Jeeptug

Greetings...

How's this for a first post, and my "welcome to Dodge"

This is my first Dodge, and first Diesel. The truck: a barely used mint '06 QC SWB Laramie 4x4, bought 3 months ago with 12k miles. Now has 15k miles, and the past 3k miles have been trouble free. I did the right thing and searched, couldn't find my issue....you guys with "gear hunting" problems or shuddering should consider yourself lucky, at least yours moves.

My prob: start engine (cold or hot, doesn't matter) place in drive, goes into gear firmly and accels normal, shifts up through gears normally THEN after a short distance (1 mile) starts slipping...gets worse until there's nothing...no grear engagement whatsoever (no D, no R, Tow-Haul on/off, OD off..doesn't matter). When this happpens...put in park, turn engine off, sit for a couple of minutes..start engine and all is okay but the cycle starts all over again. Happens every time.

I do tow (9k 5th wheel) and the last time I towed there was no hint of a problem. I'm pretty sure the previous owner never towed (reciever hitch appeared to be unused and never had a 5th wheel hitch before mine)

For reasons unknown to me, the previous owner installed a Bank's torque converter (truck also has a Bank's Monster Exh, everything else is stock). Because of this, I don't want to take to the dealer for fear that they'll red flag the truck, I'm considering replacing the TC with a stocker so I can take it in, but before I go through that PITA excersize I'm looking for any ideas here... My somewhat educated guess is that the pump has failed, or filter is clogged, or there's an obstructuion in the line, a bad check valve in the line (is there one?), or maybe the Banks TC took a dump. (I called them today and they said the fact that it works initially means it's okay....) BTW, the fluid looks and smells fine, and is overfull on the dipstick when this happens, which confirms to me that the TC is empty and the excess fluid is returned to the pan. No external leaks.

Thanks for any and all suggestions. My first step will be to drop the pan which I plan to do tomorrow eve. I also vow to post the end result if I find out what the issue is 'cause I hate doing searches on issues like this and the threads go on forever but never offer any answers. (pet peeve from my Jeep boards)

thanks!
Walt

Spooler

First of all Welcome to DTR. I would get a hold of Dave at goerend.com. Give him a ring and see if he can help. He builds great auto trannies and has excellent service.

bluepp

Yup I would say your warantee will be flagged if you take it in if not flagged all ready. I agree with SPOOLER. you'll probably have to pay this shot. Get one of these well known trans shops that sell stuff for these diesel autos to fix it like Goerend , ATS, theres others.
You may have some banks internal parts in there too.

Jeeptug

Thanks for the replies.

I know there's no internal Banks stuff, and I know the warrantee is good up to this point- b4 I bought I had the serial# checked by my bud who's a service writer at the local DC dealer, he checked the service history and everything previously done was service and recalls. He showed all warranties valid and in effect.

I'm gonna drop the pan tonight and see whatzup.

Jeeptug

Pan dropped....nothing jumped out at me. Fluid clean, some fine shavings on the magnet, everything appears in place. I'll replace the filter tomorrow (have to go to the big city dealer to get one, local NAPA didn't even list one in their system) and replace the fluid and see where I'm at. Anything else I should look for with the pan down?

Jeeptug

Update...all is good.

Replaced filter, reinstalled pan. Found inline check valve, removed and cleaned, and made sure the check ball moved freely. I wanted to replace it but none available west of the Mississippi. Filled with fluid and took on 1/2hr test drive, feels normal (actaually shifts better than before).

So...in case someone does a search on this...the part name is torque converter drainback valve. It is located inline, where the steel line meets the rubber line, right behind the driver's head light. It is brass and has an arrow that indicates fluid flow direction.

I park my truck on occasion on a steep incline, nose up. I suspect valve somehow got stuck and completely blocked the flow through the cooling line. This would have caused my symptoms per one tranny expert I talked to. Since my truck was cold when this happened, and I never was able to drive more than a 1/2 mile or so before it would act up, I don't suspect there to be any tranny problems. I plan to take on a 150 mile round trip tomorrow (empty) to make sure.

thanks for all the great replies.

subspd

Thanks for letting us know what was up! Happy to hear all is good.

kev94mx

I had about the same problem. I thought my tranny was out. It was my brake system locking up. My 06 was built in Dec 05 and there was a recall later on in 06 on the brakes. The fixed my brakes and also my so called tranny problems.