MonteC,

I am currently running an underdrive pulley with electric fans and the voltage at idle is not sufficient to charge the battery/run various electrics. The stats on the pulley say full charge at 850RPMs

What would be the highest safe idle RPM to boost charging? Don't want to die in stop and go traffic.

 

As far as the transmission goes? You can only idle the engine up so much before it starts to pull forward. Once the converter reaches stall speed it will start producing heat. For example if you have a 1500 stall converter it will be really trying to move because the converter is working harder to multiply torque, you may find it difficult to keep the truck still, requiring more brake effort. Now if the converter has a large amount of heat at idle thats not good, the cooler can only do so much, you need a lot of moving air to keep it cool, as in a fast moving truck.

That being said i wouldnt idle the motor up past 1000rpm, it will become uncomfortable to drive in traffic, you will get harsh engagements, and make more heat.

Honestly you need to address the charging issue. Either upgrade the alt, find a different pulley for the alt, or ditch the under drive pulley. Idling the engine up is doing nothing more than compensating for the problem, and creating problems along the way.

 

Hi MonteC.
I know you are a busy person and I appreciate everything you do on this forum. I have removed my transmission from my truck but want to be absolutely sure of which transmission I have. My truck is a 97 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 5.0L. How do I find out which transmission my truck uses? Is there a number on one of the information stickers attached to the truck? I have searched the thread for any information about this, but couldn't find any (in all honesty, I think I saw a post about this somewhere on this thread but could not find it using a search and I don't remember which page it was located on.) Maybe one of the moderators could combine all special information into a sticky at the beginning of the thread; to include the transmission rebuild parts list and how to find out which transmission a certain Ram has.
Thanks again,
Stuck in L.A.

 

I think the easiest way is to call a nearby chrysler dealer, ask for service department, give them your vin, and they can tell you exactly which tranny you have. otherwise each number in your vin tells a different story about your truck, you can find all the things online for what each letter/number stands for....

 

Ok lets try and start this over. I'm just a self taught home mechanic like most everyone else on this forum.
ok... so, a scan tool, not a code reader! Theres a good start. I wasn't sure there was a difference. Never worked on electricals on a vehicle this new. I'll look into getting one or using one, and i'll report back what I find.

As far as the bushing. it had frozen onto the old TC, so I didn't see it when i was rebuilding it. Until after I got it back together and running (with a leak) of course. replacing it was in the manual, but it was the one end of the tranny I was starting to rush on because I was getting excited. All i'm looking for here is a confirmation that a worn bushing in the pump housing is probably the cause of the large leak.
it's not the TC, it's new. the front seal is new. the gasket is new. the TC is pulled out 1/8" when it's bolted onto the flexplate. Again, I'm just looking for a profesional opinion that the pump housing is causing a leak through the front seal because the bushing is loose....

The rest of the tranny I feel confident in ( I may be wrong of course) but I went through it twice (yes twice) to double check i had everything right. So let me know what you think of the leak issue, and I will get back to you when I have it in place, non leaking, and use a scan tool on it. Thanks for your time, and sorry for the long post....

 

This is a pretty easy answer. Your engine is a 5.2L not a 5.0L and your tranny's a 46RE. If you email dodge for a build sheet, they'll send you a detailed sheet for your truck.
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...nsmission.html
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...smissions.html

 

Thank you for pointing out an error I made. I have a 5.9L, not a 5.0L. Does the 5.9L engine use the same transmission as the 5.2? Again, I want to be absolutely sure I purchase the correct parts for my transmission as my wallet has a constant issue with cobwebs.
Thanks.

 

The idle wouldn't ever be more than 850rpms as that's when the pulley reaches full charge. I understand it's balancing/compensating act, my concern was with engagement of the trans when dropping into gear from a higher idle. I have been searching a year for a7 groove alt pulley that is smaller than 2 1/2" with no luck.

Thanks for your insight!

 

Yes, it's the same.

 

Monte,

Is there a way to measure endplay on the Overdrive to determine shim size without the special tool?