98 ram 1500 overdrive

IHello..

I have a 98 ram with 180,000+ miles on it and have had to pay for two opinions of which no one has yet answered... the NAPA guy only told me the overdrive wasn't working properly, he could not find the error code and the problem was probably a 50 dollar part , 500 for labor and I might as well put in a new tranny..

the dodge dealer said for 700 bucks, he can put in a bunch of seals and gaskets ($150 in parts)and it may or may not fix the problem.

The main problem is, first thing when it is cold, the transmission works just fine, overdrive kicks in and out and all is good except after it switches gears a few times when it is hot the overdrive stops working completely. (until it is cool again)

Now, as you can probably tell, I am no rocket scientist but it would seem to me the tranny might have some kind of heat sensor that has gone haywire.. and, the dodge dealer might have suggested this as a possible cause (if it indeed has such a sensor)... so i don't know if they are going to get it apart and than tell me, oh im screwed, or who knows, maybe a seal is bad...

now after reading a few posts regarding the overdrive problems of others, this idea of some valve getting clogged up sounds like a real possibility as i live in basic volcanic ash, (maybe wishful thinking, but the transmission works just fine, i had it all serviced by the napa guy and it only had some small debree in it which i didn't think was too bad for the mileage and only having the fluid changed one other time..

The guy who sold it to me (new) told me it should go for 300,000 miles, (the same mileage as the nissas i was about to put in retirement) and i only have a little more than 1/2 of that... I would hate to think the salesman was bs'ing me so if anyone knows more about this valve that needs to be taken out and replaced with a ford valve or where i might find a heat sensor on this tranny or some other reasonable solution than replaceing it I (and aparently a lot of dodge guys) would appreciate a real fix.

Someting clogged or something too hot and getting stuck... but i don't know anything about transmissions.

thanks...

ok, we have had some problems here at the shop with 97 and 98 dodges, with the lovely auto tranny. The sensor occasionally goes haywire. On the other hand, sometimes thats not the answer. On one particular truck, we ended up doing a complete transmission flush, and cooler flush, then added an auxillary cooler to the system. this seems to have solved the problem. it was getting too hot. This guy did a lot of towing with his, but had the problem before he did any towing.

Food for thought....

Don't forget to check the throttle position sensor. That was the cause of my transmission problem. You can unplug the cable and use an ohmeter from center to outside terminal then center to the other outside terminal. while watching the ohmeter move the throttle slowly. If the needle moves eratic at any position then replace it. About $15 at auto zone. 20k miles later my trans. is doing fine.

thanks for these two responses. I suppose a chilton repair book is in order to find out where all these parts are. Or, DOes anyone know of a good guy to see in central oregon or within 4 or 5 hundred miles of oregon?

THanks

I was just wondering if you found out about your overdrive problem!! I have a 2000 Dodge RAM with 58000kms. A couple of months ago while highway driving, my O/D turns off and doesn't come back on until the truck is cooled down. This also happen again a couple of days ago while highway driving. Any suggestions!!

Thanks

Johnny

I have a 95 Ram 1500 with auto transmition. When mine heats up it shifts out of overdrive and stays out till it cools. My computer is reading a CODE 37 which means an over heated transmition.............on a desiel. I have had the transmition fully servised and am sure the transmition is not over heating. It has to be an electrical problem. It was sugested the hole computer would have to be replaced (expensive). Would really like to hear if you come up with anything. Are you getting any codes.

Wasn't there a problem with some sort of ball valve for the cooling lines in the transmission that was becoming distorted (not round like a ball any more) and was blocking good flow? Just before I had my tranny rebuilt, that was suggested as a problem and it was said that it was quite common. Oh, learn how to spell (not naming any names ^^^).

Finally an error did show up!!

Error Code P1740

This means that either the tcc solenoid or overdrive solenoid systems doesn't seem to be working properly. Going to have transmission fluid and filter change and have these solenoids cleaned. I just installed a heavy duty cooler for the transmission and problem still exist!!

Johnny