Well my luck continues...I sold my 96 ram that had worn engine bearings and low oil pressure for a 2000 ram 5.9L 2wd with PERFECT interior, great sounding engine with good oil pressure, and a 46RE with a weird tranny issue. Only 136K miles on the odometer.

Truck cold...
1st gear is good, smoothly shifts to 2nd and stays there a little longer than I think it should, then shifts to 3rd nicely stays for appropriate amount of time, shifts to 4th (with engine cold I am only on city roads so I am not in 4th for very long) and then shifts into O/D with a bit of a jerk but no noise.
Truck normal temp...
1st gear is good, shifts to 2nd nicely and stays for appropriate amount of time, then shifts to 3rd nicely but then quickly shifts to 4th without spending more than 3-4 seconds in 3rd. Then stays in 4th for appropriate amount of time and shifts to O/D with a slight jerk but no noise.

1st to 2nd is always nice and smooth.
2nd sometimes stays for a little too long but it mostly happens when the truck is first started, but always shifts smoothly.
3rd quickly shifts to 4th most of the time, but sometimes it stays in 3rd for appropriate amount of time. I can't figure out some kind of a trigger that causes the quick shift yet. It always shifts from 3rd to 4th smoothly.
O/D pretty much always has a slight jerk to it, but I have never heard any bad noise. It is just not a very smooth transition.

I am too scared to really get on the engine because i do not want to cause unnecessary harm so i do not know how it reacts to wide open throttle.

Truck hot and in Neutral the fluid is deal center of the OK mark and beautifully clean and red.

The pan looks good, but it does look like someone has been in there due to orange gasket squeeze out and some kind of black rubber gasket. Doesn't seem to have a leak at the pan just your usual moisture and dirty gunk around the top of the pan.

Output shaft seal on the back of the tranny is leaking so that could use some attention.

I got this truck at an auction so I have no idea what the previous owners have done, but the Carfax was clean and everything looked okay.

PLEASE tell me this is something simple that i can replace from the bottom of the pan and that it doesn't require a rebuild. I am out of money and short on time right now. Is there a way to put off a rebuild if that in fact is needed?
Drain the fluid and refill with Lucas or equivalent additive?

Thanks as usual for the great help,
Zac

 

This sounds alot like normal behaviour for our trannies except for the hard od engagement. I would drop the pan and change the od and tcc selonoids.

 

Take the pan off and see what's in it. You might get away with replacing the gov sensor. Get one of these, http://www.doghousediesel.com/catalog/i307.html

 

Wow seriously? My previous 96 Ram shifted very nicely all the time. I never got on the throttle hard because of the oil pressure issue, but that shouldn't matter b/c I am not pushing the new truck either.

 

How many solenoids are there that can easily be replaced? Would replacement ones from Autozone be good enough or should I buy upgraded ones because OEM tranny parts are POS?

So far we have the...
OD solenoid
TCC solenoid
GOV solenoid

That could be the issue. Should i just replace as many as I can and only drop the pan once or try and guess and hope the first round is successful?

Zac

 

Replace them all with borg warner units. I say that it seems fairly normal cause our transmissions seem to hunt around alot. All three of mine were always quick to get into 4th and od as well, unless i put the pedal down to keep it in gear. I have gotten to were i use my od switch as much as my brake pedal though. I like being in control of my tranny and since i have started usin the od switch so often my mpg is up to 14.8 and thats in a 2500 5.9 with 33"s and stock 3.55 gears.

 

First off I need to ask...How many solenoids, what are their names and where can I buy them? I looked quickly at the link from above and could only find the two that are listed on that page.

Second...Can you explain how you use the OD switch to save gas?

Third...Check your PMs for my last message

Zac

 

I stay out of od when im doin less than 55 mph or when im on anything but flat ground. Keeps me in the power band so i just barely have to feather the gas pedal to maintain speed, instead of the tranny downshifting everytime the road elevation changes 3 ft.

 

TCC Solenoid.
O/D solenoid.

Those two usually come as a set, as they are on the same bracket.

Governor pressure solenoid
Governor pressure sensor.

BW makes heavy duty replacements for those two, that are superior to the stock units.

Six quarts of fluid, and a filter. May or may not have to drop the valve body to change the TCC/OD solenoids. Some folks have been able to shuffle the governor stuff out of the way to get in there.

If you are driving around town, just disable O/D. Engine will like not having to work quite so hard to keep the truck rolling, and TCC will still engage.

 

What do you guys think about this master solenoid kit...
http://www.cascadetransmissionparts....kit2000up.aspx