I have a 98 2500 with about 130K miles. Over the last several months when I started the truck and went down the road, it would hesitate shifting from 1st gear. After it shifted the first time it was fine until I stopped and killed the truck. It did not matter if I waited 5 minutes or 5 hours to start and go down the road, the first time it was to shift out of 1st it would hesitate. A couple of weeks ago it stopped shifting out of 1st all together. I felt it was an electrical problem from the beginning. I have stopped by a couple of transmission shops and one dealership and they all want to rebuild. I replaced the valve body (that contains all of the electronics in the transmission) and still have the same problem. Last night I pulled the electrical connection from the transmission to see what that would do. It put it in "limp" mode and started out in 2nd gear and stayed there. I was able to drive it but when I went 100 yards down the road and came back, the transmission was very hot. What am I missing???

 

perhaps the fluid level isnt right, so it cant build the proper pressure neeeded to change gears. problems like this is why i got a manual trans, so much simpler, but gl with fixin it

 

I'm not all that familiar with the diesel setup, but it may be the check valve in the return hose that goes to the bottom of the radiator is stuck or clogged(probably not that though).But if you think it's electrical, you could replace the Gov. and TC solenoids and sensor , which are located inside the pan next to the valve body.

 

I have checked the fluid level when I changed the valve body. All of the sensors and other electrical components have been changed with the new valve body. I think it is something outside the transmission. I cannot find anyone that can tell me what controls the shift. Either controls or allows the 47re to shift.

I have not heard or thought of the cooling lines. How should I go about checking those. Will there be any other problems with taking those loose and blowing them out?

Thanks for the replys so far...