I am starting to experience what I believe is a transmission slip on my 2005, fully stock truck, just turned 121,000 miles. I do not have any performance upgrades, outside of adding larger wheels and tires, 325/65/18 Nitto Dura Grapplers on 8x10 Helo Maxx 8 wheels.

If I use moderate acceleration, I feel sporadic slipping in 1st or 2nd gear. I don't always feel the slippage. Under hard acceleration I don't seem to experience it at all. The truck is also downshifting very hard into the lower gears on deceleration.

I have a call into Tim at TRE Diesel in VA Beach thanks to some of my research and your comments on this forum. To gather his thoughts.

My question is, now that I am beginning to experience these issues, how long do I have before total transmission failure? I travel a great deal on the weekends with my daughter's softball team, pulling a team trailer and often taking other players with me as well, driving trips to Atlanta, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, South Carolina, New Jersey, etc., on Friday and back to Richmond on Sunday, for several weekends in a row. I am not in a good position to have the catastrophic failure take place while I am on the road. This truck is my daily driver also, about 30 miles a day plus an extra 70 to ball practice a couple times a week. I am not hard on the truck, but I do pull a 30 foot travel trailer a couple times a year down to Hatteras Island and the next trip will be Thanksgiving 2012.

Any assistance or advice you can provide would be appreciated.

 

I'd say you have between 10 and 100,000 miles left in that trans....

A fluid change could extend the life, you may not be getting the pressure you need. But there's no way to predict how long you have.

 

you did not mention when the last time the bands were adjusted?..
If its been awhile, I would change the fluid/filter. Adjust the bands, and probably replace the solenoid and pressure sensor.. You would be surprised just how much of a difference that makes.!

 

I changed the fluid and filter about 2K miles ago.

The bands have never been adjusted and I have not replaced the solenoid and pressure sensor. I am extremely nervous to touch the bands myself....

How difficult is it to change the solenoid and pressure sensor?

Thanks

Jason

 

Wow.. you were right there when you had the pan off. !!.. It is all EXTREMELY simple to do. The only thing you will need other than basic hand tools is an inch pound torque wrench. The solenoid and sensor are both inside the pan right beside the filter. There is one band adjustment that you do inside the pan, the other you do on the drivers side of the trans from the outside.
Im positive that if you search for band adjustment on a 48RE on this site, somebody has posted complete step by step instructions on how to perform the complete process...
Here is the company that I purchased the sensor and solenoid from, I went with the aftermarket one and it seems to perform MUCH better than the stock one.
http://www.transtar1.com/default.asp
The band adjsutments are the item that REALLY need to be addressed right now...

 

Solenoid and pressure sensor are a piece of cake. Buy the upgraded BW one, or Chevy one. You can find them all over, do a search. I may have even posted pictures here long ago. It's just a couple screws and a wire harness connection. You will have to drop the pan, and you can adjust the bands then, but once the bands start going, well there isn't much to wear on those things.

Slipping is probably the torque converter though. Bands slow and stop drums, the TC is what engages and slips to make things smoothly transition. If your TC is slipping it is because the fluid is too viscous to create good pressure or the clutches are worn. Or about 50 other things that come back to manifest themselves in the same way. The valve body controls fluid flow to actuate the accumulators and move levers. You can manipulate various aspects to create changes that will affect your shifting and you could get rid of slip for a while. Probably a slight turn on the (what is that thing on the top of the trans driver's side called?? ) whatchamacallit unit will bump line pressure and change shifts dramatically.

Here, check out this build-up at PATC, it has some good pictures and you will get what I mean:
http://www.transmissioncenter.net/48...ld_at_PATC.htm

 

By all means do what everyone has mentioned!! You may have some mileage left in it if you get it up to snuff. Check this thread out, this was my experience:
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...e-t210409.html

 

Well, since my original post on Sept. 1, my transmission has continued to slowly get worse. I have done a ton of research on the 48RE, YouTube videos, a bunch or forums, and calling transmission shops. It is amazing how quickly the trans has gone downhill. Pretty much from every take off, the truck is working ridiculously hard to get started. Once I get started, the truck does okay, but from a stand still it is hard to get going.

I did take the truck to a Dodge Dealership - Crossroads Dodge in Colonial Heights, VA - to have them run some diagnostics (this was done mostly to appease the wife). They were pretty useless, didn't provide me with any data, or any real information other than, "you need a new transmission". They did tell me that my transmission pressure diagnostics were fine while the truck was in Park, but when placed in gear, the pressure dropped significantly.

So, after all the research, diagnostics, and calling Tim Barber at TRE several times, on Friday, Sept. 28, I will be getting Tim to build me a new transmission, including a Mag HyTech pan and a Smarty Jr for a little "fun factor" addition. After all the good things I have read and heard about Tim and TRE, plus the all the positive comments about the Smarty Jr., I can't wait for Friday to get here. I am not looking forward to parting with my hard earned cash, but I do feel like I am getting a great transmission and working with a good guy to do the work. And the Smarty should add a little fun!

Just wanted to give an update. If Tim will allow it, I am going to try and watch the rebuild and maybe take some pics of the old trans parts and post them, just to give you guys a look at what my 122K trans looked like on the inside.

Thanks for all or the help provided by this forum! It has been extremely valuable in assisting me with my decision making.

 

I'm not a tranny guru, I may be wrong, but I think the dodge dealer comment is wrong. The stock tranny doesn't pump in park, so there would be little pressure. Once out of park, the pressure should increase because the pump begins to work.

Did you ever try to replace the pressure governor solenoid and pressure sensor, and adjust the bands?

 

I did not replace the gov. solenoid and pressure sensor, or adjust the bands myself prior to the trans getting replaced on Friday.

The dealership may not have had the truck in "Park", I may have mis-spoke on that and should have said neutral. What they told me was when the truck was put into gear the pressure dropped significantly. "Park" was my word, I assume that they know what we know, the stock truck does not run the tranny oil through the system in "park", like it does in neutral.

After the transmission rebuild on Friday, the truck shifts and feels much better. The shifting is much stiffer and the gear exchanges are tight and sharp, much better than before. The extra power is fun too.

After leaving Tim's shop, I made the 2 hour drive home, then got up early Saturday morning and made a 4.5 hour drive to Hickory, NC for my daughter's softball tournament and the tranny never missed a beat. Coming home was just the same!

Never did get any pics, but to watch Tim and his crew tear down and rebuild a tranny is fascinating. Tim and 2 others, removed, rebuilt, and reinstalled my tranny in 5 hours!! Super nice guys too!!

 

I would advise that you be carefull at the dealer.
I had a guy call about his 48re.
Dealer told him it was shot and had to be rebuilt.
So he asked around and found me.
He didn't let me check it, just took it out and brought it to me.
All it had to have was the front band ADJUSTED.
Everything looked good in it, but now it is in great shape, with a full rebuild with extra's.

 

A fluid change could extend the life, you may not be getting the pressure you need. But there's no way to predict how long you have.