Hi everyone,

I've searched the forum a bit and can't find a similar issue -- sorry if this has been covered before.

My 1997 Ram Van with V6 and 32RH trans died the other day. When I move the column shift lever to any position (R, D,2,1) it doesn't drop into gear.

The trans was making a high whining sound during a 20-mile trip to town which was mostly downhill, and then made less noise when coming home. Once home, when I went to back up, a very weird kind of bucking / misfiring happened when I shifted into reverse.

After unloading the cargo I drove it forward to a parking spot and it seemed fine. I checked the trans fluid (hot, running in neutral, flat ground) and it was down nearly a quart. Once I topped it up (yes, ATF+4, of course!) and went to start it is when it first wouldn't go into gear.
I waited an hour, thinking that cooling off might help, tried it again and it went into gear but only stayed there while backing up about twenty feet before going into the severe bucking/misfiring thing again, which killed the motor. After shifting into Park to start the motor, it wouldn't go into any gear again. Couple hours after that I tried again, it went into gear and stayed there long enough for me to back into my normal parking spot, where it currently sits.

One other related bit of information: For the last year or so, I've noticed that sometimes when starting up and shifting into gear there was a bit of hesitation, like I'd shift to reverse and nothing would happen for a second or two.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

Drop the pan, see what you find in there.