I have a friend with a 2000 ram that he says has been acting strange in the transmission. Basically, it will shift through the gears, but won't go into overdrive.

He called me the other day and asked about it. The truck has 150,000 miles on it. I told him it probably needed to have a fluid and filter change and the bands checked. He took it in and they told him that the band was "almost gone" and recommended a rebuild-$2100. He had them tighten the band and put it back together.

So now he is asking for my advice on it. I know the auto trannies aren't great anyway, but does it make sense to try to find a used one? I see them around $800 at the salvage yards. Also, can you just drop one, plug another in and away you go, or do they involve reprogramming?

 

One of the guys at work was coming to work one morning when he noticed his truck wasn't shifting into over drive. By the time he got to the dealership the next day, he had to do the last 5 miles in first gear.

I know, not much help, but he isn't alone on this.

 

He should have the truck checked for error codes. It could be as simple as the overdrive solenoid being bad = not that hard or expensive to repair.
By the way "the band" actually their are 2 of them DO NOT apply the overdrive it is done by the clutch pack when the solenoid sends oil pressure to it.

 

Is that a "take it to Autozone" check for codes, or a take it to the dealer? He did say they told him there was some metal in the pan.

 

A little bit of small metal particles is not unusual in the pan at that mileage has the fluid ever been changed prior to this??
Start out with an autozone scan see if it shows anything.

 

Not sure on whether the fluid has been changed prior to this. He bought it used and at least when he bought it the fluid looked and smelled good. I don't think that he's put that many miles on it since, maybe 25,000?

Anyway, I'll have him go get it scanned and see if anything comes up.

Thanks!

 

Ok, so after talking to him again, it isn't just the overdrive. It sounds like it is slipping pretty bad in all gears. He thought that overdrive worked in all of them. He said he was at 2,500 rpm at 35 mph. So I guess back to the original question. . .is it worth finding a used one and is it a plug-and-play to put one in?
Looks like about $650 for used and he said he was quoted $400 to put it in. Fair?

 

My $0.02 don't take it to the dealer or franchised tranny shop. Take it to an independant shop and get recomendations from others. My '99 1500 had the tranny go out with only 1st gear and reverse working. I took it to an independant shop and had a complete rebuild done for $800 including removal and installation. Since then I have put another 80k on the truck with out the least bit of trouble. This is assumming you are not comfortable in doing your own rebuild.
Franchised tranny shops have the reputation for telling anyone and everyone that they need a rebuild because "metal shavings were found in the pan". They use scare tactics to bring the work in and charge much more than independant shops.