2004 Ram 1500 Stalling/Trans Issues

So when the truck is cold, sometimes the motor will stumble and/or stall. It seems to be idling fine and has lots of power. I think it may be related to the trans as it takes a few seconds after being in neutral for the trans to move the truck. It used to be worse. I would get a shudder and take a long time to get into gear before. I changed the fluid/filter and it seemed to get better - but the old fluid and filter were clean. The it was good for a while, but started slipping again. This time the fluid was low. Like 3 quarts. The truck only has 80,000 miles on it, and I see no leaks and notice no smoke as if it was getting sucked into the motor or something weird.

I added fluid and it got better, but still is slow to get into gear and stalls. But is still better than when the problem first appeared. I am scratching my head on this.


I forgot to add - the stalling is when I come to a stop. Not when I start the car or when it's idling or driving.

Is it a 5.7 Hemi with a 45RFE trans ? Ron

that trans is known for cracks in the trans filter that make it loose pressure thus causing slow performance and stalling.
Aftermarket filters are even worse.

Not so much cracking, although that has happened, the backpressure has been shown to actually split the main filter, (there are 2 in the pan),the filters tend to come loose where they are pushed up into the pump. A 125 filter seal will help hold the filter much better than a stock OE seal.
If the filter is sucking air, it cannot push the converter clutch off the lid and will drag/stall the engine.

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Not so much cracking, although that has happened, the backpressure has been shown to actually split the main filter, (there are 2 in the pan),the filters tend to come loose where they are pushed up into the pump. A 125 filter seal will help hold the filter much better than a stock OE seal.
If the filter is sucking air, it cannot push the converter clutch off the lid and will drag/stall the engine.

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Same if its low on fluid as I saw that happen a few times where it stalls the eng since it can keep the clutch converter clutch from applying some on the 45 and 545RFE's. Ron