QuestionQUESTION: Hi,
Looking for some information regarding my transmission. I have a Dodge diesel
2500. The truck is not shifting out of 1st gear without having to red line the
engine 3-4 times and slacking back. It is perfect when it gets past the 1st gear.
It has been in the garage all week and the apparently the 1st band was out of
wack. The mech could not find any other proble with the transmission. Wondering if
anyone out there heard of this problem and possible solutions?
ANSWER: Hi Gary,
There aught to a fault code in the transmission controller, because this is a 4-speed automatic. Have you tried getting a readout of that? Often a naionwide autoparts store (e.g. Autozone) will do it for free. What is happening is probably that it runs in 2nd gear only, rather than first as that is the default strategy when there are fault codes which if not addressed would cause more damage. It is called limp-in mode. It does this by disconnecting the transmission control relay, so the only other thing it could be as a faulty relay.
Please 'rate' my answer (see below).
Thanks,
Roland
PS Sorry for the delay but I just found your question in the 'pool' to which Kevin had referred it.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: The truck is definetly in first gear and the struggle is getting out of 1st. Once in second the transmission goes through the other gears fine. The mechanic hooked the truck up to the monitor and "no" fault code showed. This is where we are stunt about it all.
Answer I would still try for the free fault readout at a nationwide parts store. I would believe that the controller would recognized the problem if it was internal to the transmission. Another reader might pick up a code.
It could instead be that the gear shift lever's connection to the transmission range sensor inside the transmission, or the range sensor itself, is faulty so that the transmission is actually told that you want to be in 1st gear only when you are requesting 'drive'. That can be verified by checking which wires of the 'range sensor' plug are grounded when the trans is stuck in first compared to what they should be when the position of the shift lever in the cabin ia in 'drive'. Let me know if the mechanic wants to verify that and I can tell him the correct readings on those wires.
Thanks for the 'rating'. You can do that again and even give me another nomination if you so-choose.
Roland
