2001 Dodge Ram 1500 5.2 4x4, first and probably not the last thread I create, my problem starts off with an audible whine coming from the valve body area of the transmission which only happened in every gear selection except for park. This happened about 3 months ago and since it resembled the sound of a power steering pump being obstructed or low on fluid, I decided to change out the trans fluid and filter, it definitely did have a slight smell of burnt hair spray, and come to find out I was the first person to even change it sadly. After that, I filled it up with atf+4 and a little bit of Lucas trans fix (yea yea I know, snake oil you dumb teenager!) and then the whine was gone and shifting was almost butter smooth. Fast forward to about a month after that, I somehow developed a problem with the truck revving way too high in between shifts, a 2nd to 3rd shift would sometimes take up to 4000 RPMs or it wouldn't shift at all! So I started letting off of the accelerator a little bit to help it and that seemed to work barely at most. Fast forward again to now, and it developed the whining again, this time all the gears wouldn't or would barely engage, and shutting the truck off and on would help to limp it somewhere. So, I went with what helped with the whining last time and changed the fluid and filter out and the whine is gone but I am still having the issue with the insanely high revs. Any ideas? I developed the notorious p1740 along the way too, so we could start there possibly, not very certain what is bringing back the whining and fluid issue though.

Also, this is what was inside the filter when I ripped it open the first time, this is also what it looked like the second time, these thin pieces felt like sandpaper, plenty of damage possibly but they looked too straight for clutch material.

 

Looks to me like your clutches are delaminating, as in the friction material is peeling off the clutches in chunks. Your trans fluid seems dark so it could be heat/age causing it. Wouldn't hurt to have a trans shop do a glycol test on a fluid sample to be sure you don't have a cooler failure, trans fluid in your radiator would also be a good indication of failure as the higher pressure fluid is more likely to push into the radiator than coolant into the trans, but it seeps overnight when the vehicle is off.

Sorry some of my terminology may differ as Dodges uses bands n such as well, my trans certifications come in Allison form, no bands

 

What kind of filter is that? It should have at least two or three holes for the bolts to hold it on. Also any debris on the magnet? Was the fluid color red or more brown?

 

I ripped the actual filter out of the casing to see what was inside of it and that’s the crud that came out, it had two holes for the torx screws.
The magnet looked normal, regular sludge.