So my problem occurs as this:

The van doesn't seem to go into o/d, at times... I drove it on the highway and such, about ten-fifteen miles, with no avail of shifting... I stopped at the store and shut the van off. Hopped in, still nothing. Sitting at the light, I had the idea to turn off the o/d, start in first the shift through the gears. After hitting 3rd, i turned o/d back on. Surprisingly, it seemed to engage into o/d. Turned it off, dropped down, back on, felt the shift. Came to a stop, left it in d and drove. Went through all 4, actually seemed to have a "5th" but it may have just been me.

After letting it sit for a couple of hours, I ran to the store. Didn't go into o/d until i was futsin with the switch, and only then did it seem to "lightly" seem to engage. Side note, this trip was short.

I already redid fusable links that appeared bad, check connectors, tps evidently works because cruise does. I am confused, is this natural on dodge, or is this a legitimate problem that should be addressed? what could be causing this? should i worry too much? seems to work after its warmed up a bit...

let me know what yall think. I got a day trip coming up on monday, i know the van will make it, just wanna see if the trans will, lol... already lost one vehicle to this trip, don't want to lose another... its getting too dang pricey

 

I have an '89 318 tbi with an A500 tranny.

There are the the 3 gears, easy to notice. Overdrive(4th) can occur on mine at 35 under light throttle. At 47 mph, under light acceleration, the torque converter locks up, so it feels like a 5th gear.

If I accelerate hard to say 55 mph then take my foot off, the TC locks up about .5 seconds after OD engages, fast enough to feel like one gear unless one is waiting for it.

A tach would be real helpful.

My OD will not work is my Vehicle Speed Sensor is not working, but my speedometer, odometer and cruise control do. Yours is differnet.

 

The "fifth shift" is the TCC (Torque Converter Clutch) locking in.

The TCC will not engage until about 45 mph, and OD until about 50 or 55 mph. The engine does have to go to "Closed Loop" meaning that the engine does have to warm up before the PCM will engage one or both.

Is your "Check Engine" lamp on, if so what are the codes?

 

yea the lights on but the codes i pull are 12, and 41. and 41 is caused by me installing the external regulator... I guess it makes sense that it has to warm up but on the same note, thats a long time, even in this florida heat...

 

If it is taking a while to warm up it could be either a bad thermostat or faulty CTS (Coolant Temperature Sensor). If the sensor then it is the two wire sensor not the single wire.

 

Is everyone sure he has one?

 

He owns a 92 B250 Conversion van.

 

i am assuming the 46rh tranny? i just went thru something very similar on an 01 with a 46re. if your tranny is the same there is a governor pressure solenoid and sensor along with a OD sensor. i bought a kit on line for $100 and new filter and gasket and 5 qts of fluid, dropped the pan pulled the filter, 4 bolts the little sensors come out. takes about an hour and it cost me a total of $130.00. i was told this is a very common problem on this type of tranny. there are a couple of how to stckys in this forum. my problem was on the other end of the shifting spectrum. hard shifting out to second and third then cruising no problem. sometimes manually shifting helped. i believe your older 46rh has a control sensor and a pressure solenoid. i have no idea how to test each one so i just spent the 100 and replaced both.

 

thanks for all the input... luckily im just heading up north and gettin rid of the beast. gotta get the crap 04 impala outa the shop so i can drop a new motor in it... man, i gotta get myself some real old vehicles so i can stop having all these stupid problems lol.