i have a 94 dodge ram 1500 with the 318 v8. the truck has 171000 miles on it. when im at a dead stop and put the pedal to the floor it shifts through 1st into 2nd but wont go into 3rd. the only way to get it to shift into 3rd is to either come to a complete stop and slowly take off again, or put it into neutral while still driving and then put it back into Drive. if i take off slowly it will shift through all the gears with no problem. I checked the fluid and it was at the right level but it did look a little burnt. i usually dont take off to fast anyways to save gas but if i need to put the hammer down and get going i want to be able to do it. please help me figure out whats wrong with it.

 

I know this may sound like a dumb question to a lot of people but you qould be supprised how many people neglect it. When was the last time in those 171000 miles have you changed your ATF and filter? Secondly, I am not sure if dodge has the same technology as say chevy but I am sure that there is some variance to it..either way there are sencors that tell your tranny to shift based on engine rpm and things of that nature. If you have change your oil and filter in a resonable amount of time then maybe look through your repair manual for something of this sort.

 

might also be a good idea to check out the second gen forum, they might be a little more helpful.

 

Kinda same comment as froto'sride...I had a 94 chevy that would actually down shift from OD to 3rd and even 2nd. Did a trans flush at the dealer and never did it again. (I drove it for 50,000 miles before I sold it at 200,000 miles and never had the problem again.)

 

id say after 171000 miles and this being your only trans problem youve been pretty lucky. maybe its time for a rebuild?

 

yeah i geuss i have been pretty lucky with it but not sure if i want to put the money into a rebiuld becuase i really want to save as much money as i can for a 4x4 so unless it completly goes out im probably not going to rebiuld it or replace it.

 

the thing is i bought the truck with 145000 miles on it and the guy i bought it from was definatly the type to replace anything that went wrong. also he had all the work done at my step unlces Tuffy so they knew the truck and guy pretty well, but i have yet to have it done because my uncle and cousins have been telling me about how a lot of times the tranny will go out completly almost immediatly after having it flushed. so its made me not want to do it at all. would it be possible to just drain it out and then refill it without doing the flush?

 

ill try posting in there too and see if anyone can help me. thanks

 

yes you can drain it all out without doing the flush. Th flush really isn't a big deal and typically they go out because of debris and old plastic parts that have worn out over the times and for some reason the flush seems to collect them and they get deposited in the valve body and yes the trany goes out in many cases...best bet is break it open what do you have to lose?

 

oh so thats why they go out. yeah i really dont have much to lose, ill give that a shot. thanks for the help