Hello All,

I'm Greg from Bradenton,FL. I just bought a 96' Ram 1500 5.9L from a used car lot. Upon test drive was amazed with how nice it ran, but over the last three weeks have noticed it is having a very hard time shifting out of second. Also every now and then upon putting it in reverse the shift is delayed.
After I have been driving for about 45 minute's no problems appear. I checked the tranny fluid and noticed it is way over full. Is this a bad sign? I had read somewhere you never over fill a tranny except in cases where you are stuck due to the tranny about to die and it is a trick to get you off the road. So Hmm....Could this have also been a trick to get this truck sold as well? I'd appreciate some help in guessing what I might be faced with here? Thanks all.

 

Welcome to the site. I just picked up my Coronet from having a its transmission rebuilt. It had similar problems to yours, but hopefully you will not need a rebuild. I will move this thread to the second generation Ram section,
FF

 

Make sure you are checking your fluid in neutral. Don't get an accurate reading in park.

If you get a delayed shift first thing in the morning, or, after the truck has been sitting for a while, that's normal...... the trans doesn't fill the torque converter with fluid while in park. (which was a stupid idea...... oh well.)

 

i have a similar problem with my ram too. It has a hard time shifting out of second gear. I have to sometimes let off the gas to let it shift and it doesn't always stay in third, it will downshift and then upshift until it eventually stays in third and then it runs just fine. Any suggestions?

 

Check the adjustment of the throttle valve ("TV") cable. It's in the factory service manual which you can find a link to in the FAQ/DIY section.

If it hasn't been done yet, get that anti-drainback check valve out of the cooling line. There's a HOWTO for that in the FAQ/DIY section, too. The best bet is to replace it with a remote filter so you still have a check valve (the one inside the filter canister) and so won't have to worry about the converter draining when parked. If you don't do that, you'll have to remember to always run the engine for about ten seconds with the shifter in Neutral to get the converter filled up again before taking off.

If neither of those solves the problem, report back and you'll get at least a half dozen suggestions.