I've noticed my truck shifts into reverse a little hard, but going into drive is pretty smooth. Also, I've noticed it has seemed like it was hunting for gears a couple of times when I really put my foot in the gas pedal... any advice? I have the 3-month/3000-mile warranty from the dealership I bought it from, so I'm planning on taking it in, but I wanted to see what all of you thought first, maybe to get a little more ammunition before going into the dealership. The only thing I'm a little hesitant about is the fact that they're not a Dodge dealer... so I'm wondering if they're just going to say "Oh, that's normal... have a nice day."

Thanks in advance!

 

Hey Ratchet,, I have a 97 and mine when the weather is cold out will shift hard into reverse and kinda grind a little bit as I back up! but only when its cold! weather affect yours at all? Anyways... sorry to say man it sounds like the tranny! hope its not... but it may be.. either that or u might wanna check ur rear end fluid.. maybe change it or somethin? Id take it to the dealership ASAP.. they HATE shellin out the big bucks it costs to fix a tranny! but if they sold u a ram with a tranny problem.. then u have all the right in the world to have them fix it! I looked at trannys... about 3500 dollars for a new one... 2400 for a refurbished. lots of money! Try the rearend fluid! hope this helped a little at least

 

TAKE IT IN, and don't take no for an answer, I bought a 96 mustang gt with the 5 speed, and the shifter fork broke inside the tranny and it was stuck in first gear!! It wasn't a ford dealership and i had to buy a new tranny, i went in with reciepts and certified letter saying what was wrong with the tranny from a tranny shop, at first they were like, you could have got that from a friend and are just after the money, I was like well i'm not leaving till i get a check, and he had a few customers in there and i was like "I can't believe anyone would buy a car from you, you don't back up your products, i just bought a mustang 2 weeks ago and you won't even pay your part on a transmission!!" the customers were like ummmm, we'll be back later, and he wrote me a check and slammed a few things around but i got my money!!! TAKE IT IN, and if they refuse take it to dodge, spend $100 to get a true diagnostics as it's better than shelling out 2500-3500 later as rambo97 said!!!

 

Thanks for the tips guys. I couldn't get a hold of my salesman today, but it's Saturday, and they're probably pretty busy. I'll give them a call on Monday and see what can be done.

 

Little update here...

I've noticed lately that when I put my truck in reverse, it sounds like a power steering pump that's low on fluid, but the noise is definately coming from the trans. Anyone had this before? It's going in Monday morning, and I specifically asked if they are planning on sending it to a Dodge dealership, and they said yes, so we'll see. I'm hoping they'll replace the transmission... but I suppose that as long as it's fixed when I get it back, I'll be happy.

 

Had the same problem on my 96 4x4
Talked to one well known national shop (Dont want to drag any thru the mud) and they wanted 1800 to fix it, went to a local shop, costed me 900.00 to fix. was the hydralic pump and I think they mentioned the from drive clutches. anyways now that its fixed it seems to be working fine, smooth in reverse and drive.....

later
Ken

 

I took mine in on Monday, and got the ever popular "No problem found" response. I was pretty upset about this. You put the truck in reverse, and there's the noise. I also mentioned that the fron U-joints are making noise, but they said they didn't hear those either. You turn the steering wheel and drive forward, you can hear them. I don't think they even looked at my truck to be honest. I picked the truck up that night due to the fact that they gave me a mini-van to drive with 100K miles on it and no heat. So, I'm going to have to re-schedule when I can take their mechanic for a ride with me and point out the noises.

I hate dealerships. I'm glad the one I work for doesn't treat people like that...

 

Just a quick note here. I bought a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 5.9 with 18,000 miles on it in July 01.
My problems started with the same noise that Ratchet is talking about. When you can tell there is a shift pattern change take it to get looked at. At 47,500 miles the tranny blew while I was towing my boat. (no fun), and had to be rebuilt. No warranty. At 74,000 it had to be rebuilt again ( high band ) and at 90,000 miles the a pump senenoid went bad in the tranny. Don't get me wrong but I love this truck and with the miles I put on it, I have to trade it in for a new one.

 

That doesn't make me feel at all better about this...

 

Hey I had the same problem and it turnsout there's a Chrysler tech service bulletin on this subject that says it's the regulator valve and that it'll only do it when the tranny's cold. I just got in the habit of parking so that I could start out in drive. Any time after the truck's warmed up and I have to go into reverse and it's fine....Here's the buleltin link:
http://www.dodgeram.info/tsb/1999/21-08-99.htm