Hey guys, I have a 99 Ram SLT 2wd 5.2L with 46RE Trans. About two weeks ago I noticed the 2-3 shift delayed, all other shifts were normal. I did the following;

1. Drop pan, clean, small amount of clutch material on magnet, like toothpaste.
2. Adjust front and rear bands per service manual
3. Install new filter and ATF+4 plus 1 pint of Seafoam trans tune
4. Re-adjust the Throttle valve cable

All this week the trans shifted much better even when warm, but yesterday after a bit of stop and go in town it started late shifts in 1-2 and 2-3. This morning on way to work (5 miles)it shifted fine. Its not slipping, I hold fixed throttle position and engines revs up 2500rpm and holds there until I lift off and then it shifts.

So, in a previous search here I found;

"just bought a 96 ram xtended cab long box with 156 000 miles on it. Truck runs great except for one issue with the tranny (46RE). As you are accelerating up to speed it REALLY hangs onto gears. 1st to 2nd isn't so bad, 2nd to 3rd is bad, 3rd to 4th not so bad. It's to the point that I have to pretty much let off the gas to get it to shift. Also, when you floor it at 60 mph, it shift right down to 1st, pegging the tach to 6000 rpm, not good (only did that once) . The tranny doesn't slip, make noises, nothing. The fluid is a nice color, no stink, but it is very low, barely on the dipstick, could this be the issue? Or could it be the TV cable needing adjsutment? I'm not up on transmissions, but is there a speed sensor, since this is an electronic transmission?
**I did some more digging around on the net and the symptoms that my truck was exhibiting pointed to governor pressure solenoid, like Big Terry (and Rick Ehrenberg from MA)suggested. Further digging also revealed that it was probably a good idea to replace the pressure transducer on the governor, and also the solenoid that controls the TC lock up and overdrive engagement, as my truck would spontaneously kick the TC out from time to time and would take forever on cold mornings to engage OD.
So I bit the bullet and ordered all 3 brand new from Dodge, as well as a filter (not cheap). I replaced all 3 and the filter, took about 4 hours, and the tranny now shifts perfectly. So, if you have the symptoms that I described, replace all the solenoids first before you remove it for a rebuild. If that doesn't fix it well it's probably time for a rebuild and you already have all the solenoids that you would have to buy anyway for the rebuild.**

Does anyone think this should be my next step???

Thanks, Mike

the RE series trans are notorious for the Gov pressue and OD solenoids problems .
But I honestly can't say I've ever heard of them cause what your describing.
But I guess anythings possibile.

I would also look real close at the throttle position senser for glitches. Although the TPS 'usually' causes more OD +/or torque convertor lockup issues more so than upshift timing issues.

how many miles ? has it been serviced regularly?

The truck has 110,000 mile on it now. I bought the truck at 75,000 miles and did a filter and oil change then. Previous to that is unknown.

Mike

Without putting gauges on it and doing some diag work,Primarily watching gov pressure readings. anything anyone ( myself included) tells you is strickly an educated guess.

They are not hard to ck , all you need are a couple gauges to monitor internal pressures at specific points in time and speed. A couple of cheap oil presure gauges will work for most ck's. Mainly what your looking for is gov pressure readings at specific speeds.

But my gutt says you have either a valve body(unlikely) or an internal seal(most likely) issue

So its probably the front drum piston seal? I had this problem with my 727 in the Cuda, but I also had a lazy reverse.

Does the 46RE work the same way? My reverse engagement is normal when cold, need to see when its warm.

Thanks so far, if anyone else can add suggestions I appreciate it.

Mike

GTX6970 Thanks for your input. It would be cheaper for me to get this trans rebuilt than to buy another vehicle.

Mike

Typically if you lift your foot off the accelerator slightly and it upshifts, you have an internal seal/piston/drum problem.

IF ( key word ) it's the ft piston seal, changing the fluid might help. But it may take a week or so to see any improvements.

I've had several over the years that changing the fluid has helped . New fluid tends to soften the seals slightly and allow them to seal better,,,,,,for a while.

Yes I replaced the fluids and noticed an improvement, but it still has upshift delay once warmed up and does not do it all the time. I think I'll continue to drive it daily and see if it gets worse over time. If it does, I should get a complete rebuild??.

Thanks JohnRR for chiming in, I knew you would. You have helped in the past with the 727 in my Cuda.

Mike

You have to pull it out and open it up to replace that seal , might as well go thru it while it's out .

Get a manual on it for the OD section.It requires special tools and attention.

You need 2 special tools to dis-assemble and re-assemble the OD unit, along with a press.
But otherwise it's no harder to do than a regular 727 or 904 based trans.

Costs to rebuild it will vary by location.

Just give you an example - I just quoted a job to R+R and re-build a ft wheel drive minivan trans and it's in the $1400 range - parts and labor.

2wd 46RE trans would be similar price wise.

What they said , the OD section is the scariest part the spring in it is rated at 800 psi , you have to be careful. If it were me I would pull that part out of the OD section take it and the new clutches , steels and any other related parts to a trans shop and ask them to rebuild it for you . Otherwise it's just like rebuilding the 727 , get the ASTG manual for the 518 trans and it will tell you all you need to know plus they have good tips added in the rear about known issues and their fixes .