• Welcome to The Truck Stop! We see you haven't REGISTERED yet.

    Your truck knowledge is missing!
    • Registration is FREE , all we need is your birthday and email. (We don't share ANY data with ANYONE)
    • We have tons of knowledge here for your diesel truck!
    • Post your own topics and reply to existing threads to help others out!
    • NO ADS! The site is fully functional and ad free!
    CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

    Problems registering? Click here to contact us!

    Already registered, but need a PASSWORD RESET? CLICK HERE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD!

47RE sluggish into gear cold.

A

Acesneights1

New Member
Messages
10,018
Reaction score
36
Location
Northeast CT
Is that normal ? when the truck sits over night you don't "feel" it go into gear. You actually have to give it fuel to get the truck to move. Doesn't matter forward or reverese. I am going to scan for codes but CEL is not on. After you drive it a little and then go from neutral into either forward or reverse you"feel" it go in. I still have 30 days left on the warranty. I had the truck back there a week ago because it wasn't downshifting back into 1st. They said they could get it to do it but they supposedly changed the gov pressure sol.
 
To me, that sounds like the converter is draining back and there is no fluid in it when you initially shift it. That would more than likely indicate a problem with the pump.

First thing to do is check the fluid level.

Here's what happens in your tranny.....

With a stock valve body, there is no fluid flowing when the tranny is in park, so the pump is not pushing anything to the converter, cool, or through the trans.

As soon as you put it in gear, the tranny begins to pump fluid. If the TC drained (like overnight), then you may not feel it engage.

Now, with the tranny in neutral, the pump IS pushing fluid.

Try this next time the truck sits over night. Turn the key to run, engage the parking brake and start the truck. Let it sit for 10 - 15 seconds........now put it in gear. I bet you feel it go into gear.

If that's the case, you might wanna have them pull the tranny and replace the TC and pump.
 
I started it up today and it sit a good 10 mins in the driveway idling and it still did it but that was in park. Are you saying to start it in neutral not park and let it run and see ? I'll do that tommorow. These jerks at the dealer will never honor or replace the TC/Pump because of this but If I can figure out what is wrong then have a couple tranny shops confirm it I can make them fix it or sue them later. I paid top dollar for the truck from them because of the warranty. I want to make sure if it needs a tranny it gets done now. I can't afford it right now.
 
Acesneights1 said:
I started it up today and it sit a good 10 mins in the driveway idling and it still did it but that was in park. Are you saying to start it in neutral not park and let it run and see ? I'll do that tommorow.
Click to expand...

Correct.

The pump doesn't actually push any fluid while the tranny is in park, so if you start the truck and leave it in park, it could sit there all day and it wouldn't make a difference.

Now, once it's in any gear other than park, it's pushing fluid. So if it was in neutral and idling, it would be pushing tranny fluid.

The condition you're getting IS NOT normal. It sounds like the TC is draining and it shouldn't be. There is a leak in either the TC or the pump that is allowing the tranny fluid to drain back.
 
It's at the Dodge dealer in town. I dropped it off for a diagnosis/estimate . When I pick it up from there I'll run it by Aamco for another estimate then go back to the dealer I bought it from. If he won't fix it I'll be callin DMV and my lawyer.
 
Acesneights1 said:
It's at the Dodge dealer in town. I dropped it off for a diagnosis/estimate . When I pick it up from there I'll run it by Aamco for another estimate then go back to the dealer I bought it from. If he won't fix it I'll be callin DMV and my lawyer.
Click to expand...

Check your state lemon laws first. I think you're SOL on this one.

Lemon laws vary from state to state, but they normally only cover new vehicles and the initial issue has to be within the first 12K miles.

:sad:

The one you want to contact about it is the State Attorney General's Office of Consumer Affairs. They are normally the one to handle lemon law stuff and there are very specific steps to follow.

I've done it in the past and it took almost a year.

Good luck with it, but again, I think you're in for a fight if they say no.

Or, you could just in a SunCoast, Goerend, or ATS valve body and be done with the problem all together. All the aftermarket valve bodies pump fluid in park and this wouldn't be a problem.

AND you'd have a tranny that shifts good.

:thumbsup:
 
It's not necessarily a junk tranny and I've heard this situation from quite a few folks.

The problem is the TC, as it sits overnight, or extended periods, it's draining back into the pan. Once it does that, there is no fluid to be engaged by the turbine and stator, which means that you won't feel any engagement.

What makes it worse is that the OEM valve body doesn't pump any fluid while the tranny is in park. This is also a reason that they say not to idle it for long periods with the tranny in park as there is no fluid circulating in the tranny or TC. If you are going to idle it, you want to put it in N so that fluid is pumping.

That's one problem that is solved with and aftermarket valve body. Most of them (SunCoast, ATS, Goerend) have the valve body modified so that fluid pumps while the tranny is in Park. This eliminates that lag when you first start it as fluids starts pumping immediately and you don't have to put it in N to idle for extended periods.

The other issue is the TC and pump. The OEM one is JUNK. No easy way to put it. The OEM TC is THE single weakest link the the 47/48 series transmissions.

The trucks are truly night and day when you change that OEM converter to a good lock-up triple disk TC. Most of them come with a high volume pump to replace the OEM unit.

For the average truck, that is driven everyday and tows, those are a couple of key upgrades and should be near the top of the list.

I ALWAYS say get gauges first. That's a given.

On a VP powered truck, the next thing you want is a good lift pump. You ordered the Raptor, so you're good there.

The next things you want to swap is that TC and VB.

After that the truck will be pretty bulletproof and you can add the play / work goodies.
 
How hard is the valave body to do in truck. I was reading the install for the BD. Looks to be a little bit of a PIA. Have to add a resistor, check line pressure before doing vb and after . Should it be sent out ? Also would I need a scanner ? Does the MT2500 work on these trucks ? Does the smarty do that ?
 
The instructions look a lot more difficult than it is. The worst part of the whole thing (other than the mess) is adjusting the kickdown (TV) cable once everything is in.

But yes, you do need to check all the pressures before and after you do the install.

You don't need a scanner, all you need is a pressure gauge. You can rent them from most of the autoparts stores.

You don't need to pull the tranny to do it, just drain it, remove the pan, remove the filter and pull the VB out, per the instructions.

The resistor is just to prevent the CEL from coming on when the ECM sees the higher line and shift pressures.
 
The stock input is good for up to around 450HP, if you are hotrodding it.

But, if you use it as a daily driver, tow rig, normal truck, you won't have any issues with the stock input shaft.

BMy buddy Rob is running 512 HP through his with nothing but TC and VB work, but he doesn't do boosted launches, sled pulls, etc. Other wise he'd be needing a new input shaft.
 
Ok. So with I was talking to a buddy of mine who works for Cummins and owns three of these. He said all his do it and have for some time. He was saying as far as he knew Dodge removed the antidrain back valve because they were failing and blowing trannys by overheating or something ? I may be relaying this wrong but something to that extent. He told me not to worry about it.
 
You'll really like the difference with a new TC and VB.

It's like driving a whole different truck.

If ya get a chance, take a ride in someones truck that even has a simple shift kit. Even that helps immensely.

No slow, sloppy shifts.

No hunting gears.

No slipping clutch packs.
 
One thing to keep in mind when you look at TC's and VB's.

I don't suggest BD. They use a spamped front cover on the TC vs billet and there clutches are dual instead of triple. They are not rated as high as most of the others.

Also, they have a one sizes fits all approach to the TC and it's not always ideal.

Example:

SunCoast has 3 different TC's for my truck and the stall speeds vary by application.

One is setup for stock turbos and has a stall speed that is matched to a stock turbo.

One is setup for large single turbo's and has a higher stall speed to match that application.

The third is for compounds or small turbos. The stall speed on this one is lower than stock due to how fast they spool.

My suggestion is call SunCoast, talk to Eric (the Dodge tech) and see which one he recommends. He's a good dude and knows Dodge tranny's inside and out.
 
With swapping the TC how hard is changing the trans pump ? I've only ever done one on a TH350 many years ago. IIRC that wasn't too bad.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top