yes you just wont have overdrive. you should be good as long as you keep it below 65. i havent had o/d workin for months and ive replaced everything exept the entire tranny lol. but on a more serios note, just keept your speed and rpms down and you should be good
edit: burnt fluid isnt good but you may get lucky. just change the fluid, filter, and the sensors Zman talked about and see what happens. DO NOT flush your tranny however flushing is bad

 

I want you to try something. It doesn't take much time to do this. Take the truck out and put the shift lever into low and start driving and then start moving the shifter to 2nd and then to drive. Does the transmission upshift? If it doesn't upshift, then you may need a valve body assy or a overhaul. If it upshifts, then replace the governor solenoid and transducer as HeyYou had said and adjust the bands. The bands are not that hard to adjust. You need to know how to adjust the bands, just send me a pm and I'll go step by step on how to adjust.

 

If your truck is running at 5k rpm, your stuck in second gear. When I'm accelerating hard I can hit about 75-80 Mph in second gear and that's when I hit the rev limiter at 5200 RPM.

Sounds like your truck is in Limp mode. Limp mode is a safety feature enabled by your engine computer when sensor's output signals are off to symbolize that something is wrong. When your truck goes into Limp mode, often you will be stuck in first and second gear. This is controlled by the engine computer to prevent possible damage from occurring while still allowing you to drive your vehicle home or, as the name of the mode implies, limp home so that you can check everything out and fix the problem.

Before you pull your valve body out to clean the governor sensor, do the basics. Get a scan tool and check for codes. If your going to possibly start replacing sensors, start with the transmission speed sensor. I've had one go out on me and the result was similar to what is happening to you. I could only drive around in conventional style in first or second gear.

Next step if no codes appear and if that 40 dollar sensor from the dealer doesn't help is to service the transmission. Check for debris in the bottom of the pan for signs of anything other then super fine black clutch material which would be normal. Afterwards go ahead and start changing the fluid and replacing that filter in the pan. If you have the wrenches, the correct sized socket for the band adjustment screw, and a accurate inch pound torque wrench you can easily adjust the bands. To make an adjustment all you need is to loosen the locknuts tightened over each of the adjustment screws, torque the adjustment screws to their recommended specifications for your vehicle, back that screw off the number of times the service manual specifies, and then hold that adjustment screw in place while with a wrench you lock the locknut into position over the adjustment screw so that the adjustment screw doesn't move away from where you set it to. Be sure to find the correct socket ahead of time though, you can see the intermediate band adjustment screw from outside the driver side of the transmission but you can't access the low / reverse band unless you drop the pan and drain the fluid. To find the intermediate band adjustment screw just get under your truck on the driver side and check for a screw sticking out the side of the transmission within 6 inches towards the rear of the transmission bellhousing. It should be directly above the area where your shifter linkage goes into your transmission. The screw will have a nut of about 3/4 inch size threaded around it and either a square four sided head or possibly a large torx style socket for you to use for unscrewing or screwing in the adjustment screw. Do the adjustments nice and slow and it will be a breeze.

Follow that advice and your truck might just return to normal for less then a few hours work and maybe 100 bucks in fluids and or parts.

 

Speed sensors were replaced not too long ago. Truck ran fine this morning and shifted normally. Although a couple times stopping it didn't go into gear right away. Still haven't had the chance to drop the pan
Did notice something twice, not really sure how to describe it besides low squeel like sound. If it was a manual i would say it acted like you were riding the clutch and it tried to catch a couple times.

 

If your truck is not upshifting, the tranny is NOT in OD. That means your torqu converter is bad.

The reason the tranny does not engage in OD is when the temps get too high. You said that your fluid was burnt. If it is not pink, then it is burnt.

You probably need a new torque converter and governer pressure solenoid.

A band adjustment will not fix anything. Also, 30K miles is about par for changing the tranny fluid.

IMPORTANT: Has your red tranny light ever come on? It means the tranny temp is too high. Then the truck does not engage in OD.

Bigger things are at play than a band adjustment. I had my TC and solenoid changed and it made the problem go away.

 

torque converter, take it to a tranny specialist.

 

Doesn't the burnt fluid mean used up clutch plates or am I way off?

 

no warning lights ever came on

 

Dodges seem to have several different problems. It might not be your transmission at all. It might be the torque converter or the throttle position sensor. Those would tend to play a big part of that. My dodge has trouble shifting and its because of the torque converter. And does the truck have any problems with the alternator?

 

No problems with the alternator.
Also i didn't mention before this truck has 155k miles on it.

I call a tranny guy..... I called a guy who works with trannys..... One of the transmission places in town told me it sounded like it needed to be rebuilt. What is it needing fixed if this is the case? clutch plates?


(Come on, its a transmission thread. We had to have a tranny joke at some point...)