I just got a 2001 with 115k. miles on it clean well taken care of. It has edge box and A spectre Air filter and cat back exh. and 2 inch lift and 285/75/16/tires.
What is proper tranny operation? Ive had A 94 cummins and a 2003 cummins in the past. And this tranny seems a little off. I have been driving the truck with the edge setting at (0) stock setting.

First to second gear is a solid shift. After getting to around 1900rpm it seems to try to grab a gear drop 1 or 200 rpm then drive up to about 2k rpm and then shift up. And also shifts at high rpm like at 2krpm or so.

It kinda seems to try to grab a gear in between gears or fluctuate rpm just a little seems a little weird. Once it gets to top of 3rd it goes to overdrive as normal and feels normal. Could the overize tires just make it feel a little off over the stock trucks im used to?

 

When the battery connections get corroded, mine does the same thing.

 

I had quite a problem with my torque converter unlocking at various times, as well as my tranny shifting up and down at about 50 km or 30 miles per hour, seeming to not know what gear it wanted. Milage on the truck was about 123,000 miles at the time. I thought at first my tranny was packing up. Great! Just what I need eh. The guys here on this forum suggested to clean my grounds. One member, (jrs dodge diesel), even detailed exactly which ones. So here they are; you have 6 grounds to clean. Clean each negative battery terminal(1+2). Next, there is a wire that runs from each negative battery terminal to the body of the truck with an eye terminal (3+4). I not only cleaned the connector, but I also dremelled the body paint right down to bare metal. Most critical wire to clean is the one on the PCM (power train control module) which is on the firewall, on the passenger side. The PCM controls the lockup clutch. There is a ground wire on it that goes to the firewall. Clean both ends of this wire (5+6), or replace it if it's corroded, and sand off the paint on the firewall where it connects. I even dremel wire brushed the threads of the screws. This simple procedure fixed my problem instantly. That was two years ago, and no problems since. Didn't cost me a dime. Do this before you pay anyone for anything!
2001 Dodge Ram 3500 4x4 Dually. Stock Unaltered 5.9 Cummins. 163,000 miles on it today.

 

Good info here
not just for auto tranny issues. Our 2nd gens have some horrilble electrical gremlins.

 

A flare up on the 2-3 shift is the classic symptom of a lose front band.



Losen locknut, clean and oil threads, tighten adjuster to 72 inch pounds and then back off 1 7/8 turns.

HTH

AlpineRAM

 

......or if that's ok front piston retainer seals would be next.

 

But this then would mean a classic "while we are at it" moment with the transmission on the workbench and the oil stained fingers typing on the 'puter searching for performance rebuild stuff

 

Mine did the erratic shifting when one of my batteries was 1.5 volts lower than the other , changed both and didn't do it in 3 years. Started again this year, cleaned all grounds and good as new