First post here though I have been lurking for a while.

Did my second significant (may be insignificant to some) tow today and am having some issues.

My truck - '03 Crew Cab LWB 3500, 4X4, HO & 48RE (single rear wheel) with 9,900 miles

My wife and I towed the racecar (5000# total) to the track this morning (60 ish miles) and on the way we had an issue. I hit the OD button to take the truck out of overdrive when approaching a grade. Close to the top of the grade I hit the button again to allow the trans to shift to overdrive when we leveled out. Issue is... it wouldn't shift to overdrive. We were running late and were just about to get off the freeway so we continued to the track. Let the truck idle for approximately 10 mins and shut her off for the day.

Loaded up and left in the afternoon and had no further issues on the TOW home. Hit the button again when we got off the freeway due to some traffic and hills between the freeway and storage garage. Went to the storage garage and unloaded, un-hooked and headed for home. Get on the freeway with no load behind us.... again NO OVERDRIVE.

I have frantically searched the owners manual, and it states that if the tranny gets hot it will shift out of OD to cool the tranny, ok fine... but it would never shift back in.

I did a search and found this thread....

CLICK HERE

.... where would I find this connection to check.

What would cause this intermittent issue? I will be calling the dealer first thing in the am to have it looked at.

I have checked the tranny fluid following the instructions in the manual and it is fine and does not smell burnt.

Please help!

Nash - who is stumped and concerned about his 4 month old truck.

 

Called my local dealer and I have an appointment on Wednesday.

To quote the service advisor... "I hope it threw a code, intermittant issues are very difficult to track down."

Nash

 

Where you running with the cruise control on? If you were & if you were'nt I would take a look at the Tranny fluid level. Wait until it's good and hot and then check it, if it is high then you need to drain some out. This has been a known problem with the auto trannies. It keeps the tranny from shifting properly and hopefully it didn't do any damage. Since you are going to the dealer I would check it prior to going there and make them pull some of the fluid out and make sure it's not burnt.

 

[quote author=SuperGewl link=board=20;threadid=21892;start=0#msg205017 date=1067880276]
Where you running with the cruise control on? If you were & if you were'nt I would take a look at the Tranny fluid level. Wait until it's good and hot and then check it, if it is high then you need to drain some out. This has been a known problem with the auto trannies. It keeps the tranny from shifting properly and hopefully it didn't do any damage. Since you are going to the dealer I would check it prior to going there and make them pull some of the fluid out and make sure it's not burnt.
[/quote]

I was not running with the cruise on.

Funny you should mention that.... the fluid level was actually high, quite a bit higher than the "full" line.

Nash

 

[quote author=Jack Thorpe link=board=20;threadid=21892;start=0#msg204976 date=1067876859]
I would also call one of the tranny vendors like DTT or ATS. They might be able to help you work through the problem.
[/quote]

You wouldn't happen to have contact information for either of those vendors handy, would ya?

 

*****Update*****

Driving the truck home tonight.... won't shift into OD.

The weather in Western WA has been unseasonably cold for our area so I baby it hoping that the trans temp will come up slowly and make a transition to OD.

No such luck. So I decided to do a little testing...

The truck will shift into OD if I GRENADE the accelerator and take it up to about 70. But, after I let off and the speed drops below 60 mph and I touch the accelerator it slams itself into 3rd gear. In fact at one time it decided to shift to 2nd at approx 50 mph.

I immediately drove to my closest dealer and explained the issue. I had to play my 'DC Business Link' card to have them look at it prior to the end of the week.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Nash - who is sorely dissappointed

 

ok.... I called the guys @ ATS (VERY helpful btw).

Described the problem and they immediately stated that they are 95% sure it is an issue with the valve body. Something causing sticking valves inside the assembly, most likely debris or fautly parts.

They stated I should be sure to have the dealer show me the problem when they replace the valve body to ensure it wasn't metal debris... if it is metal debris the tranny should be replaced or rebuilt.

The second option was that the 4th gear clutches have gone or are going... but not likely due to my description in previous posts.

I will be calling the dealer again this am to share this information. Hopefully they have a part in stock and can replace it soon.

Nash - who is already missing his truck

 

[quote author=a71rambler link=board=20;threadid=21892;start=0#msg205447 date=1067961636]
ok.... I called the guys @ ATS (VERY helpful btw).

Described the problem and they immediately stated that they are 95% sure it is an issue with the valve body. Something causing sticking valves inside the assembly, most likely debris or fautly parts.

They stated I should be sure to have the dealer show me the problem when they replace the valve body to ensure it wasn't metal debris... if it is metal debris the tranny should be replaced or rebuilt.

The second option was that the 4th gear clutches have gone or are going... but not likely due to my description in previous posts.

I will be calling the dealer again this am to share this information. Hopefully they have a part in stock and can replace it soon.

Nash - who is already missing his truck
[/quote]
Good luck and hope you get the issue resolved quickly.

 

while I am new and have lurking for awhile I drove my truck home the day i bought ( used) it was running at 3100 rpms at 65 mph , I called the dealer closest to me and they said bring it in , they thought it was a sensor ( 500.00 bucks) they had to wait to call what they call the star people some service guys with the parts that cost alot , they told them to check like 10 different things , they found a large connector that had gotten water into it and shorted out , cost of fix to DC about 15 dollars, ask em to check all the electronics to your OD too

Best of Luck Burpl

 

[quote author=Burpl link=board=20;threadid=21892;start=0#msg205701 date=1067994476]
while I am new and have lurking for awhile I drove my truck home the day i bought ( used) it was running at 3100 rpms at 65 mph , I called the dealer closest to me and they said bring it in , they thought it was a sensor ( 500.00 bucks) they had to wait to call what they call the star people some service guys with the parts that cost alot , they told them to check like 10 different things , they found a large connector that had gotten water into it and shorted out , cost of fix to DC about 15 dollars, ask em to check all the electronics to your OD too

Best of Luck Burpl
[/quote]

Funny thing you should post that. Got the truck back this evening. The fix was two large connectors that had shorted out. Another $15 fix for a 40+k truck.

Nash - who is glad it was simple and is happy to have my truck back

 

Glad everything worked out. Now I just need to get my dad to sell his 98 for a 04 ;D
DM01

 

Nash, you are one lucky Jose. I would have bet the dealer would have said they can't duplicate it or, the ever popular, it's supposed to do that!!!!

Ya know, it's not that DC makes a bad product. Rather the dealers haven't a clue how to fix em!!!

 

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