I am having trouble with my 2001 dodge ram 2500 4X4. The problem is that it is not shifting to overdrive I can put it in neutral and shut it off and turn it back on and it will shift some times it takes more then one shut off before it works. There are days I can get on the truck and take off and it works fine but then as soon as I turn it off sometimes it will start acting up. HELP please I am planning to take it to the dealership on Monday Jan. 15, 07 but if it is something that I can fix I would rather do it my self.

Texmexcowboy

 

Do you have access to wiring diagram ?
If so get a can of plastic safe contact cleaner , unplug every plug in that circut & clean / spray both ends .
The most cominly overlooked , even by the pros , is just connections .
Hold the brake peddle up with your foot to see if problem goes away , if so adjust or replace brake sw.

 

First of were would i get the wiring diagram at and what plugs do i unplug to clean? Also when i put in a remote start on my truck I noticed that the brake lights stay on sometimes and i have to lift it with my foot and they come off. What would the brakes have to do with a tranny problem?
thanks man

 

You found your problem , the brakes switch [ besides turning on the brake lites ]
have other circuts to it , when the brake is applyed , its turns off the cruse control and unlocks the TQ converter .
If you lift your brake peddle with your foot , those problems should go away ,
So the fix is to adjust the sw. , on mine there is no adjustment [ slotted screw holes ] like most , so you may have to bend something so that theres a little more room , the sw. & peddle are so close that you hit a bump and it ingages the sw. , but yours is a little worse , with the brake lite staying on .

 

will it be better to just replace the sw? I have tried to lift the peddle and i have not felt it shift. I am going to try to replace the sw before i take it to the dealer thanks man I will let you know what happens.

 

The switch may be out of adjustment enough that lifting with foot is not far enough , try a little bending of the sw. mount , you could always have a couple problems , but with the brake lites staying on thats #1 to fix .
The sw. could be just bad , I would need to play with the sw. & a test lite to see the problem .
There should be multible wires to brake sw. [ wiring diagram ] to see if each circut does what it should when it should .

 

Ditto - I believe the brake switch is kicking you back out of OD when you hit a bump or pothole.

 

Your brake lamp switch is mounted on the bracket attached to the brake pedal support under the ins. panel. The service manual says, "The brake switch is used for the brake lamp, speed control brake sensor circuits and electronic brake dirtribution (EBD)... when the brake light switch is activated, the PCM receives an input indicating ythe brakes are being applied...the PCMmaintains idle speed dto a scheduled rpm through control of the Idle Air Control (AIC) motor....the brake switch input is also used to disable vent and vacuum solenoid output signals to the speed control servo."

I think you can purchase the switch aftermarked, like O'reilly, Autozone, etc. for like $15.

There is a caution in the manual stating the switch can only be adjusted during initial installation, and if the switch is not adusted properly a new switch must be installed.

The pedal has to be held down during installation, the tabs which hold the switch in place are rotated to align with the mounting holes, release the brake, THEN move the release lever on the switch to engage the switch plunger. It's now adjusted and can not be adjusted again.

There is a continuity test you can perform also, if you'd want to test it before replacing.

 

if ur brake switch is like mine then its a joke to adjust...get under ur dash..ur brake pedal lever will touch this lil **** on a box...thats ur brake switch...depress the pedal...pull out the knowb...and let go of the pedal...adjusted

 

how do i get ahold of the wireing diagram? for all this and is it hard to replays the sw you guys are telling me to check it and adjust it but i rather replace it that way it dont give me anymore problems?

 

replacing it requires adjustign it...try the adjustment first before spending the money

 

oh ok i will try that tomorrow since i dont have to work becouse of the ice here in Oklahoma City. so you say that it should not be hard to adjust it?

 

yeah just get under there and you'll see the pedal contacting a lil ****...when u press the pedal u no longer make contact with it and the brake lights come on...if ur not making contact with it at all then u cannot achieve lock-up and cruise because the truck thinks the brakes are on...just push the brake pedal down and pull out the **** and let go of the pedal..the end

 

ok guys i think it worked. I adjusted it the other day and i have not had any problems (thank God) and thanks to yall i would have spent alot of money sending it to the dealer over here. thanks guys i know who to go to from now on.
ill let yall know if get any other problems with it.

 

ok i thought i fixed this problem but it appears that i did not. I even replaced the hole switch and for a little while it shifted with no problems. I even tried unhooking the remote start but that still did not fix it. A friend of mine said that it might be the Solenoids in the transmission. On Sunday i felt something i have not felt before and that was that it did not down shift all the way to first till i did it manually. What do you guys think? Would it be that? I am afraid to take it to a tranny shop becosue i dont realy trust anybody up here. I took it to one place a while back and they said it was the hole over drive gears and it would cost me $3000 to fix it. I can get a new tranny for about $4000 to $5000, and i dont have that kind of money right now to do that.