and the RPMs went to redline but it wasn't getting any power to the wheels at all. Also noticed my tranny temp gauge shot up about 50 degrees. Got home and checked the tranny fluid and its full and doesn't look or smell burnt.

So whats the issue? what am i looking at here? Do I need to adjust the bands? the kickdown cable? rebuild the tranny? I do NOT want to take it to a tranny shop if i can avoid it. bunch of schiesters if ya ask me, and I have the tools and know how to fix this myself i think. Just need to know where i need to start looking.
TIA for any help or advice you all can give

 

its time for a rebuild... you can try to adjust the bands , maybe your trans filter is clogged , drop the pan see if you got sludge , metal shavings ? if so she is spent..

 

i doubt the filter is clogged. just changed the fluid and filter two months ago when i added the temp gauge. I didn't adjust the bands while i had the pan off though since i wasn't sure how to do it. only after i buttoned it back up did i discover the bands are supposed to be adjusted every time you have the pan off. could that be causing the issues perhaps?

Anyone got links to a place i can buy a rebuild kit?

 

51 views and just one response?

is there really nothing else i can check that might be causing this issue? the TPS maybe? man it never rains it pours. first i find out the restaurant i work at is closing then my tranny craps out on me.

OK so if it does need a rebuild here are the options i am looking at:
#1 rebuild it myself. get a rebuild kit and shift kit (since im in there) pull the tranny out, tear it down, try to rebuild it myself without screwing it up and slap it back in and hope i did it right. this option would i think be the cheap route, trouble is downtime with the truck. i figure this would take me at least two days.
#2 get an aftermarket tranny and slap it in. up shot here is downtime would be minimal, probaly a day for the swap max. downside is cost. I was looking at the doctor evil trans as the cost isn't too out of control.

so what are my other options here? I'd like to keep this at 2k or less if at all possible and keep down time to a minimum.

 

If you get a new tranny check out APS

 

yeah i read your post about APS in the other tranny thread yesterday. Problem is i really can't afford that kinda money on a tranny right now. I'll shoot them an email regardless and see what kinda quotes i can get, but i have a feeling its gonna be priced outta my budget

 

Your sure your TV cable didnt break the retainer on the TB linkage set up? Just sounded like the cable is moving around and your shift points are getting messed up.. also.. I think the nuetral trick might have something to do with the pump???I know the fluids arent pumped in Park.. so maybe by shifting into nuetral, your getting pressure by getting the pump working??? Torque converter could be shot...theres a couple of guys here who are really good at tansmissions.. really know theyre stuff.. give em a day or two maybe you can get better help from them.. sorry...

 

If I am not mistaken I belive you have a 42re the 46re is what is behind the 5.9l. I have rebuilt my 46re and it is not a job to be taken lightly and I probably wouldn't do it again to be quite honest. But basically I spent about $150 on a reman TC, $150 on a rebuild kit, and about $100 on new valvoline synthetic fluid. So I had about $400 in parts give or take a little. I would say it will take about 6 hours to drop the tranny, maybe 10 to do the rebuiltand another 6 to put it back in. The PDF of the factory service manual was quite helpful, so was having someone to help, because these things are very heavy.

Before diving into a full rebuild make sure your fluid level is topped off. Drive the truck around and get it up to operating temperature. Get it on a level surface and run it through all the gears and stop and leave it in neutral. Apply the parking brake and check the fluid level with the transmission in neutral. If that checks out adjust the bands to spec also the FSM come in hand here. Those are just a couple of things to try before tearing into a rebuild. You could also take it by a transmission shop and have them do a diagnotic on it too if you would like.

 

I don't know much about the trannies in these vehicles, but I do know this...

The 42RE was only behind the 3.9L V6. The 5.2L and 5.9L both have the 46RE.

EDIT: Unless of course you have a pre-1996 model year truck, which would mean you have a 42RH or 46RH. But the truck here in question is a 1998, so thats irrelevant.

 

got the build sheet in front of me, its the 46RE. havent had a chance to check the tv cable. Im off on saturday though so i'll be able to poke around under the hood and see what i can see. i checked the fluid level as mentioned above and it is full. it looks and smells good. im really hopin its something simple.