Hey guys!


I am new to this forum. I have a 2001 Dodge 1500 5.9l 4x4 with an automatic 46RE transmission. Once in a blue moon the transmission will jerk into a lower gear and jump right back up into the gear it was in. Sometimes it happens very frequently in a short amount of time then it will not do it again for months. It seems to happen most of the time going down the highway at high speeds between overdrive and the lower gear and doesn't do it when I turn the overdrive off. Any ideas?

 

Are you by any chance on an uphill grade when that happens? If so, it's a normal annoyance best avoided by manually switching out of overdrive where it's likely to happen. It's best for the transmission as well as any emotional involvement you may have in the matter, which is understandable and shared by many.

Living in the Rockies, I have the habit of poking the OD Off button at startup and leaving it off until I get into the flats because the thing would be shifting into and out of overdrive very frequently.

 

I saw you have a mega viper. I have one and the TV cable got messed up. It got ran for like 2 weeks with the cable messed up and then I fixed the adjustment. Shifted fine for a week and now its doing the same thing where if your moderately into the throttle (3-4k rpm) two times out of hundreds its went to shift up and it will shift up and immediately fall back out and shift up 2-3 times in a fraction of a seconded. Its quick and almost feels like a semi jerking back of forth. Its worrying me. idk if the cable won't stay in place and it keeps slipping out of adjustment but nothing should be broken. I don't baby it (I do some heavy 1/4 mile to the floor runs) but it doesn't see many burnouts. Like 2 over the coarse of a year that the trans has been in.

 

Were it mine, I'd verify the throttle valve cable adjustment, making sure the linkage is at full closed at the bottom (transmission) end before adjusting the top (throttle body) end. A small bungee cord is handy for holding the valve closed during adjustment.

If that doesn't do the trick, I'd look first at the TPS (because it's easy to test) to determine if there's a noisy or dead spot. Maybe the PCM thinks you're diving into the throttle and is trying to be helpful. Use an analog meter that's not heavily damped so you can see what's happening there.

After that, I hate to say, if the problem's not been solved my next step would be to do pressure test -- see your factory service manual for details and do the driving tests. What I'd be looking for would be abnormally high, low, or fluctuating readings (which fluctuate without corresponding changes in the world). If the pressures are right and track the world, you may have a flaky Governor Pressure circuit, either the sensor or the solenoid. This is more likely if you've overheated the ATF and formed varnish, or have neglected oil (ATF) changes, but it can happen just because the world is imperfect.

There might be some other cause, but that'd be my approach.

 

Took it up to the trans shop again. He loosened the cable two clicks but said it was were he thought it should be before he adjusted it. He said you will never get these transmissions exactly where you want them because they're controlled by both the TV cable and the computer. It seems to shift how I would like since he loosened it two clicks. It actually shifts a bit harder and doesn't downshift on hills as easy. I'd say that was my problem. How often would you do fluid and filter after I do my break in fluid change here as soon as I can get it back up there.

 

Where it should be is where the casting line on the cable stirrup is centered on the ball stud of the throttle body linkage, and it should be there when the throttle valve is being held fully closed. That bit about using a bungee cord or something similar to hold the valve fully closed while performing the adjustment is a biggie, but lots of folks just won't go to the bother of it. As you've just seen, a tiny adjustment makes a huge difference in the timing and quality (slip vs. harshness) of the shifts, so if/when you go to do the adjustment yourself you'll want to be darn certain to do it right.

Stuff like that is why I don't trust anyone to go near my truck with tools in hand. I got a horror story out of my Mega Viper install because I was living in a place where I couldn't do the job myself, and the shop that did it was considered reputable by folks who had some very expensive rolling stock scattered around the shop. Among the things they futzed up was the TV cable -- first they broke it by prying the cable stirrup off of the stud on the throttle body linkage with a screwdriver, then they lied to me about how it happened, and then after I delivered up a brand new cable they tried to adjust the thing like it was a kickdown on an old 727. I was so disgusted by that point that I just drove it slowly for a few blocks and adjusted it myself.

And a few blocks later the dreaded Trans Temp light came on, so the same shop got to replace my ATF at their expense the next day, too. Their lower primate had plumbed the remote filter backward. As if the freaking arrow on the housing were hard to see, or the explanation I'd given three times were unclear...

Not to cast aspersions at your transmission guy, but that's not a complaint we hear too much about in these parts and the usual advice when the topic comes up is to just adjust the silly thing correctly and be done with it. Were it mine, I'd get a bungee cord in my hand and go recheck the work. If it's adjusted properly you'll see it and just put the cable back and remove the bungee cord. If it's not right, you'll see that and spend another two minutes at it. Either way you'll be in and out in just minutes, and if you're anything like me the peace of mind will be worth infinitely more than the time spent at it.

Personally, I do only full fluid changes by pumping out all of the old stuff, rather than just replacing what will fall out, so after the 24,000 mile break-in change I go for 48,000 mile intervals. I'd go for 37,500 or so, though, were it not for the deep pan hanging under my transmission and the remote filter on the fender -- both of these things greatly reduce contamination levels. I don't worry so much about extending the band adjustment interval by 10,000 miles because I know that compared to stock I've got meatier bands being given amplified clamping force and being applied more rapidly so they're shedding far less friction material, and most of it's being caught by the remote filter

On the other hand, having more clutches and tighter tolerances means a greater tendency toward viscous coupling, so it's just that much more important to stay on top of the maintenance of a Mega Viper or any other built transmission. It's not like a guy who'll pay for a Mega Viper in the first place is one who'll just neglect the thing to death afterward, am I right?