I'm sure these types of questions are asked all the time. I just wanted to post my specific issues and see what you all thought.

I've got a 95 Ram 1500 SLT long bed, 5.9 V8 auto tranny. Since purchasing the truck, I've noticed this issue more and more.

I'll start from the top:

When accelerating, my truck sometimes has a hard time up shifting. For example, if I'm going 40-45mph, there are times where the truck will just sit at 2500rpm or so, not shifting up to 3rd gear. If I give it a ton of gas, it will shift up. If I take my foot off the gas for a second, it will downshift into 2nd, then 1st gear. I've been using the second method, since once at speed it only takes about 1500rpm to maintain speed.


When coasting, there are times where the truck takes up to 6 or 8 seconds to down shift unless I touch the gas or hit the brakes.

Lastly, when parked on an incline or a decline, it is nearly impossible to shift out of park without using a considerable amount of force. When the truck finally does shift out of park, it usually slips all the way down to drive or 2nd gear. If I wanted to put the truck in reverse, I then have to shift back up to reverse.


These issues are worrying me because I just got a new job after months of unemployment, and if this thing needs a new tranny I am in some deep ****.

Any info, any personal experience, any questions or comments are appreciated.

 

Adjust the linkage and check it for looseness and or binding. If all checks out, then I would suggest you have the Gov. pressure sensor and solenoid replaced, and have the bands adjusted.

Btw, when you park on an incline, you should set the E brake when you stop and before putting it in park.

 

welcome to df. see the transmission thread at the top of the 2nd gen section run by forum member montec. one of his most common comments is - replace gov pressure sensor and solenoid, and if that doesn't fix it, then its rebuild time. there are some kits for conversion to the GM style of solenoid that he recommends. its also a DIY.

 

you have a mechanical govenor, not an electric, to check they are the rubber lines at the tailshaft of the tranny i believe.

also check your fluid, may be time for a flush...ALWAYS use ATF+4 fluid, and to check fluid, the truck mut be in neutral while running.

i have thesame problem with the incline part....hard to get it out of park.....my trannys is a rebuilt beefed up tranny, and it still does this, so that i dont think is really a problem. mines always done it, and ive really never had shifting problems.

Also you might want to look into a new TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) helped my tranny when i took on water.

 

Yep, didn't pay attention to the year, just the symptoms. Sorry.

 

oops.. (sits down and shuts up)

 

Fwiw- I've never met an automatic tranny that wasn't harder to shift out of park on an incline or when, for instance, you press the front tire hard into a curb when parking and 'park' before letting it settle 'off' the curb. I've often wondered what caused that, but just learned to not do it because it can't be a good thing.

I second checking your fluid. Before I'd invest in a professional flush though, I'd suck some fluid out of it using a hand pump and long hose down the fill tube, then drop the pan. I'd want a peak at the fluid remaining in the bottom of the pan, the magnet in there, and the amount of sludgey crap. If there was a lot I'd forgo the flush and aim for a rebuild. If there was just moderate to little, I'd snap up the torque wrench and adjust bands. I'd then get it flushed with one of those fancy machines that get the majority of the old fluid out, not just a drain in other words. Get a new filter and roll on. All that for around $100 and an hour or so of your own time.

Rebuilds are pricey. I hope you don't have to do that until you get your feet back under yourself. You may be able to squeeze some time out of it by just doing this. Good luck dude.

 

Unless you want to rebuild the tranny, even if it does not need to be, don't have it flushed.

 

I hear ya Zman, and know where your head is with that- I gotta say a lot of knowledgeable folks go that direction so its hard to argue. The direction I was heading was this though: the flush with a pressurized system that pumps fresh fluid in while removing the old is really good at clearing the ports and passages that may have become clogged. It certainly will make the tranny 'looser', but if its breathing better due to cleared passage, it stands to reason it will at least shift better even if it increases slippage nominally.

Its unfortunate, but its likely he's only buying time anyway. I swapped soloniod and sensor at 90k, and flushed it. I flushed it again around 130k, and now at 150k, I'm doing a performance/HD rebuild. It bought me some time and was mildly aggravating, but allowed me the time to save some money to do the inevitable.

The debris/sludge in that thing could be helping its true. It may be the root of his issue to though, because he didn't mention slipping- just the shifting erratically. See where I'm coming from?

I won't hesitate to sit down and shut up if you think I'm wrong now that I've explained it. Thoughts?

 

Thanks to everyone so far for your input. I've written all this stuff down and am going to start looking into it on Monday.

I haven't noticed any slip in the tranny. I've always got plenty of power and no hesitation when accelerating. The only thing going on that I can tell is that it hesitates when upshifting or downshifting.