Cummins Rule!!

Except for this little problem I've been having...
kinda difficult to explain..

I have a nearly new 04 5.9L HO 305/555 3500 4X4 Auto. Every other day or so at no particular point in a drive but usually starts after a fresh start up "Hot/or cold" It seems as if the engine experiences a loss of power and requires much more throttle in order to accelerate through the gears. This has gotten me frusted as it was happening from time to time from between 3,000 to 5,000 and then seemed to go away but now it has come back to haunt me. I'm at about 11,000 now. "avg 12mpg as granny driver"

In some way it almost feels as if the brakes are being applied causing more load like if I was towing. If I shift to neutral the truck rolls as normal so I don't think it's a brake problem. On a normal day, if I drive it like I'm a granny it rolls along very nicely and will shift all the way through to overdrive with barely any throttle. When this problem arises I'm pushing 3/4 throttle to get it to gear up hence raising the RPM's well over 2000.

Any help with knowledge on this problem would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to take it to my Dealer next week but since it's intermitent I'd like to have something to stand on before going in.

Also I checked for error codes but none where reported just -------

Thanks,
Kris

 

How is your transmission fluid level (color & smell while you're at it)?

Your power loss could be any number of things but it could be your tranny slipping and the easiest thing to check first would be the fluid level. If it is brown and/or smells burned then that's a sign of slippage/overheating.

You're getting 12mpg? Is that unloaded? That's not right either.

 

By the way, welcome to the board. There are a lot of folks on here with a lot of knowledge (me excluded).

 

You do need to determine if its the tranny or the engine. If its building good RPM and it should at 3/4 throttle than it may be a problem in the transmission.


Would like to know what kind of RPMS your turning when you have it at 3/4 throttle?


Jason

 

Hey HandymanTim,
Thanks for the welcome to the site. This is my first Diesel and I've loved having it since I bought it but then this strange problem started. Today when I drove it around it seemed to be a little more constant now. I'll check on the fluid in the morning when I have daylight but when It last happened my levels where good. I'll also check on the smell.


Hey Scubasteve, If I hold 3/4 throttle as I speed up and the transmission shifts it reaches up close to 3000 and if full will get up to about 3200 at shift. It's kinda weird the way it acts. It's not like its slipping and the RPM's go way up but it doesn't want to get going unless I give it some uummphhhhh in the throttle. Kinda like I'm towing on level ground or a slight incline. When driving it seems from a dead stop it starts to go right away with just a little throttle, as the truck speeds up to say 25 or 30 I'm having to hold the throttle and rpm at least 1800 to continue accelerating and get it to shift through the gears. Sometimes when it seems really bad when I get to about 40 to 45 I have to throttle up so it's holding at least 2200 in order to get it to 50 and then I have to let off the throttle so that it will shift into overdrive. If I sit at 2200 it will eventually shift into overdrive as the vehicle catches up to the speed of the motor. When I get to over drive it seems to drive almost normal but feels like there is drag. I've tried to test the rolling by shifting to neutral and seeing if it's slowing any quicker but does not seem to be. Also when I'm decelerating and get to I think about 40 and the RPM's drop down the truck seems to freewheel just fine even though it's in drive.

I'm great with computers and their strange quirks but vehicles I'm a little leary on.

Handymantim I'll let you know on the trans oil, also 12 mpg is pretty much it but it's getting worse with this problem. I do mostly in town driving so I know that's not helping but even on the freewey in over drive at say about 70 it's only climbing to about 14. At least that's what the computer says. In any given week I'm filling up at about 330 miles @ 28gallons roughly 11.79 mpg. Now usually I do carry ladder rack thats about 200lbs with a 150lb ladder, and a few things in the bed maybe weiging in at a few hundred pounds. I know that does hurt my milage on a day to day and does cause wind drag from the rack and ladder but I took everything off my truck a couple of days ago and the numbers above are acurate to the computer but I don't yet have an acurate miles at empty without the bit of gear. Problem seems exactly the same or even a little worse unloaded.

The heaviest load I've towed has been my boat weighing in at about 10k. I havn't towed it recently but I don't recall ever towing it while I was having this problem with my truck. I did check the milage last time I towed and I got about 10mpg overall. Towed really great. Way better than my 5.9 gas. I'm thinking maybe I should hook her up and go hit some of the mean hills outside the valley here and hope to either bring the cause of the problem out in the open or get rid of it. Gotta work though so I don't have time just yet.

Again, thanks for the replies. I'll let you know on the tranny fluid when I get off work. Let me know if any of this info sparks any other thoughts.

Kris

 

Thankfully it's still under warranty because that sure sounds like tranny trouble to me. After reading your 2nd post, I'm more convinced than ever that your tranny insn't producing the pressure it needs to work properly.

Remember when checking the fluid level it needs to be warm (driven for several miles), on a level surface, in Park, and running.

If you add any fluid make sure you use that Mopar +4 stuff so you don't void your warranty....cause I think you'll be using it soon.

Good luck and let us know.

 

in park or neutral???? i believe it should be neutral these trucks dont pump fluid in park without a modified valve body.

 

I think that must be a 47RE thing. My shop manual specifically states that fluid pumps in Park or Neutral on the 48RE. Here is an excerpt from the 2004 shop manual:


PARK POWERFLOW
As the engine is running and the crankshaft is
rotating, the flexplate and torque converter, which
are also bolted to it, are all rotating in a clockwise
direction as viewed from the front of the engine. The
notched hub of the torque converter is connected to
the oil pump’s internal gear, supplying the transmission
with oil pressure. As the converter turns, it
turns the input shaft in a clockwise direction. As the
input shaft is rotating, the front clutch hub-rear
clutch retainer and all their associated parts are also
rotating, all being directly connected to the input
shaft. The power flow from the engine through the
front clutch hub and rear clutch retainer stops at the
rear clutch retainer. Therefore, no power flow to the
output shaft occurs because no clutches are applied.
The only mechanism in use at this time is the parking
sprag (Fig. 3), which locks the parking gear on
the output shaft to the transmission case.

NEUTRAL POWERFLOW
With the gear selector in the NEUTRAL position
(Fig. 4), the power flow of the transmission is essentially
the same as in the park position. The only
operational difference is that the parking sprag has
been disengaged, unlocking the output shaft from the
transmission case and allowing it to move freely.

 

Thanks for the replies, I did get a chance to check the fluid while it was hot and the level is right on. I'm not sure what exactly the smell should be like but it seemed to me that it smelt mildly off but I need to compare with a new bottle. Color was just slightly worn but pretty close to exact color. It's funny for the most part I'm having this problem to a constant now which I figure is good so when the dealer gets it Monday so they can figure it out. One strange thing, If I let the truck warm up to the initial normal area the problem now seems to just plain exist but this morning I was running a little late and didn't give it more than a minute. She seemed to roll down the street just fine. Didn't last very long. Every time I drove it today the problem was there. It doesn't go away very long anymore.

Thanks again for your thoughts on the issue. Once this is all taken care of I'll probably start buggin you about some performance parts and I was wondering if a cool down turbo timer was really a good idea, how much are they and are they easy to install? Also do they just keep your truck running for so many minutes or do they actually shut it down when it's cooled enough?

I'll let you know how the service goes.

Thanks a bunch,
Kris

 

I have a 2000 Dodge cummins diesel that has just about the same symptoms. My truck has 132,000 miles and just started loosing power. It is not constant, so it causes a little frustration. My truck is a 3500 single cab dually. The difference is, I have a five speed transmission and a Jake Brake.
My power loss is very random and when it happens, it is a 4th gear day with a maximum of 70mph with no payload. When it runs, it runs good?
I am very interested in what the perception of this problem may be.
Thanks...

 

I have a 2000 Dodge cummins diesel that has just about the same symptoms. My truck has 132,000 miles and just started loosing power. It is not constant, so it causes a little frustration. My truck is a 3500 single cab dually. The difference is, I have a five speed transmission and a Jake Brake.
My power loss is very random and when it happens, it is a 4th gear day with a maximum of 70mph with no payload. When it runs, it runs good?
I am very interested in what the perception of this problem may be.
Thanks...

 

Kris's problem sure sounds like a torque converter issue to me.

They can do some strange things when they start to go.


I think your problem Appolo must be coincidentall that it shows simmilar symptoms to Kris.

Being that Apollo has a 5 spd (obvioisluy not a t.c problem ) and a completely different injection system.

Now I'm really curious.

Please let us know what the service department tells you.

 

Have you guys with loss of power symtoms checked your intercooler hose connections? Loose connections will mean loss of boost, hence loss of power.

 

I'll let you all know after Monday what my problem turned out to be. I took the truck and did a little off roading and now it's dragging quite a bit. It let up for a little while today but then was doin it again.

Apollo I think on my truck it's the TC or some kind of drive train problem. When I get the drag it feels like I'm towing a few thousand pound trailer or something. If I give it some umphhh or even drop it to the floor she'll run right up to 80 to 100. Just takes a little longer just like it'd be pulling. I don't know that much about diesels or even engines for that matter but your problem does sound like something with the engine. The members on this site are good. So far I've learned alot just going through the forums. Not sure I understand it all but I'm slowly getting there.

I feel for ya though. I'm really frustrated with mine right now. I've got 10500 on it and it already has a problem. These trucks are supposed to last forever. So I've heard. My only luck in this one is warranty thankfully. I'm not sure what I'd do if I had to fork out a bunch of cash. I traded in my other truck to have a new one with no problems. It happens though I guess.

Good luck with yours and thanks all of you. I'll let you know what they say or do.

 

hello, I have a 89 auto 4wd ctd and a 93 manual 4wd ctd. Both of them have a similar problem. I realize these are out dated but when they run good it is like driving a newer truck. I cant afford a new truck like these 3rd gen guys , so maybe you guys can figure out the problem because I think my trucks are going to crash by mistake.
Other than the internittant power there is nothing else wrong that I know of, but the power problem is been going on for a while.I havent spent to much time on the 89 but I had the pump and injectors done, lift pump replaced obvious stuff. but I did notice that when the truck had no power the boost gauge would read high and when the truck ran good it did not need any boost but the truck flew, same with 93. The 93 Ispent a little more time on lift pump, pump and injectors messed with cold start advance ran truck from a different container ran a clear tube from tank to check for air. I saw bubbles in the line and when the i shut truck off fuel drained back to tank so I dropped tank cleaned tank out and replaced check valve and for some reason or another fuel still went back to tank so I installed a inline check valve which prevented back flow but I dont think that was the problem because truck still ran bad. This truck has same symptom with boost but it being standard it is hard to climb gears with low power. Like metioned in above posts they both cost fine no drag. Another thing with the 93 when trying to down shift cant raise rpm with out holding pedal down normally the engine will raise rpm's instantly when running good but when it runs bad the rpm's drop imeditely to idle when foot is off of the pedal like there is a drag on the engine becuase in order to get either of them to move it feels like you have to put the pedal through the floor. The same thing with the 89 if you let off the pedal the engine does not come to idle it drops to an idle. I realize youre trucks are newer but I wonder if there is some kind of load on the engine, because I am running out of ideas and I did a lot more work regarding this problem to these trucks than i wrote . I hope you guys figure out youre problem because it is annoying. thaks and sorry about the long post.