1997 47RE SHUDDER SHIFTING INTO 2ND

[dseabaugh]

To start out with, I bought a core transmission to rebuild. Put every upgrade I could buy over 2 years of buying and saving parts. BD valve body, heavy converter, teflon seals, solenoids and harness; pretty much everything but the front pump and gears. Took out my old one and rebuilt it with a nice kit and sold it to a guy who plows snow who has been working the hell out of it with no issues. Anyway, back to mine. It acted like there is no check valve in the cooler line and had an overnight drain back issue. I put on a new cooler line. Same thing. I would have to sit an hold the throttle to it to get it moving, then once it started moving it would go a few hundred feet and stop. Hold the throttle to it again and it would take off after a minute. get somewhere to back up and it would do the same thing. Once I've been through that whole getting the blasted thing to move it would run perfect all day including pulling a load. Next time it sat for a few hours, same crap. Oil is amsoil. I ran test gauges and all was well, even while driving. I've pulled the transmission out and looked at it 5 (five!) times and can't find anything wrong with it. Today I went to get a carrier bearing and it started a hard shudder every time it shifted to second gear. As long as it doesn't need to go to second, no issue and shift sweet. I am about to go nuts trying to figure this out. 2000 miles on it since the first install. The whole truck has 140,000 and I've had it since it was a year old. I'd pull it out and let a shop have a go at it but it would take me another 2 years to save up for that. $450 a month social security does not go far. So who has an idea? I am going to pull the pan as soon as it cools down and check the clutch adjustment again.

 

[jfmaz]

Try a different trans fluid?? I have no similar experience, but just a thought. Of course a full fluid change will take a chunk out of your monthly budget.

 

[dseabaugh]

Actually, I was going to do that and on line seeing who has oil in stock right now. O'reilly has ATF+4 compatible full synthetic listed for $25.49 for a gallon but they tell me the manager has to call the warehouse to request if they can get it so I can leave a note for the manager. Still has to be a leak back somewhere. The shudder just started. I drained the oil and all looks good. Thinking about taking a spare valve body to a transmission shop and see if they would put a transgo kit in it and what they would charge me. Our boy had a shop in Chicago do that to his and it was awesome, of course cost is no issue for him.

 

[Timd32]

Super frustrating, I've struggled to finish my build, kinda in the same exact boat but have not gotten it driving yet, been a while collecting parts and doing the slow build. I really need to get mine done or just get rid of the thing, no good having it sit in my case.

1, 2, 3 is all pressure driven per say, has to be some way of breaking this issue down a bit.

So I really have no clue and someone can correct or trash any and all of the below, just getting the ball rolling. Maybe something will stick..... in no such order.....

Have you checked with the VB builder to see what fluid they reccomended. Some builders reccomended DEX3 fluid. Some stick with ATF+4, any off the shelf ATF+4 is great stuff no need to overspend there at all.

Did they give you a test report with the VB, not that you need that, but mine was provided it was bench tested by my supplier, if you think it's VB related I would not think putting a TransGo kit in a decent built VB, might cause compatibility issues possibly. Even if it's been a few years maybe the supplier would bench test it for you if you think it's there.

What's your front band adjusted to, my build sheet said to go:
Front: 2 and 1/4
Rear: 3 and 1/4
That can be VB and build specific. Mine is not per the book, it's per my build sheet.

When you tore it apart did you perform any of the air pressure checks with the VB off? I forget those exactly but there are some tests you can do with the VB off. That's kinda where I am at this point.

Is your throttle cable adjusted properly? They can tend to fray at the pump side from age. Sometimes you need to bend the bracket to get them adjusted..

There is the sprag deal in the case was the race soild no movement, did you check that one way action. There is a second one that's for the 3-4. The one in my case I messed it up and had to replace. The race in the case was solid but was noted in my kit to check that race.

 

[dseabaugh]

Did check sprag. The vb in it is the same BD vb that was in the original transmission. No, I did not air check it but I did make me some long hose and gauge set ups so I could run and watch it both sitting on blocks and driving. All were in specs toward the high side. That is another reason I don't think it is the pump. I ran the ATF4 in the old trans and the Amsoil version of it in this one being I had $2,000 in parts in it. I wired a set of switches to it so I could manually shift it also.

 

[dseabaugh]

Took a core valve body to a local transmission shop and 3 WEEKS later I got it back with the SK TFOD (supposedly) VB kit in it. Charged me $343 to install it. Put the valve body in. Shift is so soft I can't even tell it is shifting if I didn't have a tach. When I put my foot in it, there is a shudder with a LOUD howl or moan that shakes the truck so bad it literally dumps everything off the dash onto the floor. Took my wife for a trip down our road and back and it scared the $#it out of her when I would tromp it a second. The shudder and moan last about2 seconds, then it shifts. From neutral to drive, there is about a 2 second wait till it surges forward. To reverse it is instant. I put all new Borg Warner electrics on it. Governor pressure is 0 sitting and 100 at 50 mph. If i let up on the throttle it drops to 80# and as soon as I give a little throttle it jumps to 100# again. It is not supposed to rain tomorrow so I hope I can do more testing and re-check the throttle cable setting. Any suggestions on this shaking howl and soft shift? I hated the BD VB and waiting on the torque converter fill to move all the time but at least it had firm shifts. I would be afraid to hook anything behind the truck or use it to haul fuel out in the field it is so mushy feeling now.

 

[Ozymandias]

Actually, I was going to do that and on line seeing who has oil in stock right now. O'reilly has ATF+4 compatible full synthetic listed for $25.49 for a gallon but they tell me the manager has to call the warehouse to request if they can get it so I can leave a note for the manager. Still has to be a leak back somewhere. The shudder just started. I drained the oil and all looks good. Thinking about taking a spare valve body to a transmission shop and see if they would put a transgo kit in it and what they would charge me. Our boy had a shop in Chicago do that to his and it was awesome, of course cost is no issue for him. View attachment 127128 View attachment 127129

View attachment 127130

FYI, the BD Valvebody has technically a TransGo Shiftkit in it, that's what they use as a base for their builds.

So, say no to mess with the VB, you can only make it worse.
Did you talk to BD about the issue, because to my it boils down to a VB problem.

 

[Ozymandias]

Do you work with the FSM to resolve that problem?

 

[dseabaugh]

BD body is now in a box. I had a spare un corrupted valve body that I took to the transmission shop to put in a transgo kit in it thinking my issue is with the BD valve body. Never liked the wait to fill converter in the BD. The transgo kit was supposed to fill in park which is why I went that way. I think when it tries to downshift, either the converter is not unlocking and is it is /or trying to be in 2 gears at the same time. The howl almost has a metal wrenching sound to it. My wife can still hear despite being 70 years old. Besides the shacking and loud howl noise she is screaming stop, it is tearing something up. Manually shifting up, I can tell the shifts. Shifting down, it will drop to 2nd from drive at 40 mph but it will not drop to 1st. Now there is the acronym issue. What is FSM?

 

[Ozymandias]

Factory service manual.

It shows conditions and what causes them.
Pretty helpful for chasing such problems, because it gives you a clear path to follow instead of randomly exchange parts.

 

[dseabaugh]

Yes, I have the service manual and working my way down the list. The closest issue it shows is the torque converter lockup solenoids can do this so I have a 3rd set of those on order now from a different supplier. Thank you for the reply. Cheers

 

[dseabaugh]

Could someone clarify this for me? Page 21-259 in my FSM says Test condition- Line pressure OK during any one test, the Pump and regulator valve are O.K. My ATS book says if the transmission fill the torque converter and transmission starts to engage in 5 seconds the pump is O.K.. My TC does start to engage AT 5 seconds but will move a few feet to a 100 feet, then stop moving, then holding the throttle to it will re-engage again. Often I go through 3 of these cycles before it it driveable. My question is should the pump fill the converter in 5 seconds at idle or 5 seconds at 1400 rpms like I have to do? At idle it never does it. I am starting to question the pump rebuild yet I have pressures as high as 300 psi with the BD valve body and 175 with the Transgo kit VB so it does make pressure that are consistent once the %@!$#@# thing starts moving. I checked with company that put in my transgo kit and they tell me they have no ability to test VBs. They put kits in and they work or they don't. d I should also add that once it fill converter the last time, it will be fine all day long as you don't try to romp it and change lanes where it will shake and moan severely and dump everythig off the dash and seats.. Shifts like an old buick all day long if you drive it like a 108 year old spinster.. NEXT DAY After it sits and drains back you start the game of pour the fuel to it till it moves. f

 

[Timd32]

Put an OEM pump in is what I have always read. I did check mine with the book and it seemed solid and I plan on reusing it, but from what I have from my builder if the pump is suspect only use an OEM pump.

Maybe they are all rebuilds???

https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/mopar-tran-pump-transmission-oil-r8052759aa?c=az0x