Well, it must be my turn for things to go bad on my 2nd gen Ram. I have been following this forum for about 8 months and have found just about everything I have needed to get my Ram "Pickles" running well.

I have a 98 Ram 2500 4x4 with a 5.9 gasser with 155,xxx miles that I bought in May of this year. I replaced the heater core 3 months ago and fixed the plenum last month. I thought I was ready for the WNY winter...the truck was running great. But that was then...

Now, I have lost significant power and the rpm's are considerably higher when I am driving. I use to cruise at 65mph in overdrive at about 1500 rpm's. Now it is about 2200 rpm's when driving 50 mph and overdrive kicks in. After about 10 miles of driving my O/D Off light comes on. When this first happened I smelled something burning.

I changed the trans fluid...that was dark brown...and the filter. It seemed to make a difference so I thought I was set. But, I drove it last night and the same problems popped up. O/D Off light and burning smell.

My initial thought was I am the next poor sob with a bad 46re tranny, but I would like to hear your thoughts.

Thanks.

 

I hate to say it, but I'd have to agree. My guess though would be the Torque Converter or OD Module. It could be rebuilt. And if you do, I'd definitely go for the Sonnax Sure Cure. It beefs up the trans a bit in our trucks.

EDIT: Also, do you still have the check valve on the trans coolant lines that go to the cooler? They're in the very front passenger side of the truck. If you do, get rid of that too since it can cause restricted flow and basically overheat the tranny.

 

If you've got a check valve yet, get rid of it. Either way, flush the ATF cooler in the radiator. Consider installing a remote filter, too, so that any circulating crud ends up there where it's easier to get at.

EDITED TO ADD: Also, if the above does the trick, you'd do well to perform a full ATF replacement rather than just dumping out what's in the pan. Here's a video, but I disagree with the part about using Dexron-III. I'd rather only do the job once, and not risk leaving some of the wrong fluid in there. A neat trick: Throw some UV dye in there and run the truck, idling in neutral, for five minutes, then take a short drive that gets you through all of the gears to ensure that all of the old ATF will have dye in it. Then when you're keeping an eye on the old fluid as it's pumping out, you can just shine your blacklight on it and know that when the glow goes away you're done. You may not need to do this if you're pumping out really nasty fluid, but if the old stuff isn't really dark to make it obvious when you're done the UV dye is nice to have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsdPAadc9fY