Hey guys - I have a 2002 Ram 1500 5.9 4X4 with the 46RE transmission. This is my second issue with the transmission since I bought the truck. About two years ago a snap ring broke and took out reverse, all the other gears worked fine. Had it rebuilt anyway since it was already out.

My wife has been driving the truck since the rebuild. She came home one day and said it felt like the engine was revving but the truck wasn’t moving just before she turned down the driveway. When I went out to check on it I started to hear a winding noise from the bell housing when I put the truck in any gear. The noise would stop when put back in park. If I revved the engine the truck would eventually start to move and drive as normal until I stopped. If I pressed the gas again it would not move. Putting it back into park, waiting a minute, back into drive, give it gas and it would start to move again. Seemed like a pressure issue, figured it was the toque converter or front pump.

Dropped the transmission over the weekend and this is what I found:

- Front Pump looks OK, I’m assuming
- Fluid is a dark red/purple with grayish/metallic highlights when poured from torque converter (ATF4 was used). Assume overheating from smell and color.
- Magnet was covered with a grayish gunk and metallic flakes.
- Air to oil cooler lines are free from clogs
- The center gear (guessing stator) inside the torque converter moves freely in one direction and locks up after a half turn in the other. It also has about a 1/8 to ¼ inch of play when wiggled.

Anyone know if the torque converter could cause all this or should I be concerned with something else, clutches or bands maybe?

Thanks.

 

Well bud, I'm not gonna be much help here but I'm gonna stay tuned on this thread cuz I've got the same tranny and year, and getting near 197,000 miles on it. I have heard that the stock TC is beyond terrible in our trucks but don't remember reading many posts about specific symptoms.
Let the experts chime in...

 

if the fluid smells burnt than more than likely the tranny is toast. The 46RE doesn't take to heat very well. if you search the Gen II forums all those trucks have the 46RE in them and you will probably get a better response.

 

are you certain it was slipping?

could it have been trying to start in a higher gear? as in, not dropping to first?

the solenoids are notorious for gunking up and failing on those rigs.. and that would cause it to not want to drop into first.. happens all the time.. revving the engine to get her going from second or third gear burns the dog poo out of the converter, and generates a LOT of heat, which will kill the fluid in short order, leave a varnish on hard parts, and eat clutch surface in the mean time (hence, the gunk)..

I hate that you removed the thing before checking those solenoids, because that sounds like what was going on..

 

Where would these solenoids be? I have the same truck, and mine acts like it cant decide what gear to be in either

 

I dropped the transmission off at the shop a few days ago. They are going to open it up sometime next week. I’ll post their findings as soon as I hear back from them.

 

Turns out the torque converter failed which caused the overheating. The metal flakes were aluminum from the TC. None of the internal components were damaged. The shop replaced the TC and put another rebuilt kit in it. They also advised I take the air-to-oil cooler and lines out of the truck so they can run them through a machine that cleans them out with hot transmission fluid to get all of the flakes of aluminum out. They originally rebuilt it 2 years ago so they only charged me the cost of the TC and the rebuild kit with a little labor… $400. The guy who owns the shop is a “friend-of-a-friend” (unsure if that’s good or bad) so we’ll see how far she goes after I put it back in.

 

man, buy a new cooler.. don't mess with trying to clean one.. you'll regret that decision if you do..

radiators are in the neighborhood of $200 for a good one, and you can buy a plate type external cooler for around $45 (I rec the plate style to the coil style).. get rid of the check valve in the pressure line to cooler (HUGE liability, they clog easily and stop ALL flow- many shops won't even warranty a rebuild if that check valve stays in place), and install an external filter ($40~50 or so) that will do the same thing as the check valve (not allow drain back) and also makes maintaining your fluid easier..

 

Do the check valve delete while you're at it.
And the Sonnax Sure Cure.
Hell, do an SCT tuner for the engine too while you're at it.
The list could go on.

WTF am I talking about anyway? I don't know.

 

Hey DRam, was that the original TC that went bad or did it get replaced with your tranny rebuild 2 years ago?