maxpower

Yesterday I had to go out of town, about 45 miles away. The truck was fine going there. When I left the tranny wouldn't go into overdrive. Drove home at 2200 rpm's at 50 mph. Worst part was all interstate, heavy traffic. Got a lot of honks and fingers.

Some quick history on the tranny. It was replaced three years ago before I bought the truck. It has never shifted right, but the past two weeks has gotten worse. It will hang in gear unless I let completely off of the gas. If I put it in neutral at a light it would shift okay. Overdrive has been working fine with no problems. It has always been touchy about downshifting, sometimes just light pressure will cause it too downshift, of course then it is out of rpm. Lockup has never worked until last week. I was going up a hill towing a trailer at about 50 mph and it locked up. I'm in Florida so not many hills. I've gone up this hill twice more since then and it locked up both times. Only time it has ever locked up.

Replace the TPS last year, helped somewhat.

Even with the tranny problems this has been a heck of a truck. I have a landscaping business and this truck is always loaded or towing. Other than the tranny I have had no other issues at all and wouldn't trade it for anything. In fact, next week I am buying two more, both 98's, from a nursery that just bought all new Dodge CTD's.

Tomorrow I have to go out of town again. 120 miles one-way, all interstate. I am dreading this drive. I will also be towing a 16 foot empty trailer. No way out of this trip or of taking a different vehicle. I was hoping someone here could help me with some quick things to check.

badme

What year is your truck?

maxpower

It's a 1996.

TIMMY22

have you checked for the 5" with your throttle rod and TPS?

explained by No. 22 and figure 5 here...

http://www.dodgeram.org/tech/dsl/T_Cable/diesel_tc.htm

maxpower

Mine was about 5 3/8". I adjusted it to 5" and it idles very high. I will try to adjust the idle. I am doing this in the dark with a flashlight. What kind of problems can this adjustment cause?

I did change the throttle rod last year. The threads stripped out and I drove it home with bunjee cords holding it together.

And it case it gets too late, let me say thanks for the help now.

kevellis32

Could be the solenoids on the VB too, bring the truck in to a dealership and have the codes read

TIMMY22

late shifts, early shifts etc.

the fact that the throttle rod has been changed, the original settings have been altered. good place to start considering adjustments are free.

oldblues

hi
does the trany have the proper fluid level !

this could cause your prob if you are low , dont forget to check it in netural warm running after placing it in all gears .

good luck !

mysterystench

this same exact thing actually happened to me about three months ago. One day as I was going to work, as I was getting on the highway i noticed something wasnt right and I hit around 2400 rpm going 50mph

Turns out my OD switch went bad, and i replaced that and all was good
Also just had the whole trans rebuilt and everything is smooth sailing now

ckt_santiago

Well if the throttle rod doesn't help the late shifts and premature downshifts then I would consider looking at the connections for the electronic governor and possibly the electronic governor itself. It takes governor pressure (or in this case signal) overcoming line pressure (which varies by throttle) to up shift. Also, when line pressure spikes over gov. pressure it will downshift. So you can see where dirty contacts or a faulty gov. sending unit would make shifting a little weird. This may not have been replaced when the trans was gone through.

Now, for the OD/lock-up; there are several places to check before flat out replacing the solenoids. First look through your manual to find out where the relays are that control the two solenoids and test them. Second simply check and see if the power connection down on the top of the transmission pan on the back of the drivers side is still plugged in and or tight. If it's loose and all oily and dirty obviously clean it up. Last check for broken wires underneath the truck by where the connector comes down to the transmission.

Oh, almost forgot, your transmission temperature sensor could be out too, that would prevent the PCM from letting the trans into OD. That is also on the drivers side but is mounted on one of the transmission cooler lines towards the back of the engine.