Hey guys (and gals!!)...been lurking around here for about 6-months and have been gaining lots of knowledge from you all, and it's been very helpful in decreasing my learning curve with how diesels work and stuff. So, THANK YOU to start with. NOw, on to my problems....

I have a '99 3500 CTD DRW XCab, w/ 47RE Tranny and possibly the dreaded #53 block (haven't dove under the truck yet to look). Bought this from my Father-in-law at 96K miles (he bought it at 91K), back in September, '04, and it's now at 106K. In 12/03 he had the Tranny rebuilt (valve assembly, etc) at the one of the local Dodge Dealerships and got a 12m/12k warranty with it. Now for my problems, in Oct 04 had the injector pump go bad (VP44 right?) and at the suggestion of my Dodge mechanic I replaced that plus the lifter pump. Now, the truck is back in the shop with the tranny problems again. Dealership won't do anything since I am over and out of warranty. My mechanic says it needs to be rebuilt but would rather drop a reman'd tranny in it. I opted for a 2nd opinion and took it to a recommended tranny shop and am having the work done there. They tell me the clutch in the Torque Converter locked up and have told him to replace it w/ a Heavy Duty TC. He still needs to pull the tranny and see what damage was caused inside. UGH!!!!

I don't pound on this truck, and have faithfully performed the recommended maintenence in the short time I have had it. It is my daily driver, but is used to pull my 28" Prowler TT (7200#). I knew going in that keeping this truck up was going to not be cheap, but I didn't expect to be in the hole this deep so soon!!! Is this normal or do I have a lemon?

Sorry for the length, and thanks for your help!!!

 

First, can you please change your signature??? You don't have a 6.0 and it might drive us nuts. have not used the truck heavy, I'd say there was something wrong with the rebuild. The VP issue is kind of dumb luck I guess, it is definitely a crap shoot, you should put gauges on it asap, atleast a fuel pressure gauge. (I'm in that process myself too so don't feel bad )

Unfortunately I think ou just had bad luck.

Hopefully with your rebuilt and upgraded tranny you will have no more problems, you have a lnew lift pump and VP so put a fuel pressure gauge on to monitor the pressure and you should be set for a long, long time.

 

Sig fixed.. sorry, write it of as being a newb! Thanks for your input. I really hope your right!

 

I know it is too late now, but you could have bought a performance tranny w/ converter for about what youhave in it now, and would not have problems for a long while...

 

Well, I just heard back from the Tranny place, the Torque Converter took out the Thrust Bearings and Washers, plus the Governor Pressure Sensor and Solenoid. Should have it back tomorrow, I hope I hope, 'cause my '99 Durango just doesn't make enough noise for me anymore! Thanks "tool" and "HappyGA" for your replies! FP Guage is next!!

 

Hey Bugleboy, welcome to the site. I'm responding because I have the same truck. I haven't had any problems like yours, but I have had a modified tranny and fuel gauges from early on, at around 12,000 miles. If your truck has no modifications, the transmission problems were probably caused by a bad rebuild. As for the VP, I second the opinion on gauges. I have 84,000 miles on my truck and I just put in my third lift pump. Your VP problem was most likely caused by your lift pump going south on you and your VP wasn't getting enough fuel to keep it lubed and cool. The injector pump relies on extra fuel flow for lubrication and cooling. If your fuel pressure falls below about 8 psi, your truck will still run without any symptoms, but your VP44 is slowly dying from lack of lubrication and extra heat. When my fuel pressure starts to drop a few psi, and I can get it to go under 8 psi when at WOT, I change it before it begins to cause problems. Cheap insurance. Lift pumps can be bought on the net for around $130.00, and VP44's run....well you know how much.

Good luck with your truck.....I love mine!

DeWain

 

DPG, thanks for the info. The truck has been flawless up until now. The first owner took good care of it (he happened to take it to the same Dodge shop I do, so they had all his records in the computer), and there are no mod's (yet), so I hope this is the end of my woes for a long time. Will be doing the FP gage soon.

Loved your truck in your pics! Gonna have to look at mod'ing my wheels after seeing yours!

Thanks!

 

I finally got my truck back today!!! A week-plus-one-day! Dang, that was a rough week!!! Guy at the tranny shop said it's running very well, but that I should take it in and get it flashed at the dealer to improve the performance. Will this work even tho this isn't a "mopar" tranny?