Long-time lurker, had to finally post. So... umm.. hi! I guess I'm hoping for some assurance / ideas to try while I wait for next paycheck.... so here goes.

2006 SLT 4.7 VIN N 4x2 A/T 45RFE about 75k miles, original owner.

Symptoms:
- P0700 P0733 P0734 p1790
- Later on, P0735 and P0869 (High trans line pressure) but were "pending"
- Not long before it happened, all this within about a week:
- Did some minor hauling for a few days straight, never even half vehicle's capacity.
- Used "Tow / Haul" doing this
- Started hearing some transmission whining shortly after.
- Within a day or two, RPMs would get pretty high before shifting into 4th or OD. (After a few times of this, I did a scan and caught a "Pending" P0733)
- Another day later, very little driving just in case, MIL with the 0733.
- Shortly thereafter, VERY hard shifting esp in higher gears. Then to limp-in mode.
- Finally it was Friday and I could take a look at things.

Initial Steps
Changed filter, sump filter, and fluid. It had only been about a year maybe 18 months. Maybe 10k miles. Checked fluid regularly. Never too high, low, or off-colored. SOME metal on the magnet but not bad. Fluid was reddish but not bad, not overly dirty, not burned, etc.

No dice.

At this point, after clearing, only throwing P0700 P0733, P1790.

Speed sensors tested fine with ohmmeter. Replaced anyway. No help. Re-seated all electrical connections while there.

After doing some looking around at things, took the valve body off.

====

PLEASE tell me that this is the problem and I don't have to drop the tranny.

The transfer plate is scored pretty good. Cracked, even. Radiating from several screws. Verified torque on said screws.. just fine. Some cracks compromised the cover and went through to the passages... So clearly an issue there. Pretty dirty... blackish crud. Most passages tend to be heavily burred.

The separator plate was generally OK but was VERY dirty -- black again -- on the "valve body" side. Not in the passages, but on the mating surfaces.

Check ***** were fine.

The valve body is fun. Everything LOOKED okay at first. Then I took the accumulator cover off... which was in good shape BTW.

Springs were all fine.

L/R accumulator is ok. 2C is ok. 4C has a very slight amount of distortion in the back of the bore, very very mild score line on the outside of the piston. UD: Back of the bore very distorted. Moderate score in the bore. Decent score line outside of the piston. Slight distortion back of piston and part of the front/inside: looks like spring was stuck once or twice. Ow. OD: Back of the bore very distorted and cracked. Two deep scores in the bore. Back of the bore, top has a small hole. Looks as if it blew the bore. Piston is shot. Inside there are very deep spots where the spring was clearly stuck somehow.

Clearly the valve body is shot to hell. Not sure how. But it is. My soon-to-be ex-wife.... well.. who knows.

Solenoid pack. Tested solenoid control terminals. None shorted to ground. But had readings upwards of 12 ohms from OD to others, UD to others, upwards of 7 ohms from 4C to others. The rest were 5 and under. Not sure if this is a problem or not.

Clearly I need to replace the valve body and pistons. Possibly the solenoid pack as well. After reading some other threads ( like this one https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...and-p0734.html ) I'm hoping that this is my problem. I don't see much to indicate any problems "higher up". But wanted opinions while I wait for next paycheck to come around?

Thanks for your time.

 

a little metal on the magnet is fine, especially for your mileage, and you are right, the fluid sounds good. But the black crud in the valve body i would definitely say is your issue. The only thing is that it would be hard to know what caused that black crud. That would cause the pressure to be out of whack like you had, high pressure at some parts, low at others making the transmission throw all kinds of codes, basically like you have having. Sounds like it's trying to shift but couldn't giving you the incorrect ratio codes.

Since the fluid looked good and the magnet didn't have alot of metal on it, i would say do the valve body and pistons. I would also do the solenoid pack as you are already there anyways. As for going further, i don't see a reason for it, unless the new parts don't fix it. Make sure to disconnect our battery to clear the codes and have the PCM relearn your tranny after the fix. Don't just clear the codes, it might not properly clear pending codes and you might stay in limp mode after all this work.

 

I think you pretty much found your issue. I would go with a new valve body and solenoid pack. I would think the black crude you are talking about is from heat, like a sludge formation but why did it get so hot is my only question. The heat is what most likely did the warping and cracking. I would think you are on the right tracks. Good luck!


Thanks for joining DF. You have to be one of the first people that has posted with so much information, which is awesome. Great work!

 

Yeah, what they said. I was having the same issue. Even after a rebuild. The solenoid pack helped some (looks like the rebuild place never changed it out on the rebuild)

It also shorted out a circuit board, because it kept sending faulty info.

BTW, I now have about 100k more miles on my truck than you do.

 

what do you guys mean by saying "pending": " P0869 (High trans line pressure) but were "pending".

Does the Trouble Codes get erased when you remove minus on battery or do i have to have dealer connect diagnostic computer and erase them?

Sincerely

 

You can disconnect the battery to clear the codes. Better yet to spend about $20 and buy your own scanner. Dealer will charge you @$100 to read/clear codes. Never take it to the dealer just to get a code. Auto parts stores will also read for you for free.

 

so when i disconnect battery its the exact same thing as if the dealer connect his computer and clear trouble codes?

 

Yes, but the error code will come back if the cause of the error is not corrected. As stated above, an OBDII code reader can read & clear codes, and costs about $20.

 

so you're telling me that if do not correct the error and clear the code with an OBDII reader the trouble code wont come back?
that sounds wierd?

then i should be able to do the exact thing by checking the trouble code by turning ignition on and of 3 times and read the code in the HUD and after that loose the battery minus?


sincerely

 

The error code will come back if the cause of the error is not corrected.
As soon as the PCM runs it's checks, and finds the fault again, the CEL will return.