Any ideas why my 99 Ram V10/Auto may have lost reverse? It was working fine until 10 minutes ago when I went to leave the parts store. Transmission fluid is still nice and red. Any quick repairs or am I dropping it?

cracked servo piston...droppin it,but cheap fix.

So here's the latest, I jacked the truck up and when I put it in reverse it does turn the tires, be it slowly. Back on the ground it will not move the truck in reverse though. I dropped the pan to look for debris and check the low reverse band adjustment. The adjuster threaded in 3.5 turns to snug, so it doesn't seem to far out. I will adjust it to spec and try it again but am still thinking there's something else going on. I'm 99% sure the overdrive snap ring is partially broken as a peice of a snap ring was in the pan years ago when I last changed the fluid. Since the truck still drove fine I didn't lose alot of sleep over it but am not sure it isn't relative to the reverse problem at this point. Before I button it up, test it once more and condemn it are there any other common weak points in the 47RE I should be looking for?

Reverse is the low/rear band applied along with the front clutch pack , if the truck has drive still then it's something to do with the rear band.

The rear servo piston could be crack , or cocked in the bore? seal torn ?

Does it have engine braking in manual low? If yes then pull the OD section and fix it. It is possible the OD snap ring fell out the rest of the way. Get rid of the wavy snap ring (put in a flat one), I see them break a lot.

In the OD units, failure of the Direct clutch will affect Reverse.

Well I adjusted the low/reverse band and gave everything a quick visual before buttoning it back up and adding a quart of Trans X. 50 miles later and not surprisingly, I still have no reverse or engine braking in 1st. I'm almost certain it's in the overdrive unit at this point. Furthermore my O.D. off switch is not responding either. I'm not sure if this is a recent issue though as I typically leave it on. I guess I'll do a little more research tonite but as of now am planning on dropping it tomorrow to begin a rebuild. Any upgrades I should consider? FWIW, this is a 4x4 dually on 38's and occasionally sees some mud and sand dunes. Not that I've ever been disappointed with it's performance, now just seems like a good time to improve upon it. Anyhow, thanks for the input guys!

Adding the transX wouldn't help anything especially if you already run dexron +3 or +4.

Have you pulled the trans before?

Sonnax has a replacement OD piston housing that has oil grooves to help lube the surface the rear drum rides on. If the engine is stock you probaly don't need to do a lot of special things .

NO KEVLAR on the front band, if you can get hi energy clutches and bands pay the little extra for them.

The OD switch actuates a solenoid so you might want to check that out, I don't think there is any feedback that would cause the light to not change.

Upgrade your servo pistons, I'm sure the reverse piston is broken or the band failed!!

Yep I ran into that a few times. Overdrive will still work because of the overrunning clutch in the overdrive unit. Ron

Well, I got the transmission pulled yesterday. Glad I separated it from the transfer case because that transmission is stupid heavy. I'm hoping to do a quick clean up on it tonite so I can tear into it tomorrow. I was going to order a rebuild kit ahead of time but figure I should do a tear down first and see what the weak links are and what might warrant upgrades. I did order an ASTG manual for the 47RE, hopefully it serves some purpose other than making my wallet lighter. I'll let you guys know what I find when I get it opened up.

Got it get back together before the rain goes away.

was just reading, im considering a 97 3500 v10 with a 5 speed manual, it 2hrs away so i gota make a drive to check it out and the guy may consider a swap for my 97 dakota and sum cash, good luck on your rebuild, be careful of that overdrive unit spring.

Just a quick update. I got the transmission torn apart and found two broken snap rings and a broken pressure plate on the O.D. unit. No big surprise there. I went ahead and disassembled the whole transmission though since I already had it out. Everything else looked pretty good overall. I ordered an OEM Mopar Master Rebuild Kit, Thrust Washers, 4.2 Ratio Band Lever, New Front Band and a used O.D. case as mine had some minor damage from the failure. So I've got about $500 bucks into it so far. Not horrible, I guess. I do still need to assemble it though and also repair or replace the 8 wire connector that plugs into the valve body as the insulation is apparently prone to falling off the wires come to find out. Anyhow, just wanted to pass along what I found and say thanks again for the input. I'll let you guys know how it works out once it's back together. Hopefully soon.

Get flat snap rings to replace those wavy ones, the flat ones don't break and engage the clutches a tiny bit faster.

Does that require any additional mods or special attention to clearance, spacing, etc. or is it a direct replacement? I heard the flats are better but haven't finished researching them yet nor have I bought the replacements.

Yes you do need to check your clutch clearance but you need to do that with the wavy ones also. You can adjust your clearance a couple ways, the front and rear clutches are different thickness but they fit the same (some trans guys say not to do this because of the waffle or groove pattern being different, I personaly have never had an issue), you can order different thickness pressure plates, different thickness snap rings, and I know a guy in town who will stack steels in place of the pressure plate to get different clearance and he has a steller reputation around town.

All you need to do is measure the thickness of the wavy snap ring and replace it with the same thickness flat snap ring ... assuming you have the clearance you need/want with the wavy snap ring ... there is no difference in clearance between the wavy and flat snap rings and everything moves the same amount with either.

I don't suppose you guys know of a good supplier off hand for the upgraded snap ring by chance do you?

You should be able to get it from anyplace that sells trans parts, , it's not a special part . Look for a local transtar ?

I haven't done one of these in a bit so I'm not sure what to recommend anymore , I'll be tearing into the one in my 2000 probably over the winter , it's got a bunch of upgrades that were done when I was 450ish HP at the rear wheels. I did make a bunch of changes in the OD section , extra clutches and such.

http://www.transtar1.com/catalogs?c=1081