I'm trying to figure out the best plan to address the transmission problem in my 2006 Dodge Dakota SLT pickup ... I am self-employed as a freelance landscaper so this vehicle is my bread & butter and I need help... It's the Club Cab 4.7L V8 Magnum, 2WD with the 545RFE 5-Speed Automatic Transmission.


Bought it a year ago & did some repairs last spring. Not long after that, the Trans Temp warning light has come on now & then (more in the hot weather this summer & especially while idling or after performing parking maneuvers) ... Other than maybe a half-dozen 20min trips to a neighboring town, I only drive short distances within the small town where I live, so I've only driven it a few minutes with the warning light on, whenever it happened, before I got where I was going anyway, or the warning light turned itself off. 13 year old vehicle, so shift reaction was always a little "relaxed" & you could feel it engage, but never any harsh jerking, grinding, clunking or alarming noises or smells ... Fluid level always good, no evidence of scorching.


The morning after the first cold night we had about a month ago, I let it warm up, then went to pull forward out of the driveway, put it in Drive, no loud noises at all, but I had to rev it up to around 3000rpm before it would slowly start rolling ... made the turn out of the driveway like this, realized there was a problem so backed down the alley & thankfully still had full power in Reverse (so most likely it's not the toque converter). Tried Forward, as well as both Overdrive gears, same problem. Backed into neighbor's driveway, parked for week, then one more 3-point maneuver to move back to my driveway, have not used since, Fluid level still good & have never gotten a Check Engine light, just the Trans Temp light (almost completely stopped coming on once daytime temps cooled down to 60s/70s).


The problem presented after the work I did in the spring so I could be the culprit, but it could also be a coincidence because I know Dodge trannys are known for problems (& it's at its infamous 150K "lifespan").


The initial problem was the front main engine seal leaking badly, so in replacing that, I discovered the failed harmonic balancer (chunks missing & crumbling inner rubber ring) & replaced that as well. Also cleaned & re-sealed the engine oil pan while I was in there. While everything was out of the front end, I noticed very slight trans fluid seepage on the cooler lines & quick connect fittings at the radiator ports (internal tranny cooler is inside lower portion of radiator), not even enough to drip on the driveway. Turns out the entire radiator support had rusted out so it was basically hanging by the hoses ... between all that movement & the excessive vibration/bouncing from the failed harmonic balancer, the aged/corroded tranny cooler ports on the radiator were crumbling & leaking. The boyfriend fabbed up a new radiator support at his machine shop & I bought & installed a new radiator.


I was happy I took care of the problem before I started getting coolant & trans fluid mixing inside the radiator, did not see any evidence of the trans fluid having been contaminated, but dropped the trans oil pan & changed the filters, resealed & replaced the lost fluid with yes, the correct OEM fluid. Did not see any metal shavings or chunks in oil pan, did not struggle, scrape, hit hard, or bounce anything roughly while doing the work. Everything seemed fine for I think it was a few days or maybe a week or two before the Trans Temp warning light started coming on now & then as explained.


I understand very well that I may not need a complete rebuild, but I also understand I may have waited too long to address the "cause" & now I have to address the "affect" as well. I have very little funds, but I have no problem doing remove & replace labor myself - very good at researching & wrenching, but not very experienced with electrical or transmission problems. I understand diagnosis is the first step & the first step in diagnosis is to drop the pan & check for metal. At that point, I can replace the valve body, I can can replace the solenoid pack, sensors, etc. BUT if the initial overheating problem was in the wiring, none of that would help & if there ARE metal pieces in the pan, my only choice would be to continue to remove the entire transmission & take it in for a bench rebuild (hopefully not a "severe" one in hopes it's just the pump and/or one clutch pack or something), or replace the whole transmission. The only other thing I can think of is some tiny bits of the styrofoam the new radiator was packed in may have gotten into the trans cooler ports. Maybe I'd even get lucky and have it only be an external linkage/shift cable problem.


I love this mighty little truck, it's perfect for my work, and I've already put alot of care into it so I really want to keep it going now. Hoping someone here might be able to help me troubleshoot and diagnose my issue - I already tried to do alot of research & know it's not the TC because I still have full power in Reverse. For instance, any other parts I can eliminate as the problem because there are no DTCs? Pretty sure I would get codes if it were a solenoid problem, but what if the cooler lines, valve body or filters have styrofoam bits clogging? Could I not be getting trans codes due to bad wiring? What can I do to know if the linkage is ok? Etc... Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer!

 

when you changed the transmission filters, did you also use OEM? you mentioned OEM fluid but the filters are just as important.

 

Unfortunately, I did not. I used the Wix filter & gasket kit #58846. As I've researched trans issues, I've run across that possibly being the problem, so you are probably right. I'm assuming that explains the temp light & I will for sure replace them with OEM when I get back in there.

I also learned that "Mopar lesson" the hard way when I changed my spark plugs too - Got some nice, not-cheap ones but this truck did not appreciate it at all - Had to go back in & replace all 8, again, with the nice, simple, cheap OEM coppers & things were all good again. Pretty much anything electrical needs to be Mopar I've read, so I will add anything transmission-related to that list now too.

Worried I'm dealing with both a "cause" problem (non-OEM filters or clogging caused overheating) & an "effect" problem caused by the overheating ... I'll know more once I drop the pan but wondering if there's a specific reason you lose power in Forward gears, but not Reverse, without "bad noises" & without throwing a code. I've seen the comprehensive DTC list that does have codes for the valve body, solenoids & sensors ... Since I've not gotten ANY of those (and I know the CEL bulb is not out because it worked just fine during the spark plug incident lol), trying to figure out what could have happened that wouldn't throw a code. I'll update again once I do a visual inspection, but right now my garage is full of a 06 V6 Dakota I just bought cheap to part out, mostly for the tires - hoping to make enough $ to fix mine.

 

I had some E3 plugs in my v6 years ago, it was great for a while then i started getting a misfire. turns out they were not fully detonating the fuel and my catalytic converter got clogged. i swapped with "something else" and did a treatment of seafoam and all was good, until i put bad fuel in, which cleared up once that tank was done.

It's been years so i don't remember what i put and i no longer have the truck to be able to check

The only engine/transmission maintenance item that doesn't seen to NEED to be OEM is oil, oil filter and the air filter. everything else tends to need to be OEM, especially anything electronic.

 

A few thoughts which hopefully you find helpful at getting some sense of direction. Starting with questions and why those are asked.

- how many miles or kilometres on the truck before the transmission service was done? Who did it? What fluid was put in? How many miles or kilometres since it was done?
- when you put the new rad, the new filters, and new fluid in ... to what extent did you change the fluid? Was it a pan drop and refill or was it a system flush?
- any other prior driveline repair replace service history to share?

on the fluid change/top up;
not all fluids are compatible. Mixing brands or grades can result in chemical reactions of additive packages which may form particulates (crud) that can block shuttle valves and galleries. If this is the cause, removing servicing, disassemble clean re-re bits, of the valve body is required. Same fix if you got foam or other bits in it - remove the valve body and have it cleaned. When doing a fluid service, do a wholesale changeout and avoid multi-vehicle rated offerings in any Chrysler transmission. Please use Mopar ATF+4 only in your 545RFE. You can google how to properly purge, flush, and recharge a transmission yourself. Hint, Involves disconnecting the cooler return line from the transmission.

on the filters;
you have probably figured out that they can be problematic. There is the upgraded spin on filter that has an improved check valve in it, known fix is update oem Mopar only. There are the plastic and there are the tin crimped pan filters that are known not to seal and brittle plastics that are known to crack. There is also the issue of the snorkel cracking as well as the o-ring seal being properly removed and new one properly seated. Results are the pump sucks air or dumps pressure, both of which cavitate the TC or starve valve body. Symptoms are delayed engagement, feeling of slippage, and build a lot of heat.

on the solenoid pack;
There are known upgrades to the solenoid pack for 45rfe and 545rfe. Gratefully Dodge has made these packs easy to distinguish by connector colour. Black, white, grey. What colour is yours? You can google this topic.

That about sums up the main culprits to be investigated. Imho, your problem is any one of or combination of those. I do not believe it needs a rebuild. The 545Rfe is tough and long lived. Especially behind a 4.7 which barely makes half the HP that the 545 is capable of handling.

Sorry that I cannot offer more. Hopefully this gives you some clear ideas and clear direction of what to do.

 

Years ago I put a shift kit in mine and afterward it acted like yours. I called the manufacturer and the first thing he said is I didn't have the filter seated correctly. He was correct.

 

Thank you VERY much for all of your insights, FaceDeAce! Super informative & exactly the kind of ideas I was looking for!

I'm in the process of parting out an almost identical 2006 Dakota I bought SUPER cheap with a blown engine - a V6 so I can't use the tranny but also 2WD like mine, mostly did it for the almost new tires that I desperately needed, but I am delighted that I will now have almost a complete set of back up OEM parts for mine (ac compressor only a few months old, alternator, coil packs, water pump, etc.), especially since Mopar is so dam picky (most components, but not all, are the same for V6 vs V8). Anything that doesn't fit my V8 is getting sold to pay for whatever my tranny needs.

Staying focused on one project at a time but I am excited & looking forward to addressing your questions in detail once I'm done gutting this V6. Thanks in advance for your future assistance & I'll be back soon!