03 Ram 2500 5.9 Cummins 4x4 48re Auto won't move in Drive, 1st, 2nd or Reverse...UNLESS...I press the accelerator 1/2 way to the floor (or more) but even w/that much throttle, truck only moves at a snail's pace, which seems odd considering I made it home in "Drive" but now have mostly nothing(?)

HERE's WHAT LEAD TO THE PROBLEM --> Was apprx 25 mi from home when I smelled tranny fluid inside the cab. Stopped at closest gas station and could see steady drips of atf rolling off the trans cooler lines but couldn't tell where the leak was coming from since the general area was coated in ATF. Seeing how it was dark, 2 o'clock in the morning and 10 deg/F, I bought 5qts of Shell mulit-vehicle ATF (they didn't have ATF+4) topped the trans off with 2qts and headed for home. Unfortunately had to stop again after about 10 miles and add the other 3qts of the Shell multi-vehicle atf at the 1st sign of the trans shifting slightly erratic due to low atf. After topping off the trans a 2nd time, figured it best to head to another Walmart along my route and bought/added 3 more qts. Unfortunately had to stop a 3rd time (at another Walmart/1st Walmart only had 3qts) and added 3 more quarts of ATF+4 and then drove the remaining 12 mi home. After that, truck sat for a week until I had time to look at it. Found a 1/16 inch rust hole on one of the trans cooler pipes coming out of the coolant heat exchanger at the engine block. D@mn hole was actually hiding right up against the outside edge of the compression flare nut where corrosion caused the hole

So far, I've installed new trans cooler lines, dropped the pan, cleaned the pan/magnet, adjusted both bands, installed new filter (and after all this) truck still won't move in any gear without high throttle input. For what it's worth, uploaded a photo of the inside of the pan (shown below) and far as I can tell there's not much to see. The magnet actually had about the same amount of fine metallic silt as the last time I was inside the pan 6yrs ago. Incidentally, the excess black silt that can be seen in the pan, actually came off the magnet when it skipped across the pan in my attempt to remove it the first couple tries.

If nothing else, could use some advice re what I might try to get the truck moving enough to get it to a shop(?)

btw... new to the site, so if anyone thinks this post belongs in a better section please let me know!

(Thanks!)

 

Tow truck. Likely it's rebuild time.

 

Was it exhibiting this problem (refusing to move) anytime prior to you dropping the pan? If not, check that the flat screen filter's neck is truly seated in the hole, with the O-ring in place. I believe you should install the o-ring first, then push the neck up into it. If not seated properly, or the o-rings are doubled up, it can cause it to suck air. Either that, or your tranny is fried.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dodgevity

Was it exhibiting this problem (refusing to move) anytime prior to you dropping the pan?

That's what seems somewhat odd (all things considered) trans ran fine on the way home the night of the leak and multiple top-offs, and never made any odd noises. Truck then sat for about a week till I had time to look at it and then when attempting to move it into the garage for the first time after the incident, that's when the problem presented itself. Was able to get the truck to move the 30ft needed to get it into the garage but had to press the peddle 1/2 way to the floor just to get it to slowly crawl forward. I do plan on dropping the pan and double checking things one more time, just as soon I get the time.