My uncle is giving me his Dodge Ram, its a 1997, 1/2ton, 2wd with the 5.9l. He bought a new one and was gonna drive this one over to me, but last week it lost 2nd, 3rd, and I dont know if it has OD or what. Anyway, it only has Reverse and First gear. So he is going to trailer it over here to me, even if I have to put a new trans in it, thats still a good deal!

But he trailered it to a Dodge dealer, they checked it out and said it was the torque convertor? Does that sound right? Could one go out all at once? I drove it last month and it wasnt shuddering at all. He went to get smokes at the gas station down the road, and when he came back out to go home, is when it lost them all. I've changed a few transmissions, so the work is no problem, I just wanted to run ti by you guys to see if what they said sounds right, cause I take everything dealers say with a grain of salt, you know?

 

I had a similar problem the other night. I was turning around in the middle of the road (because of a wrong turn) and I put it in reverse then back into drive. When I put it in drive all I had was first gear so after messing with it for about a quarter mile I shut the truck off and turned it back on and it shifted fine all the way to where I was going. When I left I backed out of the driveway then put it in drive and once again all I had was 1st and reverse so I put the truck in neutral again shut it off and started it back up and it shifted fine all the way back home. The next morning I got up for work and disconected the rear speed sensor and it has shifted fine since. So I guess what I am saying is try disconecting the rear speed sensor (on the 97 it does not throw a code when it goes bad) and see if it shifts.

Let us know if that works for you.

 

I'll be checking all the stuff recomended here, first, for certain. I'll try that too.
But it probably wont be until Thanksgiving until he trailers it over here, I'm in NE Arkansas, he is in Brimingham, AL.

 

Ok, its finally here.

Here is the story.
3 months ago, he added a bottle of transmission stop-leak to it. It had been leaking a half quart every 3,000 miles, for 40,000 miles. Then it stopped shifting on his way home. He drove it like this for 2 days, as he had no choice, but he kept on city streets, and never got over 40mph, rarely over 30mph.

Then he bought a 2001 ram, identical except for the color. He said the '97 shifted twice during those 2 days, but that was all.

Fast forward to last week. He put a bottle of Seafoam Trans-tune in it. But it was then over-full. Only thing he did after that was drive it onto the trailer.

I got it Saturday. It went into reverse off the trailer. Then I tried to put it in drive, nothing, tried all the gears, nothing. But it made a terrible noise in nuetral. I tried drive about 30 times, and it finally went in, and I parked it. I wanted to get the extra out, and look at the filter, so I pulled the fluid pan. There was no bits of metal in there (when my trans went out in my '91 Chevy, there was some big chunks of snap-ring or something in the pan). But the bottom of the pan had 3/8in of thick stuff... like thick transmission fluid, about as thick as honey. The filter appeared plugged wth this stuff too. The fluid smelled burnt, and he said he never changed it, in the 70,000 miles he owned it (it has 140,000 on it).

So I put in a new filter, fluid, and of course, pan gasket. But obviously, I am unable to drain the torque convertor. When I put it in drive, it wanted to move right away, first try. So I moved the tools from under it, and hit the road. about 30mph it did that thing... like that 0.5 seconds when a automatic trans shifts, and you can feel it... then it shut off!? Haha, oh man. It was out of gas! I wrestled it off the road. And the battery was dead (I assume from corroded terminals, and moving the electric seat and windows) I was a mile from home, so I walked back, got my ATV, a battery, jumper cables, and a full gas can.

Got gas in it, it fired up fine. But again, it wont go into gear, at all. It doesnt make a noise at idle in nuetral like before, but if you rev it to 2-3,000 RPM, in nuetral it makes a growling noise.

Ended up pushing it back with my '91 Chevy, cause of the plastic bumper on his 01 and all.

Any ideas? NAPA says a basic rebuild kit, with the clutches and seals and such, but no 'hard parts' like pumps, is $180. As is a torque convertor. The guy that rebuilt the transmission in my Chevy for $800, also happens to own NAPA. He says he can oder me a trans rebuild manual for it. Its a 46RE, by the way.

 

I'd like to try rebuilding it myself. I did rebuild a transmission out of a '79 Chevy 3/4ton 4wd once, and it came out fine.

 

Depends really...the rebuild is always nice but if you screw it up...well...you are screwed.....

I have a friend who owns a AAMCO and he does my transmission work....it might be well worth it to you have a shop do it....considering the possible warranty and or repair work included...

 

If you think you can tackle the rebuild then go for it, but I agree with DR on getting a shop to do it. Take care and good luck, because you seem to be having a rash of bad luck lately. But hey! FREE IS FREE!!

 

The guy who rebuilt the trans in my fullsize '91 Chevy says it sounds like the torque convertor. He is ordering me a rebuild manual, which will be about $15-$20. He also said that if the one way bearings go bad, the torque convertor may drop down/back far enough to scratch a pump and a gear, which he said will run about $100.

Here is a picture. 1997 Dodge 1500 'Sport' 5.9l 2wd 140,000 miles, air bags in the rear, runs good. Cheap