Shift into reverse and the truck will not move

[gordog]

I have a 2013 3500 HD 68RFE DRW that I bought used about 7 months ago with 40000 miles. About a month after I had the truck I would get in and start the truck. Then put it in reverse to back out and the truck would not move. Back into park and then to reverse same problem. It fells like it is still in park. Push on the gas pedal and all of a sudden it goes into gear. The problem is very intermittent. Most of the time it happens going from Park to Reverse but one time when my wife had driven the truck to a friends pulling here horse trailer, Got out to ask where to park the trailer and went from Park to Drive and the same problem, would not move.
I have had the truck into the dealer 4 time and they say there is no codes so they do not know what is wrong. The last time I picked it up they said they adjusted some thing in the steering column. Two days after that it failed again. It does not just happen when the engine is cold/first start. It can happen after driving to the store and come out and it fails. Only good thing is that it failed 1 time at the dealers so they don't think I ad crazy.
Like the truck and would like to get this fixed.

 

[EDankievitch]

There was a bad batch of spin on transmission filters the anti drain back valve would fail and allow the Tq converter to drain down if my memory is correct. when you start you'll have no gears until things fill back up. There was a thread on here a while back that had all the info. I think there was someone in RAM that wanted the filters back so they could see what failed. hope this helps.

 

[LHarper]

Might have transmission serviced with new filter. My 2005 would act that way if I parked it for a few days. Dealer thought a valve might be sticking.

 

[transe]

Since you say it also happens when warm, I doubt it is a filter issue. But Park is a strictly mechanical system. If you move the lever, then the trans should definitely come out of Park, there should be no delay. Moving the shift lever physically pulls the park lock mechanism out of engagement.

When it's not moving (in gear), does the engine just rev up freely (like it's in Neutral), or does it feel like it IS in gear, but the brakes are applied (tries to move, but can't)?

Offhand, if your description is accurate (no drive at all, then suddenly engages) I would think you are having a loss of line pressure, but then I would expect it to be setting a fault code (like P0868 or P0944). If it happens again, try shifting to Neutral and see if the truck will roll freely (hopefully you'll be on a slight grade!).

 

[gordog]

"When it's not moving (in gear), does the engine just rev up freely (like it's in Neutral)"

Yes, the engine just revs up freely (like its in Neutral)
Also 98% of the time it fails when first start in AM. When it fails all the other gears work fine.

 

[transe]

Yes, the engine just revs up freely (like its in Neutral)
Also 98% of the time it fails when first start in AM. When it fails all the other gears work fine.

OK, not sure I understand "When it fails all the other gears work fine." I thought you experienced this problem in both Reverse and Drive?

Try this: Next time the problem happens, leave it in gear, and hold the throttle open (not floored, but hold the engine speed at 1500-2000 RPM or so). See if the trans eventually engages, and when it does, see if it suddenly engages (with a bang), or if it slowly "oozes" into gear.

If it "oozes" into gear, then the other commenters on here are correct, you likely have a bad cooler return (spin-on) filter, which is inside the trans. Replace that filter and you should be OK. If it bangs into gear suddenly, then something else is going on. If that's the case, I would check your fluid level for starters.

 

[Dogpatch]

Are you on an incline when this happens or on flat ground?

 

[gordog]

Are you on an incline when this happens or on flat ground?

Every time it happens on flat ground.
Truck is currently in the shop and next time it happens will try the suggestion from TransEngineer to raise the RPM to see what it does.

 

[gordog]

Well the problem is gone. Wife and I getting tired of dealers not able to fix this truck. So now the dealer owns the truck and we have a new 2016.

 

[Dogpatch]

Congrats on the new truck!

Sometimes that's the only way to get rid of a problem.