Hey guy's, I've got 98 dodge ram 1500 with a 318. The piston ring on cylinder 4 is shot so I bought a used engine and transmission out of a 97. What I need to know is what needs to be changed to make the transmission work. It's identical except on the tail housing their is a sensor that is not on the 98 transmission. Did they move that sensor somewhere else on the 98? Will it work if I don't use that sensor? Do I need to swap the tail housing? Are their any other connections or sensors I need to take out of the 98 and swap to make it work? Thanks!

 

You will want to continue using the '98 46re transmission. There were changes in '98-on to the transmission electronics and the PCM to make that swap down to the '97 costly and difficult, without a complete transmission rebuild and swap of the tail housing, if the output shaft has the provision for the speedo pinion setup. You mentioned that the '98 motor is where your issue is. Does the '98 transmission have issues, too?

 

The transmission has been rebuilt before but they didn't do something correctly because it has symptoms of torque converter drain back but I've replaced the check valve and it didn't fix it. I talked to a transmission guy and he said it sounds like a cross bleed problem, because it pumps small amounts of fluid in park and it should only pump in neutral. The shift points are off which is hurting mileage, and I have adjusted the TV cable and got it as close to my other 98 as possible but their is definitely a line pressure problem.

 

If the valve body was modified, it's not uncommon for fluid to move while in park. The check valve can be completely bypassed using a process like this - https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...46rh-46re.html

As for the TV cable adjustment, I found that a TV cable replacement was best in my case. After I had my 46RE transmission rebuilt and beefed up, it still didn't shift properly. I found that my TV cable would bind up from time to time due to rust having gotten into the cable. I ended up replacing it with a new TV cable and that cured my shifting issues.

 

I've got a rebuilt 97 46re, the electronics in my 98 have upgraded with Borg Warner solinoids and I have a valve body from a 2001. I'm going to do it myself so price shouldn't be as big of a issue so can't i use everything I have to assemble the 97 to make it work properly in the 98? Can't i swap the tail housing and solinoids from the 98 to the 97? Shouldn't that correct electronics issues?

 

You should be able to make it work with care. It would be helpful to see photos of the two different tailshaft housings to fully understand the differences you're seeing.

 

The only difference between the 97, and the 98, is the 98 doesn't have the provision for the VSS, that is in the tailshaft housing of the 97. The older trans will bolt right in, hook right up, and work just fine, it just has an extra sensor that you don't need. Leave the sensor in place, to plug the hole, and you are good to go.

 

That's exactly how I'm running the one in my 98