Need to rebuild the transmission..

[PBeaudoin]

Well that didn't take too long, about 6200 miles on a new 03 2500 CTD, 47re. I just cannot believe that Dodge still has not mastered this transmission yet. 4 out of 5 Dodge trucks I owned all had to have their trannys rebuilt in the first 10k miles. My 02 1500 4x4 is the only one that has never been rebuilt, I should of kept that truck instead. I was pulling my construction trailer today (4000lbs) down the road and went to pass at 45-50mph and there it went clutches just slipping away, motor went up to 4k rpms and I just smiled. Am I the only one with this much bad luck with Dodges? I just cannot believe this. I talked to the transmission man at Hendricks Dodge and he highly advised my to get a big secondary cooler asap, after the rebuild. I think its BS, Dodge should of put this on from the factory. Well I hope you all don't have this kinda luck.

A real truck- Dodge body and motor, Chevy's transmission, Fords ummm? bumpers? maybe not: rolleyes:

 

[Steve M]

Motor went to 4,000 rpm? Boy! Your ECM must have gone awry too... I must just be lucky. I haven't had any transmission trouble with the exception of a governor pressure sensor failure at 28k miles in my '01. 5. I tow 10,400 lbs and the doc said my transmission looked great inside. He replaced the part and I was good to go. I'm on my 4th Dodge Cummins. They just keep getting better. I went with another 47RE based on my past experience with them being very strong and reliable.

 

[jimnance]

You either have incredibly bad luck or need to evaluate your driving habits.



I've had three Dodge CTD's prior to this one - all with automatic transmissions. They all went to near 100K without trouble. My '99 has 75K with about 20K towing and of that about 5K with a 14,000 LB + fifth wheel. I hammer down on the hills and have yet to have a problem.



The 47RE is far from perfect, and the guys pulling all the time or are pushing major horsepower through the driveline have seen limited life. There is no reason that a 47RE should fail in such a short time pulling a relatively light load.



:--)

 

[Mopar_Mudder]

Originally posted by jimnance

You either have incredibly bad luck or need to evaluate your driving habits.



:--)

I agree with you, have a 2000, 2001 Cummins with autos and no problems. And have had 3 gas Dodges with autos. Not a problem with any of them. Oh ya, did I mension that they all have plows on them also, don't get much harder on a transmission then that... ...

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

PBeaudoin, instead of going with a Dodge rebuild, do it right and go with proper transmission BOMBing compliments of DTT, BD or ATS?



Vaughn

 

[MMeier]

PBeaudoin, maybe it's time to get a truck with 3 pedals on the floor instead of 2!!

 

[DPKetchum]

Dont take this wrong and IT COULD be bad luck but i deldt with several construction companys that had various year model Dodge diesels with auto's. 2wd and 4wd. Some of their trucks were always tearing up autos. THEN their forman came in and we talked about it. IT was SAME drivers all the time. They even swaped then (2)into fairly new Fords with powerstrokes. Tore the auto's up in them in next 30 days. Other drivers they had never had this problem. He said he knew the CURE.

 

[EXSTROKER]

Oo. Drive it like ya stole it...

17000 on mine acts funny once n a wile.

are they going to fix or replace it...

let us know.

i would love to get a 48

 

[PBeaudoin]

Great responses, except for the fact that of my driving habits. I do not drive my trucks hard at all. Cost way too much money! When I tow I do not take off hard knowing these trannies are weak. My 02 gasser with a 5. 9 never had this problem and that one towed a skid steer several times and several of my construction trailers with over 9k in it. Maybe I should just hammer it down, better luck maybe? NOT! I thought that owning a deisel truck would serve better then a gasser, MPG and durability too. My 98 F150 with a 5. 4 it had very, very hard miles put on it, had to put in a new rearend(@3k) and a motor(@37K), did not know that we had to put in 5w20. I was running 10w40. It was a lease also, so I didn't care.

I am going to have it done at the dealer under warranty, we will see what happens. I guess I just have bad bad luck with Dodges? If I didn't tear up my knee last year, I was considering a 6spd.

I love everything else about the truck, probably the best truck Dodge has ever built, IMO.

 

[BillGotthelf]

PBeadouin- Do you have a black cloud over your head? I tow anywhere from 4,000-14,000 lbs with my CTD's. 1992 went 150,000 miles before number 1 son drove around to my jobsites for 2 days after ripping out lower radiator hose. Guys kept asking him what was burning every time he showed up. Then he puts hose in radiator and head gasket goes booooong. Other trucks toasted TC's after 80,000 miles but trans kept right on going. My friendly neighborhood transmission shop says he very rarely sees dodges mostly ferds and chubbys.

 

[PBeaudoin]

Tell me if I am doing something wrong here. When its cold I do not throttle it but at most 15-1800 rpms, Hot, I throttle it around 1900-2200 at a steady pedel till I am up to a desired speed, when going up hills and the trans won't downshift then I kick it down by appling more fuel, not alot just enough for it to kick down. This is only when its starving for power. I have had more then my share of trucks, believe me. I only have transmission problems with Dodges. I have a 78 F150 400m auto that has done 10X the work that this diesel has been asked to do, and never had a problem with it. Believe it too. I worked this truck for 3 years straight everyday and towed my boat on the weekends. I just think the new grocery haulers are weak. The transmission guy at Hendricks Dodge told me yesterday that the viscosity in the oils when the transmission heats up is the problem(?) Asked him about synthetics and he said it will not help, only a larger cooler will. I thought Dodge put bigger coolers on the diesels anyways? I am not going to try and rack my brains on this one, I'll just chalk it off as another bad Dodge transmission for me.

 

[mr plow]

fear not you are not the only one...

my 03 has 6000 miles on it, and has had a bad launch shudder from the get go. My first transmission was removed and we saw several things... 1. cooler lines were sweating at the fittings, and when we dismantled the transmission, the thrust washer was just toast. My new transmission is even worse than the one it replaced. i put a deep pan on it and amsoil atf in it, and the darn thing slips all over the place. if i leave it in second gear, and do a full throttle launch, when it shifts from 1st to 2nd, it usually will either delay the shift, or slip considerably and then shift. long story short, i am having the old transmission rebuilt, and the new one swapped out and returned to chrysler. If you monitor the temps, and treat it right, it should last forever, but sometimes, what can i say...



best of luck.



plow.

 

[jimnance]

Every transmission manufactured will have some failure rate. It is the nature of mechanical things made by men. The question is what is the rate of failure?



It is probably too early to tell about the 48RE. However, the 47RE is pretty much a proven transmission with few warts. Given care they tend to go the distance unless the truck is BOMBED or you tow heavy loads a lot.



Naturally, we are all interested in hearing about any 48RE failures as it will give us an idea if they are random component or manufacturing failures.

 

[Snow man]

Mr plow,amsoil ATF is very slippery fluid,much like ATF+3,it can aggravate slipping problems. I use regular Dextron 3 in mine,and its very agressive,helps the clutches hook up better,give firmer shifts than amsoil. I wish the amsoil were more aggressive,id like to run it it myself for the protection it offers.

 

[RichV]

While I never towed alot, I never changed the transmission fluid, same fluid from factory 118,593 miles and no trouble. Fluid allways looked and smelled new. BTW I never "babied" it either, WOT to speed wanted. I miss the drag strip! But Now really miss my truck. :{

 

[mr plow]

chrysler requires atf+4...

amsoil atf is compatible i am told, and it says so on the bottle.



oh well, wait and see.



regards.



oren.

 

[Snow man]

I am aware of that,although the fluids they recommend only aggravate the slipping,to reduce the chattering of the tc clutch as it applys. With my DTT TC ther drop into lockup is not huge anymore,so I do not get the chatter,so i dont need the +3,4 fluids. I am not worried about my trans warranty either,I do my own.

 

[PBeaudoin]

A note from the dealers transmission guy, All 03 owners need to keep your fluids checked in the transmission, they fill them prior to install, hook up the coolers and top it off, I am told by him that alot of the transmission's from the factory are known to be 1-1. 5 QTS low once the air is worked out of them.

I was told that this was part of my problem and when it was refilled to specs I still got slippage at a higher RPMs, which he now believes it is in the valve body from being low on fluids also the clutches my be burnt some, however he is doing a complete tear down for me to install new clutches too.

This guy has been working for Dodge for 22 yrs as a transmission builder, also a service rep. from Montana.

*Check your fluids!*

He also said he has not seen the inside of a 48RE, which is a good thing.

 

[MCummings]

isn't WOT better for the Auto's than always "easing" into them.



When you "ease" into them the Diesel Builds alot of torque with very low line pressures, but when @ WOT, the Diesel's take a little time to build torque/boost but the trannsmission pressures are very high.



I think what Bill Kondolay was saying that WOT will help a transmission live longer by keeping line pressures up.



But what do I know, I went from a 5-sped,, to a 6-speed. Maybe one day I'll have an Auto, and I'll have to tell yall how long it lives @ WOT

 

[PBeaudoin]

Here is the up date as of Friday 4/4/03- Truck has been in the shop all week to find out that they are ordering a new transmission because the old one is 70% or better worn out. I was told by the transmission guy that this transmission was doomed from the start. The fluid that was draining out of it on the bench had a brownish tint to it. I sure am glad that they ordered a NEW transmission from Dodge rather than rebuilding the old one. We will see what happens from here.

I am hoping that this one will be better, and the factory builder was sober.