I need help diagnosing or advice for one way or another before it dies on me and I can not afford to fix due to being long time of unemployment.

Ok I have an 05' 3500 SRW with 100k and a Smarty that I have been running for ohhhh, since it came out for that year truck. I know that I have been putting a lot of way to much power through it and have done a lot of towing. So realize that I have prolly killed the TC. If I have I'm gonna take out savings to do a DTT TC and heavy duty rebuild kit.

Ok symptoms and some history, I hit the throttle and get a lot of noise but not enough go for the noise. I did one time from a stop hit the throttle and got no acceleration. I thought the trans died and I was going to have to get towed. It eventualy caught after about a minute or two. This occurrence led me to believe that a line or valve was blocked. What be your all opinions?

So for 15k or so the problem with hitting the throttle and getting way more noise and RPM than go has been occurring. To continue in this same category, problems that have recently been are hitting the throttle hard while moving ... say to pas someone. I hit the throttle hard and it down shifts like it should but it just dies and slows down while the engine makes a ***** load of noise.

Now today I was towing a bobcat and trailer equaling around 10+k lbs and it was just towing poorly. So I decided to check the fluid and it can back very dark, near black, and bubbles on the dipstick.

I know I will have to rebuild the trans soon enough. I am wondering if I just could do a full trans service including changing all of the fluid to get better performance out while delaying the eventual rebuild.

Or should I just run it until death to save on the cost of having to double pay on the cost?

 

If the fluid is 'near black' and full of bubbles, it is already shot!

 

Tranny is dead. Fluid flush won't do anything except waste your time and money. You can try to cruise around until it stops moving all together. But then you get to deal with being stranded and needing to pay a tow.

If I were you, I'd get it out and get a new/rebuilt one in there. You're adding costs by driving it and gambling on when it'll actually quit. Why not schedule your down time and take care of it on your terms?

Don't be in denial about it. It's happening whether you want to or not. The sooner you can wrap your head around that the sooner you can dive in and get fixed. I know the money for it hurts but it is what it is.

 

^^^ agreed with the above.

Tranny is toast. (not just the TC and not just a clogged valve) There is no band aid to get you by. Sorry.

The fluid should have been checked/changed long ago. A gauge for tranny fluid temps should be installed. The situation you are in was totally preventable.

When the pan gets dropped, be amazed at the amount of debris in there.

 

I have done two fluid changes on it.

 

Oh joy, So I got a $1600 labor to rebuild quote + fluids. Gonna go with DTT rebuild kit, TC, and Valve body totaling around $1700. After shipping and other misc. stuff I'm expecting right around $3500. Just put in $1700 in rebuilding the front end.


Shoulda gone with Cheby maybe.

 

the cheby transmission would have cost you more than the front end and your tranny together them allisions are not cheap to build or fix, get a good rebuild on it and you won't be disappointed it will be better than ever. your gonna wish u did it a long time ago

 

Any chance you might have been hard on it?

 

Aww don't be so hard on the Dodge. You bear some responsibility here. You admitted you been running a Smarty for years and running it hard. I venture to guess you were well aware it was just a matter of time. And you ran it for 15k with noises but just now check the fluid??

Get the tranny rebuilt and beefed up a bit and get back on the road.

As for the Chevy, they aren't immune to issues. When I had mine I constantly dealt with the front end and the tranny still had to be taken care of. The grass ain't always greener.

 

The grass on the other side of the fence-----------------------still needs mowed!!!

 

I just fixed a 48re that came from a local shop, failed 2 times in a year.

The rebuilder, choose to grind on a selective snap ring on the rear clutch.
It snapped out of the grove, if you can imagine that!!!!!

I was shocked the guy did that because it was a thick ring and if pretty sure they could of had one thinner the next day if he didn't have it in stock.
I keep them in different sizes.
I added an extra pair to both clutches.
i called the shop, of course he claimed he didn't do this. Then told me there is no trans that can hold the Cummins with a super chip on it!!!

Then he said it is not possible to add clutches to them.
He also torqued the VB screws to mega foot pounds. Just like the 10 VB bolts.

 

Hmmmmm.... I better tell Dave Goerend about this!!!

 

So I'm leaning in this direction for the rebuild. If anyone has any better ideas or cheaper ones that'll give me equal quality please comment.

 

Please refer to my screen name for your answer.

 

I was well aware and knew it would have to be done. I'm not surprised that I have too.

No actually out of the ordinary noises just performance. I did check the fluid after it started but nothing raised a red flag at the time.


I will be rebuilding it, and just doing as much homework as I can.