Hello All,

I've recently experienced some tranny related issues with my 1997 1500 4x4 (5.9L). The truck has the original engine and tranny and has 168,000 miles on her. About 60 days ago, I started feeling some converter shutter and around the same time, my check engine light came on. The code pulled was P1757, which is related to Governor Pressure/Solenoid. I ran it past my local mechanic, and he advised adding Lubegard to my tranny fluid. Within a day and change, the shudder quit and, after resetting the computer, the check engine light has not come back on. About 2 weeks ago, I began to notice the torque convertor locking up, somewhat roughly, at 45 miles an hour and, it will only lock up between 45 - 55 miles an hour. If I accelerate past 55, it will not lock up. Is there any reason it won't lock up at higher speeds? Are there any adjustments/settings to be checked? I had it test driven by someone at AAMCO yesterday, and he feels the tranny is probably still in decent shape but the torque convertor is on it's way out. Does it make sense to replace just the torque convertor? Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks.
Tim

 

A lot of TSB's on the 46RE/47RE. No posts yet on my thread but I did find the coolant system is the fault for many tranny probs. The outlet line from the cooler has a check valve that gets plugged and reduces flow creating extra heat and failure or MIL lights. The coolant line is also known for failing at the plastic clips due to heat and the same check valve failure. Also from the heat the brass fitting on the drivers side of trans fails from the above. There are new hoses that remove the check valve, new fitting with a stainless insert, and special flushing instructions to prevent failures. The cooler also is known for plugging from debris that will flush right back into the pan and filter.

My truck will get a new pan filter, new outlet line and fitting, external filter and a remote cooler bypassing the factory cooler that seems to be the biggest failure in the system. Thermostatic valves will control the coolant flow without failures known to the Dodge system. Unfortunately my trans is toast. I would not have known unless I dropped the pan and looked at the oil (black and burnt smell) and seen the magnet in the pan with a large rosebud flower of band material stuck to it. Probably the worst pan inspection I have seen in 30 years.

I'll try to link in the TSB listings on my post on the 97 tranny cooler?????? Good luck. My rig is at 308,000 miles and this is the only major failure so far.

 

Thanks for the information but there hasn't been an issue with overheating. I guess my biggest question is, why will the torque converter lockup between 45 and 55 miles per hour but will not lockup at speeds over 55 miles per hour?

 

We didn't see the overheating until we dropped the pan and saw 5 fresh quarts of oil blackened and smelling burnt. At first it was just a small pinhole in the cooler line. After pulling the line and breaking a fitting we pulled the pan. Failures can be caused from the heat including torque converter failure or electrical shifting failure. Check for codes and get a free diagnostic from AAMCO or whatever is near you. Of course the pan will have some debris from the bands and the filter will be darker. Look for metal shavings nice and shiny. Smell the dipstick to see if it smells burnt or like fresh fluid. Read thru some of the TSB's and you might get some ideas of where and how to check the electronics for the lockup.