Have on 04.5 Auto and am fighting it in the hills of Ok and Ark with my 28'Toy hauler TT. Going 65 up to the hill (not sure on grade) I will drop all the way to 50mph if the hill is more than 1/2 mile. This is both with the Tow/haul on and off (tried it both ways). The Tranny has over heated twice now, once in the hills of Ark (Mt Magazine) and once comming out of the Mountains in Colorado. I have problems with the breaks overheating because 1st is too tall and I will get to 45 mph before I even get to 3 grand.

The big question, what mods/Rebuild am I looking at to get a better auto Tranny? I don't know much about the transmission so any help is appreciated. Am I looking at a different kind? If so, can I add a gear and will that screw up my computer? or is getting a standard just the easiest way out.

I just got the truck like I like it and now I am looking to maybe change it again. Wish I had 20/20 forsight

Thanks for the replies
Karl

 

trade it for a D_MAX

 

I think ATS now offers a box where you can set OD off like the other years.

Pete

 

Have you checked the obvious like fuel filter and Air filter. I also notice you have an edge on your truck. Have you checked that. Did you ever change out your AIR box for BHAF or High flow type setup. Almost all of the programers require the upgraded breathing

 

I will look into that but how would that help the doggin up hills or overheating tranny? I had it serviced a cuple months ago having the fluid and filters changed,I think it was the 45k list of maintainance.
I keep the settings at the lowest according to Edge, no mention from them for upgrading air intake. I have the EZ which just adjusts the fuel pressure from what I understand.

 

Do you have any gauges on your truck? If not this is a big NO NO. Is your fan clutch kicking on? Using that pressure box you may have a bad injector causing you issues under hard load. If you hit the Tow/Haul button it locks you out of OD on an 04.5. Most people don't use the Edge EZ on the 04.5 models due to it possibly causing injector issues. What gears do you have? 3.73 or 4.10?

 

I have no gauges and the more I am reading, the more I am learning that should change soon.

I am not sure about the fan clutch. In the truck I can't hear a difference, but it is straight piped (that way when I got it) and thus there is more noise. Is this a visabe thing like if I pulled off the side of the road, I would be able to see it kick in or out? How does it engague, by sensor, oil temp?

The tow/haul on only gives me 3 gears and I would run 2800-2900 going 65 on flat ground so I go with OD in those situations, trying to follow the sugestions on this sight on how to tow with an Auto.

What do most people use, Edge w/Additude? Does this give me the option to have gauges, all be it digital? What are other options? I really like the simple EZ because I can pull it quickly before going to the Dealer. According to the EZ material, it is made for towing situations. How would other options be different than the EZ?

I have 3.73, I can only assme this becaue I bought it used.

Thanks for the replies, I need the help.

 

Trans temp often rises because the torque converter isn't engaged completely, a larger pan will lower the temp for the least cost. I'd definatey get a trans.temp gauge at very least, check with BD diesel to see if their pressure lock system may keep your converter locked on the hills. As far as the brakes over heating I'd go with an exhaust brake from BD or a big brake kit from Brembo or AP racing.

 

Hey Spitse. Have you tried going down to the local self serv car wash and blasting out your cooler. They are all up front catching bugs and dirt. That would make your tranny overheat if they are not cooling. A clogged airfilter would cause you to dog up the hills and effect your fuel mileage. these are a couple things to do anyway. Just normal maitnance

I just re-read your post. Going over a mountain with a bad airfilter would dog your truck down. Less o2 up their. So you need all the airflow you can get. Spend the 200 and get a MAC air box. Check my photo's they sell them on ebay. Better fuel mileage plus more power

 

Ok one other thing. You had your tranny serviced. Where did you have your tranny serviced? A jiffy Lube that might not have put the Chrysler addative in? Or put in the wrong type? I know my old 47re you could buy the addative that made it Chrysler ATf 3+

 

I had it serviced at the local DOdge dealer. Flushed the tranny and dupposed to have done any thing that brought it up to specs.

I will try the cleaning of the radiator I have a pressurewasher at the house.

A new Airbox? Will this enlarge the hose to the Engine? I will have to look into that.

Replacing/working on the torque converter is way out of my league. I think I could do the pan replacement. How hard is the locking thing, it is a plug and play or what.

 

Yes it gives you a new tourqe tube to the Turbo. Trust me if you do any mods. Buy a new airbox. This one looks real nice under the hood and by far is the best price. Simple to install. You are really not getting all the benefits of you boxes with out the airflow inprovements

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/03-05...QQcmdZViewItem

 

Lotta good advice there , but I'm going to go from a different angle. You'v had your truck serviced so lets just assume you truck is all OK.
Now you talk about downhill going where low gear has you going 45mph at 3000rpm. OK to get up to the top of that grade you first have to clime the hill. So lets start there. A grade like that is never strieght up , the road is crooked, trying to run 3rd all the way to maintain 50 mph, your on and off the trottle all the time, to make the curves and then pickup speed again . This has your torque converter clutch UNLOCKED causeing lots of heat in the trans. When you first start into the hill slow down to 50 ,put your power box on 0 or stock power seting,push towhaul ,which will lockout 4th, backoff throttle untill torque converter gets locked up in 3rd gear. then work your way up the hill. Dont push too hard ,you dont want the torque converter to unlock. If it does or you cant pull hill in 3rd, or it downshifts to 2nd , pull the shift leaver to 2nd gear. Run about half throttle , rpm 2200-2500. You should be going 30-40 mph. Truck should not overheat here. This speed has good airflow, when fan comes on its turning fast enough to pull lots of air. Rpm are fast enough to pump lots of trans fluid through trans cooler, The more throttle you give motor the hotter the motor runs. More fuel =more heat on a diesel. Power boxes feed more fuel= more heat. This motor has enough power stock to pull any hill on a decent road. Just slow down lock trans into a gear that works so you can run half throttle, for the extended distance to the top.
Going down, use lower gears, Diesels dont have much engine brakeing. When rpm get up 28-3000rpm get on brakes hard, bring speed right down to say 10 mph , GET OFF BRAKES 100% OFF BRAKES, let rig coast again ,brakes will cool while coasting, DO NOT RIDE BRAKES, they WILL get hot and become useless. Repeat as nessassary to bottom of grade. DONT worry about cars lineing up behind you.
Works for me, I'v pulled 14% grades with a 35foot Holliday Rambler at 11000 lb with a 1998.5 and now with a 06. Never had a heat problem. No exhaust break, although that would sure help. I cryed when I let the 98.5 go, But I can tell you the 06 does all things better. The 06 48re trans with 4th,3rd and 2nd gear torque converter lockup works great going up or down.