i have a 98 dodge ram and the other day the battery went dead from leaving an interior light on. so i get a jump and it is hard to keep running, i had to keep the gas pedal down to keep it running. well it runs fine now except for the transmission is not shifting right. it revs way up in 1st gear (its an auto) before ****fting to second. so i figured i would reset the ECU by taking off the Neg. battery cable for a 1/2 and it still doesnt shift right??? any help is much appreciated!!!

Oh and before the battery died everything was running and shifting perfectly!!!

 

to me it sounds like your trannie fluid is low. remember to check it with the truck running in nuetral or park. it should be warmed up but you can check it cold. also check the color and smell of the fluid. the color should be reddish. and if it smells burnt there could be damage.

 

Unless you damaged something electrical jumping your truck I dont think the tranny is related.

Checking fluid is the best first step.

How many miles since last fluid change? How many miles are on the truck?

 

It is hard to keep running? Sounds like the alternator is going out so you have to rev up the engine to get a sufficient charge. Just a possibility.

 

I used to have a 97 Ram 1500. The same thing happended. Believe it or not it's probably your battery. For what ever reason the PCM goes nuts if it senses your battery is really low or if it isn't holding a charge. I would try charging it up and see what happens. If that doesn't help than I would buy a new battery. I would also take it to a dealer and have them reflash you PCM. That might help but it might run you about 100 bucks. Get your battery tested first at least that's free.

 

No need to have the dealer re-flash your PCM. Once you have a good battery charge, disconnect the battery and turn your ignition key to on.Let the key on for about 2 or 3 minutes then turn the key off. Re-connect your battery. This process re-sets your PCM to the base configuration from the factory. All learned information will be lost, but you will get the base programming. Your truck should run fine and will get better as you run it more often.
As another poster mentioned, low battery voltage confuses the hell out of the PCM. It kinda forgets what it's doing.

Good luck.

 

Well i am not for sure but my friend was having the same kinda of problem with his car and it was a censor on the transmission!!

 

My 99 1500 started doing this last week but its 2nd gear thats hanging. Sometimes it runs fine but most the time its very stubborn to leave 2nd gear. I have to let off the gas and let it drift before it will change....
I havent tried disconnecting the battery yet. The truck has been well maintained and only has 86,000 miles on it but I fear its gonna need a new tranny.
I havent heard much good about 2nd gen trannies......Shame when the rest of the truck is mint!