New member and greetings from the Rio Grande Valley, South Texas. I purchased a 2009 Ram 1500 Crew Cab, Lone Star Edition with the Hemi V8 a few weeks ago. I absolutly fell in love with the truck when I first saw it and the test drive sealed the deal. So far I have 750+ miles on it and I have babied it the first 500 miles during break-in. I have finally opened up the hemi and I have noticed that the tranny shifts really weak from 1st to 2nd. It feels like it shutters or slips for a brief moment. I have also noticed that the tranny seams to stay in the higher gears when driving slow like through a parking lot or turning. It feels like when your driving a manual tranny and you fail to down shift and the engine stalls or lugs because your in the wrong gear. When that happens I have to stab the gas peddle and it jumps into 1st and takes off. When I turn on the tow/shift feature and manually shift the tranny it shifts much better. Could this be a potential sign of a problem or do you guys think the truck need to break in some more. I have experienced similar problems with my wifes Dodge Neon. The tranny went out and I had it re-built by the dealership. The tranny behaved the same way for a few days until it broke in and the shifting issues eventually went away. Any insite or advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

Id take it in mine hasnt ever did it.

Neighbor

CC - TX

 

Yeah, I have a feeling that I'm probably going to have to do that. I'm guessing that it is probably a defective valve not holding properly. I just hate dealing with the dealership service guys. My father was a test driver for DamilerChrysler for several years and he told me that the trannys on the 3rd gen Rams had a high rate of failure. He never got to test the 4th gen Rams so I hope they sorted out the problems. Hope to buy a boat in the near future and do some fishing in the Baffin Bay Area.

 

The soft 1-2 shift is designed into the software. It actually retards the timing and lowers the power of the engine in order to prolong the life of the tranny. It bothers some people more than others. At certain throttle positions, it bothers the hell out of me. I am not sure if you can change it when the programmers come out, but maybe. I hope that helps.

 

Thanks Dr. Bill, I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed it. I thought it could be the computer nanny's (Viva ESP) kicking in because sometimes it shifts hard and other times it shifts soggy/wimpy as heck. I think I'm going to wait until my first oil change to take it by the dealer for a re-flash or something. Again, I hate going to the dealership becasue it usually takes them two to three tries to get it right. 1st time in they usually find nothing, 2nd time they find the problem, but they have to order the part and finally you get your ride back and hope the mechanic remembered to put all the parts in. Oh well at least it has a life-time power train warranty right!!

 

mine does the same thing, it is something they put into the computer to help extend the life of the tranny. guess it's dodge's attempt to get away from their legacy of bad transmissions, but the one in the new rams is made by mercedes for their suv's and the new ram-i would think it should be able to handle full power shifts, hopefully the programmers will fix that

 

That is not correct. The one designed by mercedes is used in the cars with the hemi, and it is a completely different transmission than the one in the trucks. The one in the trucks is the 5-45rfe, and it was designed by dodge. In fact, the 6 speed auto you get in a non-cab and chassis dodge diesel truck is the 68rfe, and is a direct descendant of the 5-45rfe. Neither of these transmissions is based on the old 727 like all of the previous 4 speed rwd dodge autos were.

 

The way I understand actually, is that the 3rd and 4th gen (545RFE) automatic is MUCH more reliable then the 2nd gen 4 speeds. It shows on the forums too. Much less people with 3rd gen transmission problems. I personally know someone who is on his 3rd transmission on his 99 2nd gen, and he has less then 150k, and my father's old 97 was starting to slip with around 100k on it, while I don't know anyone with a 3rd gen who has had a major transmission problem

 

I had a 96 Dodge 1500 that went through 3 auto transmissions in 56K. It made me a bit nervous to purchase a Dodge again. Cruising the forums it looked like the transmissions improved with the 3d gen truck. With the lifetime warranty, I decided to take a chance. I do like the 09 Ram. Just hope the power train holds up and Dodge stays in business.

 

Some of the new computers in vehicles actually "learn" how you drive and adjusts to it. Because you babied it (and actually according to the owners manual you are suppose to vary speeds and include periodic full throttle accelerations), it takes about to 500 miles or so re-adjust.

I would still take it in just to be looked at though. . . besides LIFETIME WARRANTY!