I noticed the other day when I went to go get a burger that the rpms needed to be a bit higher than normal to shift in my 95 ram with auto trans, 46RH I believe, and yesterday leaving my place when leaving the parking lot when I'd press the gas pedal the engine seemed to rev but the truck just wasn't going like poor acceleration. When driving on the highway to a friend's it drove the 55 speed limit fine but when getting to that speed it still seemed to need higher rpm than normal to shift.

On a side note, I thought it was supposedly impossibly to hot wire these trucks? Last night some people hot wired an 01 Dodge ram and crashed through a gas station trying to steal the atm machine, truck got stuck on rubble and couldn't move and they fled on foot. I heard even if somebody magically hot wired the starter or ignition the engine would turn over but the injectors wouldn't fire.

Alas, at 225k miles my truck may be nearing the end of its trans life sadly. Had it a year and a half, did a tune-up, oil change, and 4 good used tires for it but the high cost of a new trans or trans rebuild and labor will probably lead me to look for some good condition used economy car, paying all that to get 12mpg at best around town doesn't seem cost effective. I do have a fond spot in my heart for these trucks and will park it at a family member's when the trans finally does completely die and one day when I have spare money I'll fix the trans to have a good secondary vehicle but for now 3k or more to fix it is just way too much.

 

You should be able to get it rebuilt for less than 2 grand, or, you could do it yourself for quite a bit less..... Only complication is the need of a press, for the spring in the O/D unit. Several folks here have done one, and they weren't mechanics, and had never been inside an auto trans before either. If you have a warm place to work, and a decent selection of tools, it is eminently doable.

 

Is it totally not worth trying a used one? There's a huge junkyard about 45 mins from my town. The truck still drives, but is "gutless" now, a term I've heard used before. The other day after putting in some redline sl1 cleaner in, it made it have very good off the line acceleration for the few times I went out then recently it needed more rpm. When it finally outright dies I'll weigh my options, I've seen decent condition used cars around for 2k in the past but those could have unknown issues too, I am personally really comfy working around in the 2nd gen engine bay and have read a lot on them over time versus some unknown early 2000s toyota car for example. The trans may not have much life left in it with how it's acting honestly. If I do rebuild it, are there any "go to" new parts kits for the rebuild that are quite a bit more beefy than stock parts without costing a fortune? I could buy the parts kits and pay a good mechanic to do it maybe

 

On page six of MonteC's trans corner thread, he has a list of parts he recommended for a member that regularly hauled a 7000 pound trailer. That would make pretty much a bulletproof trans in a truck that did not regularly haul that kind of weight.

Used trans is certainly an option, if it comes with any kind of warranty. Could always toss a used trans in there, so you could rebuild the original, and still be able to drive the truck.

 

Well, an update after driving several more times the trans seems ok, maybe that night since it had sit and was cold and rainy on top of having an old weak fuel pump that had the computer so leaned out the truck was slightly missing and timing was probably off due to the very weak power, similar to the death flash they did on newer trucks I hear people whisper about from time to time lol. Either way with a new fuel pump the power and response is quite a bit improved and starts up instantly now. Since I disconnected the battery while doing the fuel pump the ecm needs to relearn the sensors and stuff like the iac, so there's occasionally a low idle when letting off the gas then it goes back up....no biggie, did the same thing earlier this year when i changed the O2, and map, resolved itself in approx 40 miles of driving around. It's never outright died during this, idle just got real low for 1-2 secs then back up to normal, im guessing the iac pintle is slightly not in right position

Here's to more years of life in the truck lol 😎🎇🎈

 

Everyone says when you disconnect the battery turn the key forward for 2 minutes (without starting). That allowed the truck to learn the values of the sensors.

 

Doesn't take that long, 10 seconds is enough.

 

I'll try that next time I go out somewhere. I initially thought it needed a new iac but it cleared up after approx 40 miles worth of driving around when it did it earlier this year when I did the new O2 and map for good measure... I'm sure it's something to do with learning the iac position since it only does it when letting off the gas, and only occasionally

Surprised me how quickly the truck started up with a new fuel pump, talk about INSTANTLY lol

 

Always in with the info. You know with all the information you post and I write down, I could make my own FSM

 

In all reality, probably less than a second is 'long enough'...... but, I prefer to give a bit more time, just in case.

@OP: what brand IAC did you install? I tried an aftermarket unit at one point, but, had random stall-at-stops issues with it. Installed a VERY used mopar unit (donor from engine I scrapped), and the problem went away. Seems the aftermarket units just don't react fast enough.