Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Tranmission goes to sleep when not in use

[JohnSutton]

I have a 01 2500 Cummins and if I do not drive the truck for about 7 to 10 days, the transmission GOES TO SLEEP. When you start the truck and put it in gear, nothing happens for about 10 to 15 seconds and then it slowly goes into gear. You can reve up the enging and it seems like it is in neutral. If you did not know the truck, YOU WOULD CALL THE WRECKER. The Dodge dealer says this is normal and indeed in my manual it says if the truck in idle for a long period of time, the trainmission may seem a little slugglish. Slugglish is not the proper description, mine is INOP. Has any one experienced this before?



I have 30k miles on the truck and it is increasingly getting worse. It did not start until I got about 10K on the truck.



Please advise.



John Sutton

 

[XcumminsX]

Welcome. i would try the second gen area. we have differnt transmissions than your truck. I believe it is from the converter draining back. Some peoples trucks have ad this happen and all you need to wait for is the converter to fill up with atf. maybe someone else will chime in



Nick

 

[TDragna]

John--Transmission fluid does not circulate in PARK(or very little). Put transmission in netural and let run for a while. Hope this helps.

Tom D.

 

[mlockner]

Putting the transmission in neutral and letting it circulate the fluid will take care of this. The fluid drains from the torque convertor when it sits for that long.

Mike L.

 

[y-knot]

I know what you mean, but that is "normal" for a Dodge transmission in a Dodge truck. Kind of crappy, don't you think?? I had the same troubles, the fluid would drain back down to the pan, and when placed in gear, there is this 1--15 second delay. Thanks to the find people at ATS, I don't have that problem any more.

 

[fox]

Transmission shops call this " morning sickness", it is common on worn trans. The converter drains down into the pan so it is half empty.

It usually is caused by the pump/ converter snout bushing being too loose. Just get in the habit of putting it into neutral when you first start it and waiting up to 45 seconds. IF the wait has to be longer , it is time to address it by a rebuild.

Fresh fluid may reduce the wait.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

it seems to be normal w/ the autos in these trucks... my 1st gen would do the same thing... I learned to put it in neutral right after I started the truck and by the time I got my seatbelt clicked, the radio station and volume set and the climate controls set, it was ready to roll.



Forrest

 

[Moterhead]

My '04 does it and it has only 5,000 miles on it. It's something you would never experience if you drove your truck every day. Mine has to sit about 10 days for it to happen. Heck, even my wife's '03 Liberty does it occasionaly. She kept on commenting about it. I told her to put the Jeep in neutral after starting it, fasten her seat belt, then put it in reverse. Hasn't happened since. I was a bit surprised when the two new trucks did it. I'd heard something about an "anti-drainback valve" to prevent this. Either I have two defective ones, or they never got put into production.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Moving to 24v forum