My 97 dodge ram 1500 5.2 has been giving me problems for a while now. It shifts n & out of overdrive ALOT. It started out just doing it on the highway but got to where it did it thru town with od off. Since I couldnt get anybody to help me with it I finally went& got the sensor that goes on the drivers side of transmission. That helped for a couple of days & it started again but not as bad. So I chk the fluid level as no one had told me to chk it n neutral...it was barely reading on dip stick so I got some Lucas transmission additive & put that n & it still shifts n& out every once n a while but noticed that its mainly when I going down the road at 50mph or more& hit a dip in the road that makes my foot barely press the accelerator more. Any thoughts? Oh & some days it runs normal with no problems.

 

If it still does it with O/D turned off, it isn't O/D that is the problem. I am going to take a wild stab in the dark here, and guess that you see a 100-200 rpm 'blip' every now and again, with even the slightest movement of the gas pedal. If that is indeed the case, replace the throttle position sensor on the throttle body. End of Problem.

 

U r exactly correct. Its like u have taken a ride with me with it acting crazy. Thank u so much! I have no idea where exactly it is located, I do know where the throttle body is tho so I bet with this group & a little research I will get it changed. U just made my day!

 

Mine was doing the same thing when I bought it.

Throttle position sensor is on the drivers side of the throttle body. 2 screws and an electrical connection. Around 30 bucks or so at the parts store.

 

Ok so I've replaced the sensor on the transmission, which helped for a couple of days, then I took ur advice& changed the throttle valve position sensor & again it helped for a couple of days. Now as of today my truck shifts from 2nd to 3rd n a bad way like it's shifting late. I'm a broke b***ch so I can't afford to just go get this& that hoping it works& idk what to do next. Solenoid or another couple of sensors or what. With the shifting n & out of overdrive, it still does it but not all the time. Can u guys help me? I'm recently single& my dad doesn't need to be trying to help me as he is n his 80's & I don't trust many guys n this town plus I'd like to fix it myself, well with y'alls hello of course. 😞😞

 

What brand throttle position sensor did you get? It's entirely possible you got a bad one, right out of the box........

Unfortunately, I think you are going to need a scanner that can do data logging if it isn't the TPS......

 

The box says standard brand. My truck does still sometimes shift into od when I'm on the highway& hit a dip as described n one of my above posts..but not every time. What is this scanner u speak of? What does it do& what do I go to do it? I had O'Reilly's put their code reader on it& all it showed was an o2 sensor but it's been missing for alot longer than this has been going on. Could it be that my trans filter is stopped up?

 

Doing a trans service likely wouldn't hurt, (and adjust the bands as well) but, I don't think that is your problem.

Does it still drop out, and then immediately shift back? How much is the RPM change at around 60 mph?

 

Yes it does& its n btwn 100-200rpms

 

Ok, that's still TCC. (torque converter clutch.)

We need to see what the PCM thinks is going on when it drops out. Is the PCM requesting it? Or is it just happening? That's what the scanner would be for. Plug it in, set it up for your truck, go someplace you can make the problem happen easily, trigger data logging, make it happen a couple times, then browse thru the logs, and see what's what.

Unfortunately, you need a pretty high-zoot scanner to do data logging. The ones from the parts stores just aren't going to cut it. The free software available likey won't provide enough information.....

Think I would start by checking connections at the TPS, and verify the wiring is good. At this point, there isn't much else you can do.... Maybe warranty replace the TPS? Just for grins?

Standard Motor Products are usually decent quality.