hey guys and gals...
i have an 04 ram 1500 quad cab 4.7 L auto. currently the trans has been shifting and not shifting right.it seems to not down shift soon enough uphills, and when you put the truck in drive the truck doesnt move until you press the gas, even on level ground. it also doesnt shift into higher gears to reduce rpms. runs almost always at 2000 rpms. i had it serviced in aug and the bands were adjusted. i had the dodge garage run the computer and everything was A OK. i spoke to the shop that serviced it and he said to check the oil level. i did tonight and it is too high (too much fluid). would this cause shifting problems? and how do i get the extra out without dropping the pan? i haul and tow a lot of wood and dont want to do any damage to the truck...i had a tranny go out on my 02. prior to the service the trans worked fine. any help would be appreciated. thanks in advance...
chris

 

with my limited knowledge of this I can say that too much fluid as well as too little can hurt the trans. but can cause shifting problems. apparently they are sensitive also some of them need time to warm up if your level is off which may explain the 2k rpms. hope this helps. also you can either drop the pan or do a flush or possibly siphon it out somehow. lastly I would think about doing another service somewhere else.

 

All good advice and true but I'll add this;

If it's got warranty left on it I'd take it to a Dodge dealership for transmission service and transmission issues.

Assuming you took it to a non-dealer, they might have put in the wrong fluid--it HAS TO HAVE ATF+4.

If you know for certain it has ATF+4 (watched the non-mopar garage pour it in) then it's likely an overfilled issue as said above or a misadjustment issue.

IMHO auto transmissions are the main weak link in every make and model of current vehicles and a surprising number of shops don't even know that different vehicles take different fluids, and some have been known to use standard Dexron and try to make up for not using ATF+4 with an additive.

--Matt

 

+1 minnesota

 

Agree with the good comments above. Also, if your tranny was recently serviced there is a good possibility that a non dodge tech installed the pan filter incorrectly. There's an art to installing this filter which involves keeping the filter level while pushing up firmly and wiggling as you go. You use this technique until the pan filter contacts the tranny throttle body. The filter needs to be positioned such that when you put the screw in, the filter does not move at all, if it doesthen the filter neck is cocked and air can leak into the tranny pump.If this happens youwill get two results; 1-low pressure (air)in the tranny line (rough shifting) and 2-overfilled pan due to fluid from the converter leakingpast the filter into the pan. What many techs don't know is that theRam pan filter plugs directly into the pump.My advice is to go back to the dealer that serviced your truck, drop the tranny pan and remove the pan filter mounting screw, if the filter moves at all when the screw comes out then it is installed wrong and isa likely cause of your problem. This is all assuming that you hadtranny work done in the last 6 months or so.

 

http://www.60ateight.com/DodgeRam/

If you go to the bottom of this it will show you how to pump out the fluid.

 

thanks for all the help...im going down to the shop today after work...ill let you know the outcome. thanks again

 

I agree with all of that and as much as I hate to say it, when I need something done and I can't do it myself I always go to the dealer just because I would hope they would know enough about there own makes.