Why I dont want an auto transmission

[GOgle]

I was looking for a truck and went to the local dodge dealer... I fired up an auto 04 and put it in drive... I went to go and guess what??? No go!!! It took 5 seconds for the transmission to take hold! I thought NO WAY... Its a 6 sp for me For whats its worth... .

 

[Jeff Clark]

If the truck has been sitting for some time, it takes a sec to get the fluids circulating in the auto. Then again, you shouldn't be jumping in, slamming it in gear, and taking off without warming the engine up anyway. By the time the engine warms up, the auto will be ready to go.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Patience is a Virtue

 

[Tony T.]

Grids

I usually let those grid heaters finish cycling before it goes in gear or you can stick it in N. to help circulate that fluid more. About 2 1/2 minutes and the cycle is over on mine. . Oo.

 

[y-knot]

Mine use to do the same thing, it might take several seconds and some light throttle to get going. I don't have that problem any more, not after switching to the ATS unit.

 

[y-knot]

You know I've been thinking about this subject and had to come back. I can see why not too many owners would like to have a Cummins and a Dodge automatic transmission in the same truck. On paper, the Automatic is a hands down winner for towing, but on Dodge letter head it isn't. The re-work Dodge did on the 48 was more of a publicity stunt then a true dedicated effort to make the transmission more diesel user friendly. I do not know why they stay with the 1960's auto, it has served many autos well and should have been retired years ago. Ford had the guts to engineer there own 5-speed auto, and Chevy had the since to pick a well known and trusted transmission to place in there trucks. The parent company MB has several working automatic transmissions that would make an excellent choice to be mated behind the Cummins, I can only wonder why they still cling to the 48?

They could have made there auto trany work, but instead they chose to put a band-aid on the problem. It is a shame, and Dodge should stop playing games. These are real people, with real money, and they deserve better then want Dodge is offering. I to bought a Dodge with a Great Cummins power plant, matted to a week Chrysler product. My transmission began to fail with-in the first 1500 miles of towing, that is sick!!! You buy a 3500 to tow with and they give you there version of an automatic. I say don't offer the option, it if will not hold up to the task. I would have gladly paid extra for a modern, fully functional automatic transmission designed to be matted to a diesel. How much more could it cost? I already gave them 1100 extra for the sick trany, 2000? 3000? You say you would never spend that kind of money on an automatic, but I ended up spending much more then that. I would have rather gave them 3000 for a good trany, then 1100 for there junk. As it is I spent around $ 5000. 00 to get my truck to do what it was advertised to do, Pull a trailer, and live.

So I don't blame anyone for buying a truck with an stick shift, I would too. You would have to be foolish to buy a Dodge product with and automatic transmission, and do so planing to use that truck to do work. Haul heavy payloads or tow med to heavy loads, nothing over the recommended amount, just what they say the truck can handle and down. They waved there magic wand and shouted hockus pockus, but it's still the same old same Ole. We still hear about others having the same type problems. I am not sure about everyone else, but I expect a HD diesel truck to be able to pull it rated load and do so with out injury. Maybe I just expect too much? Maybe Toyota will build a HD truck with a Diesel? Someone has too.

 

[RDietze]

y-knot, agreed so



we can say all the bad things about ford, but at least ford, the COMPANY has the where-withall to build a solid transmission with 5 gears. it was a mistake of mine to buy this truck with a Chrysler automatic (and i REALLY hate to admit that).

ATS/DTT lands a Dodge/Cummins transmission customer everytime an automatic is sold -- regretfully

the engine may last 500,000 miles, but does anyone really believe that the auto transmission is going to last even a fraction of that duration??????? again,



bottomline: the 48re transmission is not a solid product mated with the HO Cummins powerplant. thanks DC (where's the "bird" icon?)

 

[GOgle]

Well said I could not agree more... I have a ford powerstroke too with the auto... its WAY better than the dodge and I STILL think it stinks Its 6sp for me

 

[Jeff Clark]

I agree about the auto. That's why I have a stick. But some people can't drive a stick for whatever reason. For that reason, they deserve a decent auto, and it's about time DC did something about it. If I had chosen an auto for this truck, a call to DTT would have been the first thing I did.

 

[TCDiesel]

Transmissions

Price out the truck accordingly at purchase ,If DC does not want to redesign a transmission that will stand up behind the cummins than make sure the dealer beats GM/FORD by $2000, than upgrade.

 

[Big MAK]

I agree with TWest; price it with the understanding you'll need some aftermarket upgrades to the transmission -- then you have an extremely good engine/transmission combo. It's a bummer DC/ChryCo can't get it right from the factory; but that's not unusual for any big company -- that's why info sites like TDR are so popular.



btw; the Auto has "burned" me too. In the first couple batches of 98. 5s they had the light duty gas engine torque converters (not even the V10 converter; the little one they put behind the V8s!). Some bean counter was looking to save a couple bucks and probably thought 'it's only a 6 cylinder give it a little torque converter'. The torque of the Cummins spun that thing like a top. I had mine 3 months; then traded back to a 5 spd. Dealer took care of me on the truck; but I was still out the dough $$$$ it cost to pay sales tax and registration. Didn't hear about the admission from Dodge about the little converter until six months later -- always got the "there's nothing wrong" when I complained about the sloppy and WAY off shift points.



I didn't know about all the upgrades available then; most of them weren't available actually! Things are better now with the aftermarket.

 

[BHolm]

Well... . I'm one of the fools running auto's behind my HO's. My dually has over 40k miles on it now. It tows big loads for a living. Everyday it is hooked to 15k plus. My QC has 20k miles on it under slightly less gruelling conditions but it too tows the big loads. I haven't had a single problem with anything on these trucks.



I heard all kinds of horror stories on my 4R100 in my 99 Ford PSD. Guys were blowing them up left and right, replacements were on two week backorder at one point in the summer of 99. Funny, mine went 100k until I replaced the convertor and another 100k after that. I replaced it 200k because it would slip slightly with one of the 15k loads on.



I also ran a Duramax Allison combo for two years. I wouldn't give a squirt of you know what for that transmission. I was trying to haul a truck home from Atlanta on a gooseneck behind the Chevy. The Allison wouldn't shift into fifth on the highway. I ran it in fourth and sucked up the 5mpg I was getting the rest of the noisy way home. I have another Duramax?Allison now, for my wife, because the Chevy is a girls truck, Allison or not.



The 48RE in both of my trucks is the best auto behind a diesel that I have found. It hold OD better than the others anbd the convertor locks at lower rpm's allowing the HO to do its work. I personally am very pleased with them.



Admittedly, my next one will be a six speed. I want to bomb it a bit and run an exhaust brake for travel in the mountains. Otherwise, in stock form, pulling rated loads, I have no complaints.

 

[XJSuperman]

Funny thing is that NOT every one with a CTD from any generation is on this board. So yes... . some folks here may have problems with the auto trans maybe even a lot of folks HERE... BUT I would bet there are MANY more folks out there with autos we never hear from who are doing just fine with hundreds of thousand of miles on their rigs.

Don;t use JUST this board as a resource... granted in my opinion it;s one of the best resources. . it is not the ONLY one.



It's like the folks on a jeep BB I frequent... they all poop on the D-35 rearend. . all be it the D-35 is NOT a heavy duty rearend... BUT there are literally MILLIONS of them on jeeps all over the world and they never have trouble... so what's not good for one is just fine for another.



With that said... I prefer a manual transmission simply for my driving likes. I have the 48RE on my '04 and after 3500 miles so far I am very pleased... granted it;s not enough time to really tell BUT for the deal they made me and they tossed in full bumper to bumper warranty of 100,000 miles at no cost to me... I'll give the auto a chance. Plus with the amount of stop and go driving I do I;d shoot myself having to shift that monster... it's not like driving my wifes WRX.

 

[BRayls]

Originally posted by XJSuperman

Funny thing is that NOT every one with a CTD from any generation is on this board. So yes... . some folks here may have problems with the auto trans maybe even a lot of folks HERE... BUT I would bet there are MANY more folks out there with autos we never hear from who are doing just fine with hundreds of thousand of miles on their rigs.

Don;t use JUST this board as a resource... granted in my opinion it;s one of the best resources. . it is not the ONLY one.



It's like the folks on a jeep BB I frequent... they all poop on the D-35 rearend. . all be it the D-35 is NOT a heavy duty rearend... BUT there are literally MILLIONS of them on jeeps all over the world and they never have trouble... so what's not good for one is just fine for another.



With that said... I prefer a manual transmission simply for my driving likes. I have the 48RE on my '04 and after 3500 miles so far I am very pleased... granted it;s not enough time to really tell BUT for the deal they made me and they tossed in full bumper to bumper warranty of 100,000 miles at no cost to me... I'll give the auto a chance. Plus with the amount of stop and go driving I do I;d shoot myself having to shift that monster... it's not like driving my wifes WRX.

you said it here. there are way more good trannys out there than bad ones. you never see a guy post a topic on a great thing ,mostly just problems. but I say there are more because thats a fact,in the years from 94-99 they were building over 3000 of these trannys a day,I can assure you they did not all come back. the way they rate the problems is, c's per 100(claims per 100 units sold) as a claim can be anything from a small leak to a major failure. that being said ford is only slightly better at 3 per 100 to dc's 3. 5,gm a distant 6 per 100.

 

[CLAYTON]

I have had no problems with my auto. . Works great for what I use my truck for. . pulling my dirt bikes and smokin ricers

 

[TCDiesel]

Transmissions

Stock Engine ,stock weight,mild driving=OK stock transmission



When you do,upgrade to a well design after market trans and can feel the truck pulling better with less RPM that"s when you realize how much wasted HP/TQ their was in the stocker.

 

[BRayls]

Originally posted by TWest

Stock Engine ,stock weight,mild driving=OK stock transmission



When you do,upgrade to a well design after market trans and can feel the truck pulling better with less RPM that"s when you realize how much wasted HP/TQ their was in the stocker.

I can see the loss if you are talking a lower stall speed TC ,but after being into lock up what would be the loss?I guess what I mean is at highway speeds what do you say would be lost?

 

[TCDiesel]

The overdrive unit ,upgraded clutch plates, with added dics. New and improve Planetary and Annulus,gearing.

 

[dnesbitt3]

173,000 on my auto

Haven't had any trouble, pull a 4000 lbs boat and 9000 lbs camper, but most of the miles are no trailer miles.



Peace,

Don<><

 

[Belchos]

I talked to a guy who wholesales transmissions and had a trans shop for several years before that. He said it is six and half a dozen up to about 100k miles, and then the auto will start to get tired. I went into the dealer; he had two trucks just alike except one was auto and one was not. We took the standard through town. We went back and started driving the auto through town. We went about six blocks through a couple stop lights and turned around and went back and bought the auto. I will worry about it in a few years.