HELLO everyone, i am new to this forum and i am hoping that someone can provide me with some input on this matter i am having. Its a 2002 dodge ram 1500 5.9 4x4 with over 330k miles(i love my truck), no mods, all stock. I removed the front differential two days ago. The shaft started making lots of noise and the boot on the joint was thorn. I read that removing it and driving the truck with out if for a while would not be an issue. First day after removing it, i noticed that the truck felt a lot smooth down the road, not as heavy, if i may say. But i also noticed that the rpm's where a bit higher then normal going down the highway, as if shifting was taking a bit longer. I am a contractor and i drive lots of miles in one day, at the end of the day when going back home, check engine light came on. I pulled the code and it came out as P0740. I researched it and torque converter problems where suggested. This morning I turned the truck on, and All the sudden it wont switch into second gear. After it warmed up, the gears started kicking in again. Drove it for a few hrs and after making a right hand turn, gears are not going in as they should. I looked at the trans. fluid level. Put it on park, pulled dip stick out with the truck on, and level was right below the "ok" area on the dip stick. Any ideas what could be causing this?, Is the missing propeller shaft causing this issue? I have never had this problem before. Should i fill up the trans. fluid level all the way up?. Any one had this happen before? Any input would be deeply appreciated it as this is my work truck. Also I just ordered the shaft from dodge, it should be here tomorrow.

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH! LOOK FORWARD INTO HEARING FROM YOU ALL!

 

With the trans hot. Double check fluid level. Front drive shaft being removed should not cause any issues.

 

Hello and thank you for your reply. here is a picture of what the reading are on the dipstick cold, and warm.

WHEN HOT. right where my key is at the line.


when cold :




when hot



when cold

 

From the little that i know, if it sits right at the line when hot, it has the correct amount of oil, so basically where my key is pointing to, right?

 

Fluid should be in the middle of the XXXXXX space. Looks a little low to me. Also looks a bit old. When was the last trans service?


SJ03

 

Its low. Which can cause issues. Ditto on the trans service.

 

I added some more atf 4. Drove it around for about 20 miles and checked the level again. here is what i got.



checked while normal running temp. and in park while running





here is a double check of the level after the first one done this morning.

 

the cooler was replaced in june, we added more fluid. but a tune up of the transmission has not been done(solenoid,filter, etc..) . I bought the truck from a person that had the transmission rebuilt at around 80k-90k miles if i remember correctly.

 

Hello Everyone, once again thank you for all the input on this matter of mine. I just installed the propeller shaft. I drove it and it seems to be shifting fine now. From second to third takes a bit longer then what it used to. 4 wheel drive engages fine too. I will erase the code now and see what happens over the weekend, I have to catch up with all the work i am behind on. I will however look into replacing the atf fluid, and doing a tune up on the transmission. I torqued the bolts on the shaft at 85lb. I did noticed a little humming while going down the road at about 45-50 mph. Once again thank you all! I will post again and follow up with the outcome of the new shaft and the issue with the shifting.

 

Hello again. Yesterday i deleted the code and today I took the truck out to work. It was shifting, not like normal, RPMs where running a bit high when going down the highway, and also when it would shift from 2nd to 3rd while taking off from a stop light. By mid morning it would rev up to 3000 Rpms before shifting from 2nd to third. Then all the sudden it got stuck on first. It would rev up to 2500rpms and no switch. I went to a few job sites and when i do runs like that i usually leave the truck on while checking on my schedules and materials and things like that. So before the mentioned above happened I only shut the truck off once after having the truck on for about 3 hrs straight. So, I pulled into a parking lot, and turn the truck off. Checked the oil level just for kicks,(it was normal) turned it back on, and it would shift through the gears again, but at high Rpms. By high rpms i mean,I am driving down at 65-70mph on 4th gear and the rpms are at 2100-2400. If i let off the gas, the rpms drop to 15-1700, and truck speed drops down quite fast, does not coast as usual. It burned more gas than usual today, Also i dont think i have o/d. I ran 89miles today, and by the time i was coming back home check engine light came back, pulled the codes and it was the P0740 again. Should i just pulled the pan, change the oil/filter and attempt to change the solenoid and sensor?. Any thought s please.