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Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) O/D off problems

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Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) am I covered?

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I have been running a lock-up switch for many months with no problem. I recently had my transmission rebuilt by a local shop with a good reputation. I had a BD valve-body installed and a torque converter and a BD pressure loc. The transmission was completly rebuilt with new switches, clutches, and misc. items. :D

When I push the O/D off button it will shift into O/D and act almost like the lock up is engaged. :( I have't touched any wires when since I originaly installed the switch. Whats the deal. Is it possible that the transmission switch installed the switch incorrectly or what.
 
Was your transmission bone stock before (no previous rebuilds)?



With the O/D turned on, shifts are as follows (at least on the 47REs, your RH shifts may differ a little)- 1, 2, 3 (then TC locks up), 4/ OD (then TC locks up).



O/D locked out- 1, 2, 3 (then TC locks up).



When stock, the TC locking up, or the shifts for that matter, aren't always very noticeable. Built trannies are a whole new animal.
 
bmoeller said:
With the O/D turned on, shifts are as follows (at least on the 47REs, your RH shifts may differ a little)- 1, 2, 3 (then TC locks up), 4/ OD (then TC locks up).



I don't think the TC locks up until after it is in OD in either the RE or RH.



ALehman,



The new TC may be so much better than the stocker that it just seems to be locked up in comparison. My TC is that way.
 
ALehman said:
Is it possible that the transmission switch installed the switch incorrectly or what.
:confused:



Why don't you uninstall the switch and try it? If you have a problem, like pressures, you'd want to know sooner than later to avoid warranty issues with the shop that did the rebuild.



I hooked up gauges to the test ports on my 47RH to figure out what parts were worn out. Same thing a transmission shop could do to help you also.



-JJ
 
I did some checks, made sure wires were right. Ran the pressure loc hooked up and disconnected, no change. Gotta be inside the transmission. I haven't changed anything with the lock up switch so really i shouldn't have a problem there being that it worked fine before the transmission swap
 
Are you saying that there is nothing that the transmission shop did inside the transmission that could be causing this problem and that it has to be a problem somewhere else
 
Joe G. said:
I don't think the TC locks up until after it is in OD in either the RE or RH.



The RE does lock the TC in 3rd, with or without the O/D locked out. Mine does. Even the stock transmission did. Don't always feel it, but with O/D locked out, you defiinately feel it.
 
The RH does not lock up in 3rd unless the OD is off. At least mine doesn't. If the OD is off, the TC will lockup. If the OD is turned on while it is running in 3rd with the TC locked it will unlock the TC, shift into OD, and lock up the TC. You an feel it and see it on the tach. If OD is off it will shift into 3rd, shift into OD, and then lockup. Again, you can feel it and see it on the tach. This business is controlled by the PCM which may be different for this operation for the RE. Maybe someone who is a transmission guru will chime in.
 
I am a little confused about what you say is happening when you push the OD Off button.

You state that you are surprised that it shifts into OD.

If you are already in OD, it should shift out.

If OD is off and you push the button, it should shift in.

It may actually be dropping out of OD and immediately shifting into TC lockup. Your new torque converter and valve body most assuredly have changed the feel of how your transmission shifts.

If your switch is wired so you can prevent TC lockup, do that and then operate the OD button and see what happens.

The only other thought I would have is that the wiring to the two solenoids inside the transmission may have gotten damaged or shorted somehow.
 
Hopefully I can clear some things up. When pushing my O/D button to off, the transmission feels as if it shifts right into O/D lockup. You can feel the motor bog down and the black smoke starts rolling. This is without ever touching "my" installed lockup switch.

Before the transmission rebuild, the O/D button worked correctly. It would usually lock up at around 25 mph and stay in that low gear. It still locks up at 25 but shifts into high gear

I am pretty positive that when the truck is in overdrive and I select O/D off, the transmission unlocks but it doesn't shift into a lower gear but stays in O/D and then will lock back up again.

Hopefully someone out there understands what I am saying and give some advice
 
It sounds to me like the solenoids are mixed up in the wiring. You can test this pretty easy. Remove the three wire plug that is just about the shift lever on the trans. Rig a three wire jumper set up so the outer two wires are reversed. See what happens.
 
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bad news for me

Well the plan was to just go ahead and call the shop this tuesday, well I won't be driving the truck to the shop, its going on a roll back. Last night i pulled in at the house, shut the truck off and heard the sound of fluid hitting the ground. I looked underneath and there was transmission fluid dumping on the ground. The worst thing about it was it wasen't comming from a cooler line or the pan, it was comming from the half-moon shaped cover in the bottom of the bell housing. Sooo i guess i blew out the seal up front. Needless to say i'm wasen't excited about that, especially not at 2:00 am. The sad thing is, i didn't rip on it and i didn't even get to do a good smokey burnout.
 
ALehman said:
transmission fluid dumping on the ground. The worst thing about it was it wasen't comming from a cooler line or the pan, it was comming from the half-moon shaped cover in the bottom of the bell housing. Sooo i guess i blew out the seal up front.



With the symptoms you say you have, sounds very similar to a thread I read recently.



they said something to the effect, that when that happens, a snap ring or something breaks, and cuts that seal. I will see if I can find the thread.
 
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**** Found it***** Was on the DTR. Hopefully your problem won't be this bad.



BarryG said:
BB:

I think people have mentioned that both are good trans. Also as mentioned I have heard complaints about both. Both give good customer service. So I will just give you my experience with my choice which was DTT.



After speaking with Bill at DTT and telling him the who, what ,when, where and how I use my truck he gave me his recommendation of what he would do. He mentioned that I was on the line for one or two parts for my use. Said you could use them but not a necessity since I was sort of on the line. Not a sales push at all on those other parts. Well I bit the bullet and headed up to his shop from Denver. Made a nice vacation out of it. What a difference. Vinney and Darren up there in his shop had my truck in at 9am and I drove away at 1pm after we had lunch there.



Fast forward 4 months. On vacation in NE Arizona at Canyon De Chelly. It is about as BFE as you can get on the Navajo reservation. There are a couple of towns not far but no shops of any kind. Anyway at a gas station filling up on my way back to camp to get ready to head to the Grand Canyon the next morning. I notice a puddle under the truck but pay it no mind as I just used about 2 gals of water cleaning the windshield. I stop at the park visitor center for the wife for a second as I walk back to the truck I again notice a puddle. Crawl under there this time and sure enough transmission fluid. Head to camp and break out the tools. It is leaking from the inspection plate. I am hoping that the tc plug has worked loose but no it is tight and appears to be leaking from up in there somewhere. No cell reception out there so I head to the closest phone about 20 miles away. It is tuesday 6pm. I call the shop and get Bill (suprised that they are still there). He tells me to check this and that and try this and that. After no avail he tells me I am screwed and need to get to a shop asap. By now it is 8pm, he has been hanging around waiting for me to call him back after each procedure. He asks me where I am at, tell him he looks on his map ands say boy oh boy you are out in BFE and really are screwed. My comment is YEAH I KNOW THAT ALREADY. I am sweating bullets at this point. He tells me where the closest installers are Phoenix 300 miles and ALBQ 200 miles. He gives me the phone numbers to call them. I am thinking there is no way a shop is still going to be open at 8pm. One no answer I leave a vm. I call the other. An answer thank god. It is his home phone number. I talk to him and he says if you can get it here I can fix it. I call Bill back and tell him where I am headed. He tells me to call him when I get there and the best way to get the trans to make it there (by the way I am pulling a trailer). Get there the next day (wednesday) about 1pm. I was supposed to load up on any trans fluid I could fine and just replenish it as the level dropped. So I would stop and check the fluid level every thirty minutes. To my surprise after the first stop/check it quit leaking.

Went to ALBQ, wife has family there so dropped off the trailer and while backing it in the spot the trans gets fairly toasty. Make it to the shop with ever higher trans temps. Low and behold what do I find at the address is a freaking Dodge Dealer. I am now at least safe in town but at a dodge dealer. I warily go in ask for the guy and he comes right out says bring the truck into the service bay. Truck won't move for about 2 minutes. Get it in he puts it up on the rack does his inspection and tells me what he thinks is wrong. Then he tells me that Bill had already called him first thing in the morning and told him that he was overnighting the parts (I had called Bill when I got to town, he didnt mention this). Installer says parts are covered by Bill but his dealership labor was not. No choice just fix it. He tells me the parts should be here tommorrow. Either in the morning truck or the afternoon not sure which. If on the morn truck would be ready thursday night if afternoon truck be ready friday afternoon. Well at this point it is being taken care of but my vacation is pretty much trashed. I talk with the wife and say the heck with it. Rented a car and drove down to Carlsbad Caverns on thursday am. Called the installer thursday from the road about 4pm. He says if I wasn't on the phone talking to you I would be done, just getting ready to take it for a test drive. I call back in 30 minutes he says come get it, shes done. I tell him I wont be back until friday night. No problem just come then. Well we dont get back until too late so I have to wait until saturday morning to pick it up. There she sits looking good. I pay my labor bill (900. 00) and drive off all is well. Head back to Denver on Sunday with no problems.

Talking with the installer on Thursday pm he tells me what he found. The front bushing had worked loose putting pressure on the front seal causing the leak. After a while it had worked its way underneath the front seal lip and stopped the leak. However trans pressure was very low which was caused by the front pump going out due to the leak. He replaced the entire front half of the trans- tc, pump, input shaft and hub etc etc. The overnight freight bill was 450. 00 alone. Not to mention another 2k+ in parts. All was covered except the labor.



I was so impressed with the speed, thoroughness and apparent quality of service that I hunted down the Dealership owner when I picked up the truck. When he approached me I could see in his face that he was ready for a royal butt chewing from an angry customer. He was very surprised to hear the glowing words of praise I had for his installer. Who he said was one of their best and showed me all his certifications and awards framed on the wall in the dealership.



Monday morning I call Bill to let him know what is up. His wife Shanti answered the phone. The very first thing out of her mouth was what is your credit card number. I sheepishly ask why half expecting to need to go into wtf mode. So that I can credit you the labor you had to pay, how much was it she says. I tell her, then she starts to ream me out a bit for not calling sooner. Said the original installer Vinney, had called her at home on sat and sun wanting word of how it was going. Bill then got on the phone said it was all covered and he hoped it all worked out ok etc etc. We I TRIED TO BY-PASS THE CUSSING FILTER chatted a bit about his certified installers and that they must not only meet the technical criteria he has set out there for them but also they must meet his personal character criteria like willing to take phone calls at home at night etc. Said the failure I had was fairly uncommon for the 47re and he had seen very few like that.



Anyway there is no way he could have gotten it taken care of any quicker or any better than what happened. Truck fixed in just over 24 hours with the parts shipped from Canada to ALBQ and no charge for any of it. Is this how he treats everyone? Not sure, but previous to my trans work from him he didnt know me from Adam so I would think it must be normal for them to go the extra mile. I obviously was not thrilled to find my new expensive trans with only 10k on it failing in BFE but he certainly stood behind his product 100% and then some. DTT has earned as much of my business as they can provide. Does Goerends have the same quality products and service, quite possibly but I have no personal experience with them though.
 
ALehman said:
I am pretty positive that when the truck is in overdrive and I select O/D off, the transmission unlocks but it doesn't shift into a lower gear but stays in O/D and then will lock back up again.

Hopefully someone out there understands what I am saying and give some advice



I wonder if you may have a bad connection somewhere. The O/D lock-out switch is a momentary switch. An intermittant blip to either make or break a connection, could act the same as pushing the switch.
 
Well the new update is that the shop is swamped. Two weeks scheduled. So i have to wait till the 19th just to have them look at it. All I have to say is i hope that when i installed the transmission, i didn't mess anything up. :confused:
 
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