New shift pattern: P N N N N N

So I borrowed the Ram from my son to pick up some Adirondack chairs I found on FB marketplace.  30 miles round trip, no problems, right? Wrong🫤. 

I should have know better when my son got home and wanted to check the fluids because the trans was acting funny and added a quart to the trans to get to the middle of the range. 
 

The transmission seemed a bit off and the torque converter wasn't locking up the way it normally does. It continued to get worse on the way home for picking up the chairs. First I turned off OD, then manually put it in 2nd off the highway since there was a hill right at the end of the exit I need to go up.  Felt like it was surging on the hill, but in hind site that was the transmission make its last attempt to hold it together. 

I managed to limp it home the last 1.5 miles and get it backed into the driveway. I checked the fluid, added another 1/2 quart. Didn't really change anything, no gears and a definite rattle emanating from under the truck near the front of the transmission 

I guess 222,100 miles was a good run, with the last 45,000 miles being driven by my son.  

TL:DR

The 1998 Ram has extra neutrals. 

I'm thinking used trans($450ish with 120k-150k miles from a local salvage yard , input and tail shaft seal, new filter and fluid, and send it.

Any other suggestions? It's a 46RE. 
 

NOOOOOOOooooooooo!

I think a GRM cry for help could be shorthanded as "I have extra neutrals."

Huh, I was expecting this to be about a 4L60E.

NickD said:

Huh, I was expecting this to be about a 4l60E.

Yup. Didn't expect dodge content. 

Intermediate shaft for the main output into the od unit broke if I had to guess. 

Hey, at least 'P' works?

:ducks:

golfduke said:

Hey, at least 'P' works?

The original N also works, so almost 30% of the original gears are still working. 

I'm reminded of Guy Martin's off at the IoMTT a few years back.

If you're unfamiliar with Guy Martin, well, he has a very distinct manner of speaking -- even when following a crash.

https://youtu.be/sjZXaUwYoog?si=i6Gx76Yqir-S4xOw&t=55

Ranger50 said:

Intermediate shaft for the main output into the od unit broke if I had to guess. 

My favorite ever "all neutrals" failure was a Mopar that had the paint on the inside of the pan delaminate.  The still-intact paint Saran Wrapped itself to the filter pickup.    The paint stayed intact on the pan, like a weird bubble.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Just reminds me of their qc... what qc?

Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) said:

I think a GRM cry for help could be shorthanded as "I have extra neutrals."

When your transmission's alignment goes from lawful good to chaotic neutral

So a bit of an actual question. 
 

- Should I buy a reman torque converter to install with the used trans? Or use the one it comes with (if it does).

I know I don't want to use mine with potentially a bunch of shrapnel in it. So I need to replace it with either a used one or reman. 
 

- trans cooler. It has the factory external auxiliary cooler. I need to flush it, but it's only $50ish for a replacement, and $40 for lines. I'm thinking replacing it might be better, especially since it was from the parts truck, so I'm not sure of it's history.  
 

Thoughts?

Trans should come with a torque converter.

If the cooler is that cheap, by all means replace it.

Dusterbd13-michael said:

NickD said:

Huh, I was expecting this to be about a 4l60E.

Yup. Didn't expect dodge content. 

Really?  Dodge kept us in business when I managed a chain of transmission repair shops.  The 46RE is just an updated A518... which is just a 727 from the 60s with an overdrive on the back.  Sure, we had plenty of 4L60s, but probably twice as many 46 and 47REs.

It had a good run.  My guess is that the pump is toast, but without testing it I can't be sure.  It could also be a cracked input drum bleeding pressure, or a check ball or valve in the valve body that is stuck, but it sounds like it was driven far enough that it wiped things.  Rebuild parts for 46REs are also far more expensive for some reason, and they take a bit more labor than Ford or GM to rebuild.  I could reman a 4L60E for $1700 and make money, but a 46RE I had to charge closer to $3000 and didn't make as much.

Junkyard is hit-or-miss.  Make sure you get a warranty.  It will probably only be 30 days, but you might go through 3 before you find one that works.  You'll also want to reset the ECM.  It has spend 200k "learning" shifts and compensating for worn clutches, sticky valves, and driving style.  If you just plug it in and drive, it's like hopping on your buddy's crotch rocket after riding your Harley.  It could shift poorly enough that it vaporizes clutches in short order.

After seeing fried 46 and 47REs with under 100k in the shop rather frequently, I would look for one with as few miles as possible to swap.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

We always did more caravans and Taurus then rwds typically. But of course that was the early to mid 90's... Out of the rwds it was always 700's over anything else. But I did tear apart my fair share of 350&400's...

Slightly different thought on the direction to take this....

My son reminded me I had said we'd look into converting to a manual trans when the time came to replace/rebuild the auto trans in the truck. This appeals to my inner teenager and more basic view on a truck for just doing truck stuff occasionally. 

I took a quick look and found a 1997 reg cab short bed with a 5 speed for $1000. The ad says it needs a clutch, but otherwise looks intact.  If it has the 5.2, then I could probably use the ECU and gages, along with the crossmember, teams, pedal assembly, steering column, and miscellaneous trim. I would still need to address the driveshaft, and wiring harness is an unknown. 

How bad of an idea would this be? 

Probably bad and not a good path to get back up and running in the next few weeks, right?

No Time said:

Slightly different thought on the direction to take this....

My son reminded me I had said we'd look into converting to a manual trans when the time came to replace/rebuild the auto trans in the truck. This appeals to my inner teenager and more basic view on a truck for just doing truck stuff occasionally. 

I took a quick look and found a 1997 reg cab short bed with a 5 speed for $1000. The ad says it needs a clutch, but otherwise looks intact.  If it has the 5.2, then I could probably use the ECU and gages, along with the crossmember, teams, pedal assembly, steering column, and miscellaneous trim. I would still need to address the driveshaft, and wiring harness is an unknown. 

How bad of an idea would this be? 

Probably bad and not a good path to get back up and running in the next few weeks, right?

Definitely a bad idea, but you should ABSOLUTELY do it anyway. 

In reply to golfduke :

I knew I could count on this group to encourage bad ideas 😁

No Time said:

Slightly different thought on the direction to take this....

My son reminded me I had said we'd look into converting to a manual trans when the time came to replace/rebuild the auto trans in the truck. This appeals to my inner teenager and more basic view on a truck for just doing truck stuff occasionally. 

I took a quick look and found a 1997 reg cab short bed with a 5 speed for $1000. The ad says it needs a clutch, but otherwise looks intact.  If it has the 5.2, then I could probably use the ECU and gages, along with the crossmember, teams, pedal assembly, steering column, and miscellaneous trim. I would still need to address the driveshaft, and wiring harness is an unknown. 

How bad of an idea would this be? 

Probably bad and not a good path to get back up and running in the next few weeks, right?

It seems like just putting a clutch in the $1k truck and driving it is a better idea?

In reply to z31maniac :

Fixing the donor isn't the better option in this case, since the donor would be a 25+ year old New England truck vs a 25+ year old Florida truck. 

After taking another look at the ad, I found a photo showing the transfer case shifter, so that won't work for my 2wd.

Back to just replacing the auto trans  

Question for the experts:

Is it possible to convert a 4wd 46RE to 2wd without special tools?

Im guessing the answer is no, since the tail shaft housing is different, and the tail shaft is probably different. 

Being NE there are plenty of 4wd donors, but limited numbers of 2wd. 

In reply to No Time :

You can. Just have to swap the OD tail shafts. Everything in front of the OD unit is the same.

Your going to fix a 25 yr old 220+k  dodge??

 I don't think I've seen 1998 Ram on the road up here since the mid 2000's :)