I had my 48RE serviced today with 192000 on the meter and no knowledge of previous service intervals. They adjusted the bands and put new filter etc. The problem comes from the massive amount of debris attached to the magnet and my experiences with high mileage transmissions. The shop thinks the tranny will fail soon and I'm inclined to agree, every high mileage, questionably maintianed tranny I've ever had failed shortly after a fresh service. Anyone want to put odds on the longivity of this unit?
It was working fine prior (and after) sevice. It had a little flair up on 1st and 2nd shift under light throttle but did fine under load or with heavy throttle. It is performing better since the service with only 20 miles on it. Thoughts?

 

Yeah, ray, I have to agree with ya. Hope we're wrong...

 

Was it metal fur on the magnet or little chunks? Its really amazing how much metal the steels can shed and show "normal" wear. I do believe I would look into a tear down and maybe you could get away with a simple clutches/bearings/seals rebuild.

 

failure within 1700 miles at most, is my bet. But honestly with those kind of miles on it, that tranny really doesnt owe you anything if that was it's first service.

 

I had 147,000 on mine when it had a big bang and lost overdrive and reverse. I serviced it every 30,000 to 40,000 miles. They were surprised to find the fluid as fresh as it was. They said a snap ring or something failed.

 

Fur no chunks.

 

maybe mine will drop before yours. but im saying it will considerin mine is being a little bit** with only 60,000 on it.

 

Smart money says get your new tranny built now and swap at your leisure.

 

I hope you didn't let them flush it so as to replace 100% of the old fluid if so it may not last 1K. Also being it had 192K on it and it was not slipping I would not of let them adjust the bands as with the high miles I doubt it had much if any adjustment left.

 

i have to agree.... get yourself a tranny built to your needs and have it waiting when that one decides to take a dump.

 

Update- Drove to Houston and back for a small load of steel (1000# or so), about 200 miles, still shifting great. Pulled a lowboy trailer the whole way. Stay tuned.. we shall see.

 

It Should Last For A Little While Longer Just As Long As They Didnt Replace All The Fluid. Adjusting The Bands Should Not Have Any Effect On Trans Life. One Is A Kick Down Band And The Other Is A Reverse Band. The Shavings In The Pan Is Normal Its Clutch Meteral That Has Been Used.

 

No one can tell you how long it will last.Drive it till it causes a problem,might be 100 miles or 100,000. The hotshot haulers and Rv haulers often get 400K plus from a 48re

 

Well I dredged up this old thread just to update it. I'm at 210,000 miles now and the truck never moves under 12,000 GVW on a good day. You can believe it or not but the tranny is STILL holding together. I don't crowd it to much but it never gets a break either.
Maybe this will be some good news for someone that has a high mileage tranny with a questionable service history, you may get lucky!!

 

it's better to have had dirty fluid for 192K miles than to have had none at all. the metal shavings are normal especially in a tranny. clutches are always going to wear, so with each tranny services, you're going to find metal shavings on the drain plug. in my opinion, i think it'll last you quite some time as long as you service it at least once a year or every 30K miles. i know dodge isn't known for making the best trannys but my dad's '86 f350 (which he bought from the factory) has a C6 in it that he serviced once EVERY year and kept maintenance records for every service and every other thing done to the truck for that matter. the tranny finally let go just from normal wear at about 200K miles. had it rebuilt with heavy duty everything and it's now got 212K miles on it and it's still pulling strong.