Evan,

I am glad they answered your email so quickly, but if you or anyone else wants to talk to someone immediately I would suggest calling the Customer Assistance Center at the numbers below.

800-992-1997 U.S.
800-465-2001 Canada

 

I hope you find suitable resolve to this.. it's gotta be frustrating...

I sure ain't no Dodge Engineer, but I would like to ask you a few things, and maybe interject another..

when you say you had it flushed.. do you mean pressure flushed? who did it? HOW did they do it? Was the filter (internal) left in place?

your wear indicates to me a lack of lubrication/trans oil.. Maybe not that it was low (but whine is most often low fluid), but that fluid wasn't present where fluid was supposed to be present.. A transmission with a flow issue will behave just like a transmission with low fluid- it will whine as a first indicator..

back to your flushing:

often times, people (ignorant rascals in need of a tune up to their person) 'flush' in reverse flow- and by attaching a pressure hose to the dang fill tube.. Sometimes, they disconnect the high pressure line which is heading to the heat exchange in your radiator.. Most often, they leave the filter in place when they do this, because they are lazy..

reversing the flow of fluid through the high pressure line back through the trans blasts all the accumulated crud off the filter and through the valve body and gear sets.. the passages in the valve body are TINY.. all it takes is a nice pressure behind that crud to hopelessly clog the passages.. which ones are clogged if that's the case? I'd be scared to guess... If that is how your trans was flushed, then I'd almost put money on it that is what's happening.

if there is any clutch material in your transmissions internal filter, flushing in reverse (I'd guess at least 80% of lazy bastardos flush in reverse) is a TERRIBLE idea..

if the flush is performed in the direction of flow the transmission uses all by it's lonesome, the results aren't so bad.. they aren't good- but they aren't near so bad.. the filter has to be removed for that procedure..

I'd almost promise there is a blockage in the valve body.. I'd almost bet the flush is what kinda egged it on...

 

Thank you for your reply.

Here is my history with the truck.

I bought it with about 15K miles on it, and with a CPO Warranty which I think requires the dealer to change the tranny fluid. When I got the truck home I noticed there was a small leak/drop on the tranny pan, but the fluid level was good. The very next day I took it to our local dealer and they fixed the leak on the pan. They truck has made this noise in first gear since the day I took it home. I do not know if either place replaced the tranny filters or flushed it.

What do you think I should do?

Should I tell my local dealer to check the filters? It makes me mad that they cannot figure this out you would think someone would know. The dealer that did the work on the tranny is a very largest Dodge dealer in Iowa. At this point I just want them to put a new tranny in because who the heck knows what else may be damaged inside.

 

Honestly? I wouldn't mention a flush at all.. I would stick with what you got documented from the dealership, and simply state: "paid for a floggin' rebuild and it's still down"..

if they went in all the way to swap out planetary sets and that doesn't qualify as a rebuild, I don't know what would..

if you have documentation about the planetary swap- and it doesn't work still, personally, i would forget what reasons you went there with and simply put my shoulder behind "you said you fixed it, charged $1200, and it isn't fixed"..

in the course of that pursuit, I would suggest to them the quality of their workmanship with a couple of loaded questions like "you mean you pulled that trans, swapped planetary gears, and didn't replace bands, seals, apply levers and such? .. what kind of jack leg job did you do?".. When they go to explain the procedures they took, and hopefully they will, make you eyes all big and say "holy crap!!! you didn't pull the valve body and make sure it was clear? why would you not do that?? are you expecting me to pay you again for that too? should that have not been a process in your extraction and reinstall?"

point being- your planetary gears were shot.. those are some pretty hard dang parts.. what would make them wear to that degree is starving them of fluid.. (furthermore, those shards of materiel shaved off of them didn't turn into smoke and dissipate, they turned into ghosts and are clogging your internals- most likely the valve body).. the ways it would be starved of fluid is either lack of, or blockage of some sort on/through a passage.. that should have been the very first thing a tech looks for.. it kills me- and this is true for most every novice tech (and don't fool yourself, most dealer techs are novices): they replace/repair the item that was damaged as a product of the problem, and then are shocked that the problem persists- just to fix the product of the problem again...

they say you catch more flies with sugar.. maybe so.. sounds like you've spread plenty of sugar.. just so you know, you can also catch flies with a baseball bat and/or a wicked tongue..

If you can't work it out face to face, I'd write a letter and carbon copy the dealer, the BBB, the corporation.. as my ace in the hole, I would NOT approach it as a 'lemon law lapse', I'd approach it as "you said you fixed it, and you didn't"- but I wouldn't take that tact until the letter.. I guarantee you, you will have their attention with that.

 

I just thought of something, and wonder if you had any idea what else might cause this noise.

When I got my truck back from the dealer that replaced all the different parts inside I checked the fluid level when I got home which is about 50 miles away. I noticed it was about 3/4 quart low it was just below the bottom dot on the "hot" part of the dipstick. Of course I did this with the truck running and went through each gear and waited about 5 minutes before I checked it. I added 3/4 of ATF4, and brought the level up to the top dot on the "hot" part of the dipstick.

When I think back I did not notice the noise when the tranny was 3/4 low on fluid, but I did notice it after I added the fluid. Also when I took the truck back into a different dealership I had them check the fluid level again, and the said it was right where it should be. Which tells me I put the level where it needed to be.

My question is why would more fluid cause the noise more then less fluid what could it be?

Also this is the second day after Chrysler contacted me making this issue more urgent, and I have not heard one word back from them yet.

Thanks

 

you gotta figure, the transmission is a pressure based system with a reservoir.. you're checking the fluid in the reservoir when you shove the dip stick down in there.. that's pretty much it.. there is also weep holes found in that thing.. meaning, if you slightly overfill it, it will just weep out to the proper level.. if you WAY overfill it, like, a quart or more- you're asking for issues..

that fluid is not only the oil for hard parts, it is the hydro, as in hydraulic pressure.. as you know, fluids don't compress- some don't at all (like water doesn't).. The ones that DO compress do so in a very predictable way- so they are suitable for driving calibrated (read: expected) critters such as automatic transmissions..

when you overfill an automatic transmission, you are bringing the fluid level up past the top of the pan, and into the valve body.. this sounds harmless, but it is far from it.. it does to the fluid something like cappuccino machines wand froths milk.. it injects bubbles of the tiny sort.. ATF+4 with tiny bubbles loses BOTH properties you need it to have.. it doesn't lubricate but a fraction of what it's supposed to, and it all of the sudden is FAR from predictable as a hydraulic agent.. it compresses, in other words.. you lose pressure..

when you lose pressure, and you lose lubrication, all bets are off on predicting what will happen..

I would MUCH rather run a trans a touch low than even a touch high.. we're talking the difference of a quart in a beast that holds more than 15 (trans+reservoir+T/C+cooler).. that quart high or low could mean really bad things for a trans.. that is the reason there is a gap between the pan and the valve body, and the reason your pickup tube routes through the filter there.. it wants to sane as much bubbly-action out of it's drink before it puts it through the system.. and it wants to pull it anywhere but the bottom of the pan too- where crud sinks..

anyway- I went off on a tangent.. whoops.. seriously though, make sure you're not overfilling it.. bubblies in the system would certainly make a racket..

 

Well I am still waitting to hear anything new from Chrysler. Yesterday they said they were going to call me and give me an update. Well guess what, they never called. I guess I will see if they happen to call me today.

Here is there email back to me dated 1/23.
Dear Customer: Case #: 21777902 VIN: 3D7KS28T19G543434
Vehicle Description: DODGE RAM SLT 4X4 2500 QUAD CAB PICKUP

I am working along with the dealership in an effort to resolve your transmission concern. I am sorry for the delay. I will follow up with you tomorrow.


Thank you

Sherie Note: This is a system generated message.Please do not reply.

Sincerely,
SHERIE
Customer Care.

 

Well round and round we go. The lady from Chrysler contacted me today, and she said my local dealer said the noise it normal and nothing needs to be done. I asked her why then any other 2500 ram with a hemi does not make this noise and mine does. I also asked her why did the dealer in Des Moines replace a ton of parts in my transmission to try and fix this noise if there was no issues with it. I also asked her why Dodge does not just put a new FC##I(k transmission in this truck and be done with it. She told me they would not put a new transmission in unless they have a reason to. Here is a reason your tech's cannot reslove the issue that is making the noise, so replace the source of the noise.

WOW!!!!!

I have just about had it with Chrysler/Dodge products. So now this lady is going to call the dealership in Des Moines that did the transmission work to see what they think needs to be done next. WTF!!!!

How come Chrysler cannot get there crap fixed? This truck has now been to two different dealerships 5 times for the same issue!

What the heck do I do next? I am just about ready to see what legal service I can find to help me out.

 

I sent this to the 4th Gen section as you have a 2009. Even though it has the same body style as '08s being a 2500, I think it might help 2009+ guys with their stock programming(as I suspect it's different for your year than prior years w/3rd genners)

Anyways, the link is good for 1month for guys in 3rd Gen

 

Thank you