Hello again DF, I have more transmission related questions! Woo!

So before I was here with a bunch of issues to do with shifting and you guys helped me figure most of them out so I'm here again.

So right now if I get in the truck (cold) and throw it in drive there's a 50-50 chance I start it in 2nd gear. I know this because if I bump it from D -> 1 I feel a change and it doesn't feel as boggy starting off. So I've just been starting the truck in 1 andgetting a bit of speed then shifting it to D and away I go. That's not my main issue but that's the only other thing that's going on with the truck. I've done a couple filter changes and oil changes and the filter has always come up clogged but the oil has never been too bad but changed it for peace of mind. (3 filter changes and 1full oil change since January). Also randomly when I start the truck the OD OFF light will be on sometimes but shut it off and start it and it goes away.

The main issue is that after a while of driving it feels like the transmission isn't engaging. Like I turned around on someone's approach that had a little slope and my truck just wouldn't back out of it. It never once slipped but I was in reverse at like 3000 rpm and barely had the power to back out of it. Drove a mile to a friend's and left my truck running for 5 minutes and same thing happened. No slippage just it doesn't actually try and drive the truck. Ran it from R ->D ->R and then it drove after a couple cycles.

So I drove it home and figured I'd try and play with it and see if I can force it to do something different. So if I come to a complete stop and put it in park and wait a minute I have to rev it to 2000 to get it to engage and it does so roughly (no creep). If I come to a stop and put it in neutral same thing. If I come to a stop and put it in 1st with the park brake and let it sit there's no issues.

So this makes me thing torque converter. Maybe it's not engaging properly ? Maybe it's dirty? I see that it might be a common problem for these trucks.

Called the parts store and they can get me one for $150 USD. Same parts store can get a full trans rebuild kit for me for $300 USD. I'm just wondering what else I need to be looking for if I decide to try and fix this (or even just pull the tranny back far enough for a TC replacement). Or what else I should be replacing if I do replace some parts. Obviously if I haul it apart I'm going to blast every line clean and flush everything as best as I can.

I've replaced the oil, changed the filter, replaced governor solenoid and sensor, previous owner bypassed radiator to a tranny cooler and also deleted the check valve, I've verified the TV cable, and I've played around with unplugging the 7 pin connector on transmission.

Any other things I can try?

 

Think I would try just changing the electronics first. Governor pressure sensor and solenoid, and maybe even the output speed sensor.

 

could be bad speed sensor on the transmission or the governor solenoids in the valve body are bad. also, check the tension on the tv cable from the pressure valve on the transmission to your TB, it could have stretched.

 

​​​​​​I totally believe whatever you tell me but what would the pressure sensor and solenoid do in this circumstance? I was under the impression that those two only come into play for overdrive shifting, and that unplugging the transmission plug (7pin) would negate any affect they had. (I'm all ears for different ideas though)

Speed sensor I never thought about though.

 

​​​​​​I had adjusted the TV cable when I first got the truck but I don't know why the truck being stuck in kickdown would cause this. I'm all ears for ideas though. Thanks.


Is that the same speed sensor that feeds the speedometer? That one seems fine

 

Nope, those two control ALL your shifting. If the PCM gets confusing signals, it will default to starting in second gear, and may or may not shift beyond that.

 

Not trying to hijack your thread in any manner. I am having kind of the same thing ( I guess ) my 46RE transmission. I bought a kit of eBay that included both sensors, accumulator spring, the part that connects to the harness and speed sensor. I was experiencing slipping I believe 2 and 3 with no codes at all. After replacing with new parts. The slipping seems to have gone away but now its seems sluggish on take off and my engine light came on. I'm not sure if the local auto parts store code reader will read this code? Like you, I dropped the pan and fluid was clean and clear. No broke parts in the pan and magnet has some dark on it but rubbing it in my fingers no metal feeling at all. I'm just stumped at this point. I will continue to read this thread and maybe this may help us both in the end. Thanks

 

What year truck?

 

Plug in an OBD2 scanner. It should read the code that triggered your check engine light. That should provide you a clue.

 

I am currently looking on Amazon for a code reader that does trans codes as well. I wasn't for sure if the one they use at Advance Auto does it? i will call them before this weekend and see what they say. Its a 99 Dodge ram 1500 5.2 46RE tranny. It's just during the whole time I did some adjustments by the transmission book and it never triggered the engine light till I replaced the new parts. I will look up the OBD2 you speak of. Thanks. Again not trying to hijack this thread.