Hello guys!

I been reading here alot lately and its time for my first post. I recently bought a Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins -2006 with 87000 miles on the clock. ( Ive had two 1500 Hemis earlier) and Iam completely in love with the Ram, the 2500 is even better than the 1500 But hovever, Ive have very little luck with it s far. Up til now i have managed to fix everything it throws at me, the current record is 200 miles without a fault...

I live i the part of the world where taxes and the fuelprices are high and these trucks are extremely rare, I think there is about 80 of them in the country in total...

So Iam completly on my own. There is no shop you can take it to that has ANY knowledge of these what so ever. And thats where you come in!

When she is cold, like the first 10 miles she shifts perfectly. 1st gear to 2nd is around 5-10mph. She basicually uses the first gear just to roll off and the 2nd and 3rd and 4th..

The problem i have now is that the truck sometimes dosent want to shift gears from 1-2 and 2-3. When she is really warm.
She will shift but at 2400rpms and I need to give some throttle to get there, its kinda annoying to have to push her like that.
And the shift is harder then usual, also the downshift is more noticable when she is warmed up. If I let her sit for 30+ min she is back to normal for a while again..


The transmission has been rebuilt by the previous owner less than 3000 miles ago (he had to take it to a special shop in the neighbour country..) It has a Goerend TC, new oil, filter, clutches and reinforced shaft etc.

Overall it works great and shifts supersmooth, especially under full load. But when she is warmed up this happens.
I can now replicate the fault by driving her really warm and then from standing still, thsi new shiftpattern 2400rpm will start..

If you had a hard driving style you wouldnt notice it but if you like to just cruise this is annyoing!!

If the ATF was hot should I get a code? I get no codes...

Im not really sure where to start looking? I read about the Gov solenoid, but can that be intermittent? It always engages D, N, R, P

Please help me!

 

Hello and welcome to DTR...

Where are you located? You may be surprised to know that there are members from parts other than N. America here.

So, in short, the gov solenoid can be a source of the issue, but I think it may be improper band adjustment... a relatively easy fix.

 

Hi,

Thanks for the answer! I live i Denmark its a small country in Scandinavia. I have updated the frist post with some new info, i can now recreate the fault. When she is really warmed up this starts. Could the bands only be misadjusted while warm? I a little bit afraid to start messing with them.. She shifts so good while cold..

 

Got it on camera!

 

Hi guys! My luck with the truck dosent seem to change thou. Today she started with this! The gear indicator square went haywire! Could these to be related?
But today I only drove some short distances and the transmission performed flawlessly!
(Even thou the gear indicator went haywire)


The indicator goes on and off and the relay clicks. This explains why she has honked at me while getting out of the truck sometimes. If this is not related maybe I should post a new thread? Or is this a common sensor fault? Location and partnumer? Hard to change?

 

Short update,

I actually found a local shop that had some experience with transmissions for american cars. trucks not so much but its something..

He took a drive and the gear indicator was flickering more than ever and some relay behind the dash was clicking. His conclusion was that this interfered with the gear shifting and probably was the cause of it all. Im not so sure but.. Currently waiting for a new "neutral safety switch" and we will take it from there..

 

Update:

Ordered a new neutral safety switch ( the sensor that tells which P R N D 1 2 position to indicate) Changed it, and spent ALOT of time to resync/adjust the gear cable to get the indicated gear to fit with the current gear. Got the indication to work but after 5 min of driving we are back to the flickering again... I think Ill start a new thread with this issue, I want that gone before i continue with my real issue with the shifting..

 

After reading this thread that flashing is probably a warning telling you that your trans isn't going to live long. When you have to shift it with throttle its on its way out or that's the way things have always worked out for me.

 

I had a problem very similar to this one with my '06.

Not sure if they're related, but my truck wouldn't shift from 1-2 until about 2500 RPMs. This was a cold or hot problem, and was only 1-2 shifts. The rest of the gears worked fine.

During my research, I found that the problem could mainly be attributed to one of three different things.

1. Solenoid

2. TTVA (See link at the bottom of the page for more info. This was my problem.)

3. The computer (ECU, PCM, ECM? I am not sure the difference, only that these puppies are expensive!)

Here's the link to my problem, maybe you can tell for sure whether this sounds like your problem or not. From what I read, there's really no way to check the TTVA; other than replacing it with a known working one.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...s-t314977.html

You may run a diagnostics tool on it anyways. I've had my truck throw codes that didn't set the check engine light off. Anything is worth a try!!

Those elusive problems are the worst... Hope you get it figured out!

 

Update again.

I solved the flickering issue with the gear indicator. It was the cluster that had a glitch. I lost perhaps 1/2qt of tranny fluid when I changed the sensor. I think the intermittency changed. It still does the late shifting. I can provoke it by driving 15 miles and then stopping and put it in park for 2 minutes, when I then put her back in D she will not shift 1-2 and 2-3 until 2500rpms. But last time it went away after a couple of shifts.

Today I checked my fluid again. Its all full of small bubbles on the stick! Levelwise its way over the ok level in park and in the middle (perfect) when in neutral. Tested warm and on level surface with motor idleing. Could I be on to something here?

 

Next update in this story,

Talk to the transmission shop who made the repair - the gov solenoid was changed aprox 3000 miles ago so I doubt that its the issue here.

Another long test drive today, she works fine. BUT after sitting still for more than 3 minutes with P or D, she does this:

As soon as I put my foot on the throttle I can immediately feel that she is going to do this. Its almost like if the TC is locked in 1st and 2nd? Usually when you apply throttle the RPMs goes up til about 2000 and then comes the speedometer. When this happens its more like you would be driving a manual trans?


If I stop at 1st, 2nd or 3rd gear she will do this again. If I do liek in the video and drive her all thru the gears so the OD and the lockup activates she will shift fine again?

I have also checked the transmission fluid again and again and again. When hot its just on the max mark. Could hig fluid level cause a symptom like this? Still alot of bubbles on the dipstick.

 

I believe there are directions on the stick to check it while in gear.

Pop the parking brake and check it in drive. If it's overfilled, then that could be the cause of the bubbles on the dipstick.

According to my mechanic, an overfilled tranny will churn up the fluid; and could burn your transmission up due to it recirculating foam instead of fluid.

Did you check the TTVA? If you've got a bit of extra time, you can pick one up from the dealer (they keep "a few" of them on hand) and swap it out. It's just an external module on the side of the transmission, and just swivels out and pulls up after removing a few bolts.

My dealership said that they would take the part back if it wasn't the problem, so no harm, no foul for the attempt. Luckily, that ended up being the problem for me.

 

Where I live there is no Dodge dealers.. Can you measure/check it somehow?

Also tested to drain 1/2qt of ATF, now its at the lower end of the hatchet area when hot.
- But still no diffference.

When warm and sitting idling i P, for a minute or more. When back in D Ill have to rev her until 2500rpm and then she just sliiides in 2nd and 3rd. OD and lockup comes in fine after at the right RPM..

 

Hi some new info..

Since my last post when i drained 1/2qt of the ATF from a cold pan ( I have a Myg-hytec with a drain plug) Today I took a closer look to the bottom of the bucket i drained the 1/2qt to. ( I let 1/2qt sit and sink for a day, and poured the top off) This is what was left in the bottom, should it look like this?
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8pcivg5v2...GTSR94Vh1eYZta
There is no metal but a lot of debris from clutches?

I have a 1000mile trip coming up and I dont know if I dare to do it with my Dodge...

 

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...fting+2500+rpm