Came home from a weekend trip and just as I got off the expressway I lost overdrive. The OD off light came on and you could feel the down shift. I thought maybe I hit it by accident but I coudnt get it to shift in regardless of speed. I then shifted into low when I pulled away from a stop and shifted manually up thru the gears with no problem but still no OD. Then the Trans Temp Light came on. This all happened less than a mile from home so I kept going. After I got home ,I let it sit for about 5 min. I started it up and no problems. Took it for a ride and its fine. Checked the fluid and it was boiling hot. All bubbles! I was towing a 14' aluminum boat . Not even 500 lbs.

I will check the fluid level tomorrow when its not so hot to get a more accurate reading.

Any thoughts?

98 Ram 2500 Ext 2WD
5.9 Auto

33,000 mi

 

hey dude I had the same problem with my pick up when I first bought it. Because Ijust bought it the dealership said they would fix it . The had to put in a new torque converter And some kind of silonoid. And then I put an after market cooler on and had no problem since. I pull a 3000lbs
boat and have no problems

 

yes, take it to a shop right away, there are oiling problems with the od units and this I think is the 1st sign that your gonna have bigger problems if you dont take care of it. so take care of it before it gets out of hand.

 

Get it to a transmission shop as soon as possible. I had exactly the same experience just before it completely quit. Had to do a complete rebuild.

 

i had the same problem when i was traveling cross country with my son and my mother in law. My trip started in Southern California, and was ending in NJ. i made it to MD before i had any problems. after i filled the truck up with gas was the first sign. So i pulled over to another gas station to check fluids, and see if i could see any discoloration. Nothing. And i didnt think that there should have been any problems considering i had payed 1300 dollars in parts and labor to have some trans work and tranfere case work done about a month before.
So i pulled out of that gas station. truck wouldnt go into 3rd gear at all with out tricking it. once i made it back onto a major highway i was able to maintain it at 3rd gear at about 65 Mph. I know I know i shouldnt have dont that. But i wasnt about to let my mother in law, and my 2 year old son sit around on the side of the road for how ever long, and then tow it to NJ.
so without further problems took it right over to a trans shop, the work the other place had done on it was shotty work, and they had only changed a solenoid. two days later they had rebuilt the trans, and i have not had a problem with it at all.
the trans was rebuilt at 132K origonal miles on the origonal transmission, and that was with constant care, and fluid changes. i now have 140K miles, and shes still running great with no more problems.
from what i understand Dodge doesnt carry the best transmissions, and the main problem with them is that they TC looses it, and stops going into 3rd gear. and thats what happened to mine.
i hope this helps out in some way.



shannon



2000 ram 1500 4x4 quad cab 5.9 L

 

100k on my 46RH tranny and no problems here. I would follow the advice of other people and take it in. I have flogged on mine at the drag strip and on the street but i make sure to change the fluid and filter. I didn't see any metal shavings in my filter or fluid at 95k.

 

Thanks for the reply's. But, man you guys are scarin the heck out of me. I checked the fluid level today and it was down about almost a qt. I think I will drive it a bit longer and keep a close eye on it before I take it in. It is still under warranty and I am afraid that if I take it in without an obvious problem , they will say there is nothing they can find.

 

This might sound crazy, but my friend who has a Ram disconnected the battery and let it sit for a while, connected it again and it worked like a charm, hasn't had a problem since, and that happened about 2 years ago!

 

In the lower cooler line at the radiator there is a small inline check valve. This is there to stop the converter from draining back. If it sticks it will cause just the problem that you are describing. They will stick very often. Have this checked asap. Just had to do a complete overhaul on mine due to this little bugger. As far as bringing in you truck under warranty, and the dealer not finding anything., don't worry about it. The dealer will have to generate a work order on you complaint and if you have a problem later(shortly out of warranty) you will have a history of the problem and will be much easier to get some help on the repairs.

 

Exactly! It sounds just like the problems I was having. I took hose with the check ball out and cleaned it. I had to use about 50 lbs of compressed air to get my check ball to unseat! I cleaned it all up with solvent and put it back together. The truck shifted like new after that for about a week until the ball wedged again and this time I wasn't driving. You can guess what happened, complete melt down. A new hose and check ball is $40 or I added an auxillary cooler and eliminated the check ball completely. No problems since.