03' w/transmission issue:Need Help

[mr.wilson]

I currently have an 03' Quad cab, 4x4, pretty much stock, we are fast approaching 100K and as of the last couple of weeks the truck has been acting up. When it is cold you can hop in and drive any where. But if you stop, put it in park, walk away and come back or if you shut it off. Then once you restart the truck it acts like it's stuck in Drive (3rd or high). It does not shift in to the lowest gear for take off. You can not manually shift it into a lower gear. Very weird indeed. The cure seems to be stopping, putting it in park, shuting off the truck and restarting it. After doing all of this then she will take right off like normal.



I have checked the fluid: OK

I had the fluid and filter changed not 8 month ago. (10K)

The dealer can read a code of: engine governor transducer and solenoid (2 separate parts apparently)



Has this happened to anyone else?

Should I just take and replace the parts ($200 worth of dealer parts) and call it a day.

Or is there some other alternative to this?



Feed back please...



Thanks mr. wilson

 

[Dieselnerd]

Your transmission is going into "limp" mode. When it does this it will only start in 3rd gear. To get out of limp mode you stop the engine and start it again, exactly what you described. Sometimes that happens when it's very cold and the fluid is cold enough to get thicker and it causes an overpressure condition (especially with trannies that have the pressure turned up) which will make it go into limp. That doesn't appear to be your problem since you say it works OK cold. My guess is it's electrical and gets reset when you restart. It could be caused by a short in your wiring. Some gauges connect into the transmission sensor wiring (Like BD X-Monitor) so if you have that type of gauge you may want to check the connection. Of course, it could very well be the parts the dealer called out since they could also cause limp mode.

 

[Suprmn]

If the truck is throwing codes you almost don't have a choice but to replace those parts any more. I would probably inspect the wiring/plugs to those two parts to make sure there is nothing loose or corroded, but then, if it were me, I would replace those parts. Otherwise, it almost sounds like something might be hanging up in the valve body. A good transmission guy would be helpful, but with all the electronics on these suckers they are hard to diagnose, which is why I would lean towards clearing the codes first.

 

[HullD]

trans takes off in third

I have seen this problem many times as I own a trans mission shop.

Most of the time the problem is a bad trans presure tranducer and or governor

presure solnoid.

You should get both with the mileage you have.

 

[cerberusiam]

Before you spend any money on it check the wiring bundle from the trans to the harness under the hood. As the trans harness comes out of the tunnel at the back of the engine there is a ground strap that it will some times rub thru the insulation on the wires and cause erratic operation. If thats OK then it is probably time for a solenoid and transducer. Good luck.

 

[RPolidora]

My old gasser did exactly that and I replaced both the pressure transducer and govenor solonoid and it was fixed.