Hello all. Ive been a follower of this forum for a few years now, but my truck has finally forced me to make my first post, hopefully its in the right section. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The truck is a 2001 Ram 1500 360ci 4x4, with stock gearing and 305's.

My '01 1500's acceleration has been slow and sluggish since I bought her a few years back. It hits a flat spot right around 1800-2500 rpms, and has a LOT of trouble maintaining a constant speed under load (pulling trailer or going uphill). It also "stacks" 3rd gear, meaning as soon as it hits 3rd it immediately shifts into 4th, even at WOT, or while pulling a trailer. I didn't pay much for it so I figured I'd have the transmission rebuilt and replace the usual suspects to bring some life back to the ole girl. Since I've owned it, the following has been replaced:

Transmission "rebuilt" by reputable shop, trans check valve removed, hughes plenum kit installed, new valve cover gaskets, plug wires cap & rotor replaced when plenum kit was installed, throttle body & IAC cleaned, speed sensors replaced, K&N drop in filter, new PCV valve, new Catalytic converter and O2 Sensors replaced after plenum was fixed.

After all this, the truck is still a turd, and gas mileage is worse than ever. getting about 8-9 mpg city, and 11-12 highway. I know the 33's with stock gearing isn't helping my case at all, but the problem still existed when I was running 265's. My main concern now is the 3rd gear issue and the noticeable flat-spots in the powerband. The transmission shop says its just the torque converter locking up, or that the truck is just trying to keep the rpm's down to save me mpg's. But when I'm pulling a horse trailer up a hill and my transmission doesn't utilize 3rd gear (it stays in 3rd for MAYBE 1 second, then goes right to 4th gear bogging the motor down) it really causes some issues. I spend HOURS searching forums looking for someone who has experienced this same issue, but I've never found another case like this. Needless to say, I'm at a stand still and any help whatsoever would be awesome.
I've been thinking about replacing the TPS and Crankshaft Position Sensor and seeing where that gets me. I figured I'd ask the forum go-ers before throwing any more money at it.
Any constructive input is much appreciated

 

Do not tow in overdrive.

Large tires+stock gearing=crappy performance.

Check your plenum, chances are good it's blown.

Since you have an 01, you have the death flash. (detuned the motor to reduce spark knock, which also robs you of power.) You also have torque management.... another power robber.

Best thing for you to do:

1. Fix the plenum. Replace timing chain and gears at the same time. (its only a couple more bolts.) Check the cat, and replace at least the front O2 sensor as well.

1a. Full tune-up. Cap, Rotor, wires, plugs, air filter. It will never get any easier than when the intake is out of the way.

2. SCT Tuner from Hemifever to get rid of the death flash, and also get rid of torque management.

3. Make sure the Throttle Valve cable is properly adjusted. (that's the one that goes from the throttle body, down to the trans.)

4. Change trans fluid/filter, and replace governor pressure sensor and solenoid with borg warner heavy duty set.

 

"Transmission "rebuilt" by reputable shop, trans check valve removed, hughes plenum kit installed, new valve cover gaskets, plug wires cap & rotor replaced when plenum kit was installed, throttle body & IAC cleaned, speed sensors replaced, K&N drop in filter, new PCV valve, new Catalytic converter and O2 Sensors replaced after plenum was fixed."

All of this was done in the past year. The only thing you mentioned that has not been done is the tune by Hemifever to rid my truck of the deathflash.

My main question is why will the truck not stay in 3rd gear? The transmission shop that rebuilt my trans called it "stacking" a gear. In an attempt to fix that, they adjusted the TV cable and replaced the valve body....Or at least they claimed to do those things. But 3rd gear is basically still non-existent.

Any advice from the transmission guru's?

 

You shouldn't hit O/D until around 45 MPH. If it is going in sooner than that, something is awry, and your trans shop should have another look at it. Same thing goes for if you aren't getting third until 45 MPH.