My son has a 97 Ram 1500 2wd with a 5.2L 318. I had to have him towed home due to his transmission going out. Or so i thought. If i let the truck sit over night, when you start the truck it will go right into drive, or reverse and work perfectly. But after about 5 minutes, you lose everything on the transmission. It won't do a thing in any gear you select. Any ideas? Seems to me if the transmission was truly shot, it would slip all the time.

 

It may be pump related, When was the filter changed last? What does the fluid look/smell like? Might do a pressure test to see what's going on.

http://www.atraonline.com/manuals/se...0/2000_154.pdf

 

Thanks for the reply. He's only had the truck for about 6 months so i don't know a lot about the history. There's a sticker under the hood that says the transmission was serviced about 40,000 miles ago.
I should also say that it's throwing the P0740 code (a/t torque converter clutch).
The fluid looks great, but it did smell a bit burnt.