Trans shutter help

[retirednak]

My '03 has the 47 series trans with a tad over 100500 miles. I've been anal about fluid and filter/band adjustments every 8-9K miles. I started having some trans hunting around town. Bought a Smarty Sr POD and have been playing with settings to find the best mileage and drive ability. I found #3 with timing on 3, tq on 2 and the POD set at 50%. What a huge difference the Smarty makes,I got 18. 8 mpg at 55-65 mph done by hand. In all the years I've had my truck, I've never seen anything about low 16 mpg and most of the time I'm in the 12-14 mpg.



Now on to my issue,with my foot into it,when it shifts to second,I get a shudder and the same when it shifts to Drive. I'm wondering if my TC is shot, or is it my trans heading south on me? Should I try upgrading to a new TC and VB and hope I can go another 50-100K miles? Or should I just suck it up and rebuild mine and be over it. I don't really have the bucks to do any of the work,so I'm driving like a old man,or so my wife tells me. If I upgraded my TC and VB and my trans takes a poo in 20K miles,can a new TC be flushed to get rid of the trash from the trans good enough to reuse it?



Last,where can I get a good manual to rebuild my trans? My good buddy does trans all the time and is willing to rebuild mine if I can come up with a detailed repair manual.



Sorry for being so long winded. I did ask a similar question several months ago,sorry if this post is similar.

Thanks-Casey

 

[fox]

Did you do a fluid and filter change?

Make sure the fluid in it is the correct fluid.

 

[champspa]

complete fluid change could help but it's on the way out . the newer ones triple lock and such are lifetime warranted . an additive was added to mine by a local transmission shop that stopped the chatter (don't remember the name of the additive it was 8 yrs ago) and let it live another 50k, good luck.

 

[JLandry]

Last,where can I get a good manual to rebuild my trans? My good buddy does trans all the time and is willing to rebuild mine if I can come up with a detailed repair manual.

The Dodge factory service manual has very detailed rebuild instructions.



Good luck,



John L.

 

[cerberusiam]

You need a rebuild and not just pieces or you will be back into it again.



Shudder on the 1-2 and 2-3 shift is clutches, nothing else unless your running a lockup controller that locks in every gear. The TC clutch normally will not locck until your in drive for a while or OD for a while. A shudder on shift is almost always clutches and bands.



ATSG manuals are probably the best for OE spec and directions. They however don't tell you all the little tips and tricks to make the trans better and make it live longer. There a LOT of little things that only experience teaches.



I commend you for wantng to do it yourself and learn, I try to do the same thing until I figure I better have experienced hands on it. Since its a 47RE you need some updates and tricks to make it better. My advice is start hitting your local shops and find an experienced Dodge trans builder that understands how to account for the Cummins TQ.



FYI, the Smarty is known to do this on stock units, it east the front band and direct clutches even on SW3. If you hav ebeen towinf for a while thats the major wear point anyway. The good news is once the trans is fixed and you get a good TC, that Smarty setting and a little higher even is falt fun to drive and tow with.





Good luck on whatever you choose.

 

[retirednak]

Thanks for all the advice. I kinda figured the trans was on its way out. I knew stock trans don't don't live very long once a Smarty comes out and plays. My last trans fluid/filter change was about 7K miles ago and I recently checked the fluid and it still looks and smells good. But that doesn't mean goodies aren't in the bottom of the pan.



I did plan on buying a quality rebuild kit,VB and TC from BD,Suncoast or a couple other big name companies that have everything needed to build a transmission including updates that I can tow big and play with. I wouldn't dream of rebuilding it myself or use a stock cheap kit,I would have my friend/mechanic who picks up the slack for two transmission shops when they get busy during the tourist season/summer months. He has built plenty of the turbo family,Ford and Mopar 727-904 ect. Just hasn't done any Dodge overdrive units,that why I'm looking for a great manual. I did get a quote from a business locally who uses BD parts(hope your sitting down) they wanted $5500 to rebuild my transmission. That's part of the problem with living in Alaska,they can rape most people because there isn't that many shops doing diesel transmissions.



Thanks again and take care,

Casey