Pineapple Kid

2001 Dodge 2500 A/T pulling 26'fifth wheel (8,000 lbs) vehicle is in California and I live on Kauai except for summer trips When going up a very steep grade under power trans can't decide whether to stay in 3rd or 2nd and rapidly jumps back and forth if I shift the indicator into 2nd all is well it locks in 2nd and stays there until I shift back into drive. All works normaly on all but the steepest grades and only while pulling ( does it in or out of OD and both when first starting out or after hours of driving) Dodge California Local dealership says they have never had this occur and I am not sure how to duplicate the problem for their tech.( nearest steep grade is 10 miles from dealership and they don't want their tech to be in the truck while towing) Dealer in Faibanks Alaska where it first happened wanted to flash the computer but couldn't get at it for 2 weeks so I brought it back to Ca. They will flash thre computer at my insistance when I return in the spring. Wanted to know is this a common problem or some rare thing like they say?

RATTLINRAM

Welcome to the site Pineapple Kid,<br> In all the reading that I do in the forums, I wouldn't say it was a common problem. Maybe some of the other members can come up with some more information. Hopefully, you can get this problem resolved. <br> I've pulled two different 5er's with my truck (a 26' Nomad and a 30' double-slide Cougar) and I've never had any problems like you describe.

P Kennedy

Question, is your truck on that grade at the peak shift point for the engine when it does this, if so just back off throttle slightly. If by chance it stops rapid shifting the transmission programming may need to be altered, you may also find that the engine peak rpm may have to be re-programmed to stop this. It is possible your peak rpm is a little low, ECM tells tranny to shift up tranny computor then tells ECM and it says engine lugging to slow and shifts back up so no and so on. These 2 talk to each other 10000 pulses per second and the mechanics of the tranny respond as best they can when conflicting message wars arise. Similar situations arise when putting Allisons into trucks from one engine spec to another until they are re-programmed. Hope this helps a little bit. PK