2002cumTRBODSL

Another newbie here and a first time diesel engine owner. Thank you for having me. I just bought a 2002 Dodge RAM 3500 with a 5.9L Cummins Turbo charged diesel engine. I plan on towing a Yanmar B37 mini-excavator with it for a total of 10,000 pounds towing with the trailer.
My concern is the transmission. I heard they had problems ( I believe it is an A518 ). Tranny repair shops said to changed the fluid and filter regularly and I should be fine. I would like to change the pan to a finned aluminum pan with extra capacity, about a gallon more.
Can anyone give me some impute on this? Is it a good idea or not worth it? I would like this tranny to last a while. The truck has 50,000 miles on it and has a 9ft. Meyers plow and a Rugby dump body on it. Seems to run fine and would like to keep it that way. Thank you for you time.

My Best, Greg

phox_mulder

First off, a big open armed welcome to the site, you'll come to love us like the brothers (and very few sisters) you never had.

Your transmission is a 47RE.

Regular service should keep it happy for a long time, on a stock truck.

Once you add go fast goodies, the tranny life is shortened considerably without some upgrades.

Yes, a deeper finned pan will also prolong its life, many swear by the Mag Hyteck Double Deep pan.


phox

Big Deezul

I was curious about the pans as well. I asked Dave from goerends and he said it wouldnt make much difference. It would be nice to have the drain plug though

dodgeman01

I don't care if its stock or not I would put a valve body and TC into it if I was going to tow that weight all the time. I towed 14k on a 96 auto and even being stock it needed some help in the tranny.
DM01

2002cumTRBODSL

Hello Jerry,
Thanks for the welcome and the reply. I am not planning on any engine improvments at the moment, got to pay for the truck first (Well, maybe stainless steel exhuast) I will probably get the pan and I want to look into a "valve body" as one member suggested for the tranny. Not sure how this would help, but would like to find out. Thanks again..........My Best, Greg

2002cumTRBODSL

Hello Aaron,
Thanks for the reply. The truck has a tranny cooler already, are you suggesting that I add another one? I will be only towing the 10k to jobs & back, not all the time. I will only be plowing my driveway & family's with the plow. You suggested a "valve body". I am not sure what this is or how the tranny could benifit from it. Any chance of shedding some light on the subject for me? I would like to learn more if it could help out the transmission. Thanks..............My Best, Greg

phox_mulder

Everything in the transmission relies on pressure.
OEM valve body supplies OK pressure, aftermarket valve body ups the pressure so things hold better.

If you are plowing, you are going to see some tranny heat.
Slow moving and not a lot of air passing over the cooler, the deep pan will help a lot in that regard.
Slow moving also means low RPM's, RPM's are what keep the pressures up in the valve body,
so the aftermarket VB would also be a good thing, or at least a shift kit.

I would also invest in a tranny temp guage, so you can keep an eye on how hot your fluid is getting.
Temps over 200 degrees shorten the life of the transmission fluid, over 220 greatly shorten it's life, over 280 really shorten it's life, down to 100's of miles instead of 1,000's of miles.


phox

2002cumTRBODSL

Hi Phox,
Thank you for time you spent answering my post. I am not a big "plow" fan, it came with the truck. I only plan on my driveway & family, that is it. Would you still recommend the valve body for towing? Also, (sorry, don't mean to be a pest with the questions) can the valve body be installed by a home owner or is it better left to a transmission shop? I feel I am a decent mechanic.
I am already looking into gauges for the truck; I am practically drooling over all the cool stuff I can get for this vehicle! I would like to get the tranny temp, boost, exhaust temp and now I am learning from this club that fuel pressure is another important parameter to monitor.
The truck comes with a tranny cooler; I don’t know if that is something they just do stock or if it is an “extra”. Can an additional cooler be added, or is that going too far? From what I have read here, heat is the number one killer of the automatic transmissions. Thanks much for you impute as well as your time, it is appreciated.

My Best, Greg

jrs_dodge_diesel

Nice thing about the 47RE is the fact that it came with two tranny coolers. One up front by the A/C condensor and the other is a liquid-liquid heat exchanger. Underneath and to the rear of your turbo is a barrel shaped object with lines going in and out. That is the other cooler, uses the engine coolant to take some of the heat.

Another thing to remember is that this particular tranny is a very close cousin of the 46RE. The 46RE is the tranny found behind the Magnum V8 and V10 engine in the Ram lineup. The main differences between the 46 and 47 is mainly the bellhousing and valvebody. Dodge just used an existing tranny and modified it to fit the diesel engine and barely handle the power. Like phox said, RPMs is what keeps the line pressures up in the tranny, but our engines are low speed and high torque.

That said heres a few item that will help your tranny.

Valve body, keeps line pressures up so it shifts better and keeps pressures up.

Torque convertor, the stock torque convertor is kinda inefficient, an aftermarket one will help put the power to the wheels a lot better. Plus more efficiency means less fuel burned. Also the fluid pump is designed for the low speed diesel and pumps more fluid than the stock unit.

DTT(Diesel Transmission Technology), ATS, Suncoast, Goerend Bros. are some great places to upgrade your tranny. Its money well spent, and you will like the way it makes the truck feel.

phox_mulder

If you've never worked on automatic transmissions, then you might want to farm it out, I hear they can be pretty complicated, but then again, one learns by attempting.

Aftermarket is always better than OEM, OEM is the cheapest they could get and barely get the job done.
I would say, if you aren't having problems with slipping, shifting, or overheating the tranny, then stay with the original valve body until you start turning things up.
Just plowing two family sized driveways isn't going to be that big of a deal.


phox

2002cumTRBODSL

Hello JRS Dodge Diesel,

I believe I am starting to understand what the valve body does, thank you for the info. I had no idea that the transmission already has 2 coolers for it. I will try to identify the 2nd one tomorrow. I have checked out the sites you recommended and bookmarked each one. I bought the truck used and have no manuals at all for it. As you may imagine, the help this site has provided has been a God send! Not to mention that a good part of the most useful information here would not be in the factory manuals anyway……Many Thanks!

My Best, Greg

JLand

If you're already drooling, be warned, it's a downhill tumble of power from here!!! A year ago, I was just going to look into a "box." Now I'm barefoot, scruffy-faced, and eating out of soup kitchens. But I have a cool truck!
Happy Bombing!!!!

2002cumTRBODSL

Hey There JLand,

Please save me a seat at the soup kitchen! From the looks of things, I may be joining you !!!!!
My Best, Greg