Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) torque lock&unlock, any one sure fix?

[GreggNoble]

hi, i`m ready to park my 2001 the torque lock?unlock issue is so bad that its driving me nuts! i know i have read a lot on this site about things that guys have done to help but if you only had the time to try one thing what would it be? thanks

 

[BigPapa]

Scan for codes and let us know what they are. Take your battery cables loose and clean the batteries and the terminals. It would be good to clean the grounded ends of the negative cables and where they bolt up. Make sure the connections to your alternator are good and clean.



Leave the cables loose for an hour before connecting them back up and turn the ignition switch and headlight switch on while they're disconnected. Turn the ignition and the headlights off before reconnecting the batteries. Once you get them hooked back up, turn the ignition switch to the run position and slowly push the accelerator pedal all the way down and slowly let it up, then turn the ignition switch off. Turn the ignition back on and repeat pushing the pedal. You want to do this 3 times before starting the truck. This will reset the APPS and the PCM.



If it continues, I would check the break pedal switch. Depending on the codes you find, it could be the APPS or the VSS. If nothing else is found, I would install one of the "filters" that are available from several vendors for this issue. I know Goerends offers them.



Don't give up.

 

[VolsFan]

the cure for my truck and my dads 99 work truck was grounding the apps wire. Both trucks have new apps, rebuilt trans, no codes, grounding the wire works. I also did everything bigpapa mentioned about resetting the apps and cleaning terminals, which is good advice, definitely do those things. It is curable, dont worry.

 

[GreggNoble]

thanks guys,i`m a very busy guy but i`ll just have to take the time to clean up those altenator wires and do those things mentioned, i also have a 2001 ram 3500 with the manual trans, i have never had a problem.

 

[Dfuruness]

Gregg,



I had the same problem in my 2000. I installed a "DTT Noise Filter" and the problem went away. Search for "DDT Noise Filter" for more info.



Where to get one? Try this: Diesel Transmission Technology - DTT Performance Diesel Transmission and Power Accessories



Don

 

[cerberusiam]

The only "sure" cure I have found is rerouting the passenger side ECM ground wire and the alternator charge wire.



This removes the noise that cause the problems permanently. Anything else has only been a stop gap measure.

 

[BigPapa]

The only "sure" cure I have found is rerouting the passenger side ECM ground wire and the alternator charge wire.

On my 98. 5, would this be the blk/tan wire from ECM pin 30 and 49 to the front of the engine and the dark blue from PCM C3 pin 25 to the alternator and the transmission relay? Any instructions?

 

[WesJohnston]

The only "sure" cure I have found is rerouting the passenger side ECM ground wire and the alternator charge wire.



This removes the noise that cause the problems permanently. Anything else has only been a stop gap measure.

So is the installation of the BD "noise filter" on my '03 that seems to have cured my problem just a temporary fix? Don't get me wrong - the $23. 75 was well worth the diagnosis and I'm willing to spend the time re-routing the wiring if needed. (this refers to my recent post titled " '03 Surge, lope, pulse, buck, bounce, oscillate... uphill with load ")



Thanks, Wes

 

[cerberusiam]

On my 98. 5, would this be the blk/tan wire from ECM pin 30 and 49 to the front of the engine and the dark blue from PCM C3 pin 25 to the alternator and the transmission relay? Any instructions?

Not sure of the colors or if it is different from 01 to the 98. There is a wire that comes off the passenger side battery and runs over the top of the alternator and into the harness that contains the charge wire from the alternator.



Dodges fix was to pull the APPS wires out and run them in a seperate harness. Its a whole lot easier to cut and rerun the 2 wires seperately. We ran the ground wire back to the firewall and over then down into the narness where it splits on the driver side. Ran the charge wire over the radiator support and down to the connection below the driver side battery.



That totally eliminated the problem where wrapping the wires in tin foil was only partially successful. Still have an intemittent problem with it only under very special circumstances, namely when driving thru large puddles of water. It will do the same thing with much less frequency than before but it is the same problem. I suspect a harness has a crack in a wire somewhere that is letting moisture in. As soon as it dries out the problem disappears. Its worth check all your harnesses underneath and in the engine compartment for possible problems also.



Drove the stupid thing for 45 minutes in the rain the other day and it never did its little dance. Go figure.

So is the installation of the BD "noise filter" on my '03 that seems to have cured my problem just a temporary fix?

Everyone I tried to fix with the filter always came back. Albeit less of a problem than before, but, it eventually came back. The filter is not elminating the noise just masking it until it cannot do it anymore. Electronics get weak over time and filters are notorious for not staying in balance for long.



Some have gone years with just the filter, or tin foil, and only rarely have a glitch. Others have gone 30 days and its back to the same thing. The efficacy of the filter is dependent on other things and there is no way to gauage how effective for how long it will be on every single truck.



The problem is caused by noise generated in the charge AND ground wire that runs in the harness next to the APPS wires. That feeds a false signal to the PCM that causes it to play with lockup. We have mapped this on a scope and it is ugly at times. The only way to stop it is remove the source permanently.

 

[drag racer]

^^^^^^
Cerb knows.

I put in the BD filter and it solved the problem... FOR A WHILE. The problem returned, and has been back for a while, although intermittent. I will be trying the next step when I get the chance.