Im new to posting but have been reading this forum for a long time. Last night I ran into a problem with my tranny and I am reaching out to anyone that might be able to help.
First off I have a 95 Dodge Ram 4x4 with a 318, also 198,000 miles. I don't know what tranny I have, I mostly do simple repairs and maintenance on it. The transmission fluid has never been changed since I have owned it in the last year, but is full while in neutral and a bright pink.

I started having problems a week ago where it felt like it wasn't taking off from a stop very good. Like there was a definite drag of some sort. But it didn't do it all the time. The check valve for the tranny was removed before I owned it and I always put it in neutral for about 10 sec before putting into Drive.
A couple of days ago it didn't seem like it was down shifting correctly when driving, but I didnt have time to check this forum out for solutions.

Last night I drove home from work and while at a stop sign and then proceeded to go the truck didn't have any forward gears, but then took off after giving more gas. At the next stop light it did it again and also I believe was making a whining noise. I pulled off the road and didn't drive it any further, and had it towed back to my house.

I read about a VSS (vehicle speed sensor) and shift solenoid on the forums but wasn't sure if my 95 had these. I have no idiot lights so I assume I have no fault codes.
Could one of these sensors be causing my problem, or a plugged filter. Or is my tranny just toast?

Up until this last week everything was working great with the tranny, no slip or hesitation.

 

Also don't know if this matters or not, ever since I owned the truck for a year, You can't shift into 1 on the shift column, I can do Park, Neutral, Reverse, Drive and 2 just fine, but can't move lever down to 1. Never bothered to look into it because I never used that gear on the column anyway.

 

You probably have the 46RH.

You could drop the pan and see how the fluid looks and see what kind of shavings you have stuck to the magnet, and go from there.

 

you do have a 46RH.
since the check valve has been removed, its an indication that it might have been rebuilt before. also since it has 200,000 it's almost certainly been rebuilt. that's a good thing because it might have more life left in it. if it's original, it's done for.

i'd think about finding a local transmission shop and have it checked out. you might just need a routine band adjustment.

or - you can do this yourself with a minimum of tools - and to save money - if the fluid is still nice and pink, and if you are super clean and careful, you could strain it through a paint strainer and reuse it. if it solves your problem - great. if it doesn't then you haven't wasted $50-60 on fluid and you can move on to the transmission shop.

this is a question - can a 46RH go into limp mode and try to start in 2nd gear. or is that a RE trait only.

 

Check TV cable also

 

I would agree with all of the members. Check the fluid level or drop the pan and inspect for debris in the pan. Low fluid will cause a lot of shifting problems. If the fluid is full, I would guess you may have either a planetary gear, sun gear or the clutches in the rear drum are cooked.