99 Ram transmission fluid, filter and band adjustment

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kevm14
Posts: 15886
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 99 Ram transmission fluid, filter and band adjustment

Post by kevm14 »

8 years later and BAM....want to throw a governor pressure solenoid and sensor at it. It passed inspection in record time yesterday so I guess this is some kind of gift of appreciation. 130k now. Transmission rebuilt at 105k if memory serves

Nothing has really changed; the 2-3 shift is still lazy and it does hunt between 2nd and 3rd in a very specific and consistent speed/throttle range. I did the band and TV cable adjustment previously and it didn't really help that much. This seems like a very common problem but many accounts are much more severe than mine, and mine is incredibly consistent. If something is wrong with the sensor or pressure solenoid it hasn't changed in 8 years which is not where I'd put my money but it seems easy enough to try.

One popular replacement video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvl-_-vY6rk

I ordered a kit on eBay that is supposed to be an OEM solenoid and sensor plus paper gasket for the part that bolts to the valve body for $135 which is a decent price for that. I will also need to place a Rockauto order for fluid, filter and pan gasket.
rpaoness
Posts: 504
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2015 5:47 pm

Re: 99 Ram transmission fluid, filter and band adjustment

Post by rpaoness »

Looks like I did the '02 WJ in 2020. I seem to remember buying a second solenoid or sensor when I didn't like the brand of one I bought. Couldn't find a second order though. I've had decent luck with Rostra stuff overall I think.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HBHLFOY?re ... in_title_9

I bought one of these too - I think mine might've been broken? Details are fuzzy - I can't seem to remember.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GLSI826?re ... in_title_9
kevm14
Posts: 15886
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 99 Ram transmission fluid, filter and band adjustment

Post by kevm14 »

My overdrive shifting is good.
kevm14
Posts: 15886
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 99 Ram transmission fluid, filter and band adjustment

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote: Sun Mar 16, 2025 8:13 am 8 years later and BAM....want to throw a governor pressure solenoid and sensor at it. It passed inspection in record time yesterday so I guess this is some kind of gift of appreciation. 130k now. Transmission rebuilt at 105k if memory serves

Nothing has really changed; the 2-3 shift is still lazy and it does hunt between 2nd and 3rd in a very specific and consistent speed/throttle range. I did the band and TV cable adjustment previously and it didn't really help that much. This seems like a very common problem but many accounts are much more severe than mine, and mine is incredibly consistent. If something is wrong with the sensor or pressure solenoid it hasn't changed in 8 years which is not where I'd put my money but it seems easy enough to try.

One popular replacement video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvl-_-vY6rk

I ordered a kit on eBay that is supposed to be an OEM solenoid and sensor plus paper gasket for the part that bolts to the valve body for $135 which is a decent price for that. I will also need to place a Rockauto order for fluid, filter and pan gasket.
2-1/2 months later. Also the truck just rolled 131k. Tackled this today.

Removed the pan and pressure solenoid/governor assembly.
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Installed the new ones.
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Cleaned the pan and magnet. Oops, the listing Rockauto has for my truck is wrong. Maybe for the 46RE? EDIT: No, I ordered this part myself based on my own lookup. So this is my fault.
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So I cleaned and reused the old gasket. It is designed to be reused but whatever.

New filter installed, solenoid block tight (with a new gasket). Pan installed and torqued.

5 quarts of ATF+4.

Result? Pretty much the same. 2-3 is still soft and it still has weird shift points around 25 mph. I may see if I can still get a Mopar TPS for it, otherwise, I think I am done trying to make this shift properly. I didn't think this was going to fix it. It's been way too consistent the entire time I've owned the truck. I chalk it up to something dumb done during the rebuild which was my original guess anyway.
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kevm14
Posts: 15886
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 99 Ram transmission fluid, filter and band adjustment

Post by kevm14 »

This may be the correct pan gasket: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.ph ... 12&jsn=675
rpaoness
Posts: 504
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2015 5:47 pm

Re: 99 Ram transmission fluid, filter and band adjustment

Post by rpaoness »

I think the fundamental problem with good shifting on that unit is the five-star logo on the castings/parts. I never "liked" the one in the WJ. It was tolerable once I found the missing throttle valve return spring on the outside of the unit, but otherwise never "good". And that was at lower torque, hp, and curb weight/gvw.
kevm14
Posts: 15886
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 99 Ram transmission fluid, filter and band adjustment

Post by kevm14 »

The 1-2 and 3-4 across a wide range of throttle positions both feel "normal." The 2-3 is off. It is a very slow, imprecise shift. It also does a thing where the 3-2 happens at light throttle positions but then goes back to third. This is very repeatable and needs to be toward the bottom range of 3rd. It also does a thing where I can be accelerating lightly in 3rd at like 20 mph and when the truck hits around 25 mph, it goes to 2nd and then back to third a few mph later. This issue doesn't seem to present above 40 or so. It's done this weird behavior consistently the entire time I've had the truck. Fluid changes, band adjustments, TV cable adjustments and now the governor and line pressure control solenoid also don't change it.

Maybe the TPS has a dead spot. We'll see.
kevm14
Posts: 15886
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 99 Ram transmission fluid, filter and band adjustment

Post by kevm14 »

Before I replaced the TPS I wanted to get a baseline.
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Very easy to replace the TPS. Didn't even have to take the airbox off.
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But then the plug went on the new one really hard and I got nervous that I bent a pin or something. So I went to remove the plug and it pulled the entire back housing off the sensor and two wires popped off the soldered terminals. Swell.
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So I soldered them back on and popped it back together. Reinstalled. This really isn't permanent because it needs a thin layer of RTV around the cover. I don't think it would be water tight and the cover pops off with very little force.
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Ok so that was a lot of work.

The closed throttle voltage did climb.
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Actually it was higher enough that it showed 3% throttle open and it wouldn't idle normally. I shut it off and restarted it once or twice and it relearned the new closed throttle position. Took it on a test drive. Seemed to perform the same as the old sensor. So I reinstalled the old TPS.

Here is that baseline back again:
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So another waste of time. It's probably like a valve body issue (for the funky shift stuff unless it's on purpose), or incorrect rebuild on something (the lame shift). I never really thought this was the kind of problem that would be a quick fix, and now I have proven that to be correct. Great.
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