Hello all,

(sorry in advance for long 1st post)

I've searched the forums for several hours and now I'm confused 6 ways to Sunday.

Let me first start out that obviously I'm asking a transmission question. And secondly, all you mechanics out there any help would be appreciated. And also, I'm not a vehicle guy. I am mechanically inclined. I can do the normal stuff, etc. but not anything related to major systems of the truck.

I own a,

2004 Ram 1500 5.7L Hemi 2x4
72,000+ miles
(i'm guessing) either a 45RFE or a 545RFE tranny
#'s off of tranny
TITTJ309310684 452
P52119452AB RFE

Anyway, yesterday I felt my truck "jerk" and looked down and saw my check engine ligt blaring me in the face . I limped home not to aggravate my engine system any more.

This morning I took my baby to Autozone and they gave me a code of P2706. The guy there looked up the info and said it's a transmission control solenoid (shift solenoid???)and it would run me about $150.00.......he would have to order it. He aslo said I didn't have to "drop" the tranny and I could change the solenoid from the side.

So I start calling around for price quotes and started getting questions about a lock converter...well FIIK (f*%k if I know). I did call the dealership and got a quote from them as well as if my truck hade this lock converter (I have been told it doesn't) They wanted almost $400 before labor. So I came here.

other places quoted me $44.99 for the solenoid (Checkers), $121.26 (Napa)

Searching for hours, reading posts getting more and more confused and I decided to register and hope for the best. I've seen some stuff close to what I'm looking for but not on the money if you know what I mean. I've even gone to transmissionpartsusa and that didn't help either.

I did get under the truck and took some pics and I saw three sets of wires going into the tranny. Two were on the left side (1 behind some steel rod thing) and one to the rear. The other one was on the right side near the front. Well Da#n, which one is the shift solenoid?

So my questions are this,

1. Can a do it at home? (Can't afford dealership = unemployed)
2. Do I have to drop the tranny?
3. Actuall part I'm needing (via transmissionpartsusa or any other cheaper website)
4. Anyone with pics?

Thank you for any help for a newbie to the board.

 

ive seen/heard of this problem a few times. not a big deal really. get yourself a new "transmission solenoid pack". they usually do run between $140 to $180 from what i have seen. you can change it yourself at home, without taking the transmission out of the truck. it will be messy, but its not too hard. i have a couple trannies in my garage. i am already getting some pics made up of this same process for another guy.

what you have to do is drop the transmission oil pan. this is the messy part, you will need a large container to collect all the fluid that comes out. once the pan is off, and fluid is drained you will need to remove the flat sump filter. its held in place by one torx bolt. then you will need to remove the valve body, as the solenoid pack is attached to the top side of it. the VB is held in place by about 8 hex bolts, and the large electrical connector (TRS) on the drivers side of the tranny above the pan. once the VB is out of the tranny take it to a nice and tidy workbench or work area. the solenoid pack is the big block on the top of it. to take it off just take out the 15 torx bolts that are directly underneath it. they are accessible from the bottom of the VB. once that is off, just slap the new one in, and put it all back together.

you will need about 8 or so quarts of ATF+4 to refill the tranny. and since you are already in there, and replacing fluid, you might as well replace the filters while you are at it. there are two of them, the flat sump filter, and the spin on. they run about $80 for the set. and lastly you will need some RTV gasket maker to reseal the pan.

will have some pics put together either tomorrow or saturday. in the meanwhile, check out some of the pics in these two faqs, it may help a little.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...-tutorial.html

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...-tutorial.html



edit: great first post btw. it explains the problem well, and has all the pertinent info we need to help you with your problem. hopefully you will stick around after your problem is resolved. its a great bunch of guys on here. (especially me, im kind of a big deal you know)

edit #2: GO NINERS!!!

 

Great first post!

Ive got an error code on my 545rfe once with the shift solenoid and the tranny went in to LIMP. All I did was cleared the DTC's and it hasnt come back since.

I would try resetting your truck before doing anything, just to see if the problem comes back or not.

Disconnect the battery (I remove the positive terminal with the key in the ON position and I ground the positive terminal for a second, and reattach to the battery) When you restart the truck, you should have no engine light. Take it for a drive and see if the light comes back.

 

I'm not one for the "quick fix" but thank you, thank you, thank you. I did the disconnect thing like you said and left it unplugged for about two minutes. The only thing I had to reset was my clock. Shoot that even fixed my ambient air temp problem too (guessing it was of the battery). I did my type of driving like normal, even gunned it a few times. I drove it for about 20 miles and the light never came on.

I will though if the light does come back on and gives me the same code, I will do the whole solenoid replacement. But for now, you saved me about $200 or so bucks. Thanks again.

 

No problem. Same thing happened to me, and Im the guy that replaces anything the second I notice something wrong with it. Since I have a programmer in the glovebox, I pulled over in a parking lot, checked the code and cleared it. Went to drive away and was expecting for the light to come on again and nothing. That was over 4k miles ago now .... and Im not too easy on the truck.

Im glad I saved you $200 I probably feel better than you do at the moment.

 

Im going through similar problems too i will be getting my parts on monday though, (transmissionpartsusa.com)