Took it to a tranny shop today. Their scanner says everything should be working. Their analysis is the clutch inside the TC is shot. They suspect that when it occasionally gets into just the right place, it creates enough pressure to lock up. When I slow down, or tap the brake, it disconnects and when the solenoid tells it to lock again, there is no pressure to make the plunger work.

They recommend replacing the TC. OK which TC, and how much? 90% of the time I will be driving the thing around like a big car, empty. The rest of the time I will be pulling a 16' bumper hitch livestock trailer with 3+/- horses, or hay, or some calves in it. Dreaming of adding a gooseneck hitch, but that is on the dream list at the moment.

They said they usually use one called CVC, and it would be about $400. He said $550 +/- to do the whole job. He then recommended that they pull the pump, and check the tranny while it was out, not included in the $550+/-, of course.

Alright guys, tell me what you think, and what questions I need to ask. Need lots of your experience, and JMHO's here!

 

when's the last time you flushed your transmission and changed out the filter? a clogged filter will cause loss of pressure. if it were me i would take out the valve body and play around a little bit to increase the pressure. a little tweaking and your transmission might be as good as new, but then again i am biased because i hate tranny shops. they never have good intentions, always wanna strip a good hard working man of his hard earned money which he could use to bomb that cummins. just my $.02.

 

Roger the skepticism.

I had the mechanic that does nearly all of my other work check it, too, and he came up with the same answer (unfortunately, he does not do trannies). He checked with a relative of his that has a Dodge dealership, and they came up with the same answer.
To answer your filter question: it was about the first thing I did when it started acting up.

 

A TPS is a lot less $ than a new TC.

If you have to go the new TC route, make sure that whatever you choose can be returned if you aren't satisfied. I had an Auto-trans Pro-Tow installed when I got my trans done. It locked up much firmer than the DTT I've got now but it had a high stall speed which p'd me off to no end. I had trouble returning it but they got sick of me and finally relented.

I sent you a PM.

 

Marine4life (Semper Fi!) and Berner,

I really appreciate your comments. They, and information from a few telephone conversations that I had last week will form the basis of my next conversation with the tranny guys.

I will ask them:

1. Can they test the pressure the tranny is generating;

2. Can it be increased to see if it is merely a low pressure problem, and not a malfunctioning TC;

3. Is the TC they are recommending a low stall speed type, and what is the stall speed;

4. If this does not work, can I return the TC?

What other questions should I be asking?

What should the stall speed be????

I really thought that asking the august members of this forum to spout off about the best TC to buy, and why, would start a firestom of posts and counter posts. I guess my topic is a little too tame for them.

Thanks to everyone who has posted for their help and thoughts! I really do appreciate it!