I know I'm a newb here but I don't know where else to turn. I Just bought a 2007 ram and I pick it up tomorrow afternoon. My trade in...a 99 ram started acting strange on the way home from the dealership!

It wont shift from 1st to 2nd every time. If I'm REAL easy on it and lift at just the right point it will shift and lock in. I threw a bottle of Lucas Tranny crap in hoping it will buy me 4 more miles but it made it much worse. The fluid is burnt and the pump was whining, could the pump be cavatatingdue to the thick Lucaswith these 10 degree temps?

Murphy has me by the short hairs here. Any Ideas? Its a 42RE I think. 99' 4x2 with a 5.2

 

just get it towed to near the dealership then drive it in slowly, go in, sign the papers give them the keys and leave its likely going to auction anyway

 

Or drive it to the dealer shifting manually.

 

True, but if they drive it while im signing the papers that could be 1500-2000 dollar hit!!!!!

I was thinking of doing a flush, filter change and adjust the bands. As it is now there is no way to drive it without knowing.

 

Manual shifting has no effect. You can redline it in first without it shifting, but if you go REAL easy it will shift around 1300.

 

do whatever is cheapest and quickest, don't spend money on a truck that is already basically no longer yours

 

No, do NOT drive it at all!!!

I'm sorry to disagree guys, but a rebuild costs 4 - 6 thousand dollars!
You could have a serious problem, but it could also be something stupid like a linkage come off.
Either way, if you drive it at all, even down the block, you chance making things a LOT worse.
Maybe it's already too far gone, maybe it isn't, there's no way to know for sure, but don't drive it, don't even start it.

You would really be best off calling your closest AAMCO Transmission shop, explain to them what you told us, and have them tow it to the shop and look at it. The tow will likely cost you around $80 and if it's something stupid then the total bill will probably run you around $200 if they can fix it, and if the tranny is ruined you still have the option of asking them NOT to fix it (but you still have to pay for the tow and the diagnostic fee, so about $200). In addition, if they can fix it, you will likely want them to change fluid and filter, unfortunately this will bring the bill to $300-$400.
Meanwhile, should you decide to let them rebuild it, if it comes to that they will likely credit the tow and the diag. fee towards the big bill.

Sorry if that's bad news, but $200 is the most economical way out of what could be serious trouble, for now.
Because we just don't know, it could be serious but maybe not, so don't make it any worse.

 

If your paying 4-6 thousand dollars for a trans rebuild id say you got RIPPED...
My frined just bought a BUILT brand new a-727 for his challenger, built to handle like 800 horsepower and it was BRAND NEW for 4 grand...
The fastman has complete trannys capible of taking 500horsepower on his site for 1500...

Hell, if it was 4-6 thousand dollars I dont think anyone would fix something when the trans went out.

 

Is there that much of a difference between 4 grand, and 4 - 6 thousand?

I haven't had such serious problems with my transmissions in many years, but my 1988 T-bird's AOD was not much cheaper (I think 3g) at the time. I had figured with newer vehicles, especially those new-fangled 5 and 6 speed AOD's things had gotten more expensive in the past 15-20 years...
AAMCO is also the top rated automatic transmission shop in the USA, and their rates are NOT cheap.
So much so, it can cost as much for a rebuild as a brand new one, especially the lifetime warranty ones.
Perhaps your friends got lucky, but then why are they having these problems?

I'll pay the 1500 for the fastman's tranny, so long he pays that towards the next rebuild should it turn out to be a piece of crap. And someone still has to install it.

 

Do not drive it again till the 07 is ready. Thenget a buddy to pull you or have it towed to within a block of the dealer and thenbaby it there.