I've got a 1999 dodge ram 1500. It has the 5.9L engine and currently has about 113,000 miles on it. Recently I used my truck to tow a small boat, which was packed with fishing equipment and some luggage, to a lake about 6 hours away. My first mistake was not disengaging overdrive. I didn't think the small aluminum boat would really hold the truck back. Anyways, about 2/3 through my journey I felt the tranny start to slip and the check engine light came on. I pulled over, popped the hood, and checked fluids and such. Everything seemed fine, so we continued on our journey, but this time I made sure to disengage the overdrive. I'm glad to say we made it there and back, but now I'm having some issues. First, would be a ticking noise when the truck is in overdrive and say I'm climbing up a hill. Before it downshifts to 3rd it will start to make this ticking noise. This leads me to the fact that there is a bit of a slip when i accelerate and the tranny downshifts from overdrive to 3rd. The final thing I've noticed is that the shifter in the cab where you select between 2wd, 4wd, N, etc. vibrates quite a bit, which I'm pretty sure it never did before. I'm really hoping I didn't bust the tranny, and that it can be fixed without a rebuild. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

First, get ride of the check valve in the cooler line. Its up by the radiator. Should be obvious when you look for it. There are a couple DIY in the faq section for that.

Next, fluid and filter change.... and band adjustment. DIY for that in the faq section too, I think... if not, the procedure is in the Factory Service manual that is downloadable from the faq section as well. Its for 2001, but, close enough.

When you have the pan off, inspect any debris in there.... let us know what ya find.

 

Thank you for the timely reply! Tuesday's my day off so I will look into your suggestions then. How about the vibrating shifter on the floor of the cab though? Any thoughts on that? Could that just be some sort of bracket or support that wore itself loose? Also, I've read that the overdrive unit is separate from the rest of the tranny. Say the overdrive unit was gone, would I still need a new tranny or could that specific unit be replaced? If so, is that significantly less expensive than replacing the entire tranny? Any and all responses are greatly appreciated!

 

As far as the ticking while going up a hill...that could be some pinging in your engine. Have you done the plenum gasket? Mine will also tick sometimes when I get low quality fuel and try to use my performance setting.

The O/D unit was about $450 in my transmission...not sure if it can be replaced without pulling the tranny, but if the tranny needs to come out, add R+R labor.

 

The engine never made any pinging before. I'm pretty convinced it's all in the driveline.

 

Well, if your overdrive takes a dump, it tends to distribute crap throughout the transmission.... so, while you might be able to get away with it for a while, chances are good you are going to end up doing a rebuild in any event......

Drop the pan,see what you find. If there are metal shavings/parts in there..... you are going to be needing a rebuild soon anyway.....

 

I had problems with my tranny 5 times in a few months. I replaced a couple sensors and it seemed to be fine, even tho I knew metal shavings/sludge was clogging the sensors up....long story short...an "average" tranny rebuild turned into a $3500 rebuild. I would check it out and bike the bullet sooner than later!