i got my truck, a 1993 W250 named large marge, about a year and a half ago. she's always had a clunky tranny and OD has always been hit and miss, mostly miss. we've go through a couple TPSs and a speed sensor. each time it helped for a while, but before long it was back to no-OD

my old lady is about to get serious about horsing so we decided why not fix this in one fell swoop? we took it to DTT monday where they put in a whole new tranny/torque converter/valve body, etc (plus a smaller turbine housing and a sped up fuel pump). while doing the work they discovered that the tranny temp sensor was bad - it disintigrated upon removal - and they replaced it.

she ran beautifully for about 100 or so miles whereupon she started shifting in and out of OD at random till she decided to pretty much stay in 3rd.

i know it isn't the tranny temp sensor, it's brand new. i know it's nothing mechanical, it's brand new. i'm certain it's not a TPS or a speed sensor - they've both been replaced several times to no avail. i'm certain the problem is electrical but i have no idea where to start looking.

what really stumps me is how it can work fine for a while, then just crap out. i'm going to go drive it today just to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

FWIW - the DTT shifts beautifully, no more clunking, very positive up and down shifts. they were wonderful to deal with and i'm certain they'd get me squared away if i brought it back, but being 4 hours away, that's a last resort.

thanks for any input


jeremiah

 

are you saying you just have no OD and everything else works fine? does the speedo work? do you have cruise control and if so does that work? IS this the 518/618 tranny?

 

the speedo works fine. the cruise control works on the flats, but doesn't want to adjust for hills and so forth. and yes, everything works but OD.

i'm not sure if it's the 518/618 tranny (mostly because i don't know what that is). it's the "hybrid" DTT - the more heavy duty of the two they offer.


jeremiah

 

by the way welcome...

 

My suggestion is call Bill and have him work it out for you... he'd like to know about this, and will be glad to help resolve this for you...service is what they do very well...
Also be prepared to tell him how you like your shifts, the timing, firmness etc...
bob.

 

Definitly call DTT back,Let Bill know what is going on. Dont let this burn you up to bad. You will figure it out. I am fighting with an eletrical issue on my tranny right now also. Everytime the radio is turned on in the truck I lose OD and have to reset my APPS. This is also with a DTT noise filter installed.

 

First off, welcome.

Something often overlooked is the connector at the PCM. Dodge mounted it right behind a battery of all places. Try pulling the plug, clean it with electrical contact cleaner, re-grease it, and be very careful plugging it back in.
I have found this plug to be a PITA to pull, but cleaning it has fixed quite a few glitches.


Dave

 

thanks fellas. i spoke with bill yesterday morning. turns out he hates electrical problems almost as much as i do.

anywho, the plan is to bypass the various electronic devices on the tranny to see if that allows the tranny to shift into OD. i'm going to start work on that tomorrow morning. wish me luck.


jeremiah

 

I had the same problem with my 93 a few years ago. I finally traced it to the connector for the trans temp sensor, the contacts were coroded. I replaced the connector, it's been fine since. I got the replacement connector at pep-boys by the way.

 

large_marge;
I agree the elect. conections at the speed sensor could be the problem but I'd think you'd see a problem w/ speedometer (irratict) My moneys on the connection for TPS. I cut the plugin off and soldier some fine bradded 14 or16 gauge leads about 3" long off the tps (acts as a vibtration dampner) then soldier them to the orgional harness. I've never experenced any more trouble going on 6 years now. Good luck
ramguy