tranny giving it up, no mechanic understands

[Johnny]

First my engine went down to 13 mpg, and took it to 3 places and it still sucks fuel.
The my last trip to Portland (230 miles away) the tranny gave it up. Had to barrow
a truck and rent a trailer to bring it home.
Not sure if I should fix it. I have already spent $1800 trying to get the fuel issue fixed.
Now the tranny goes away.

(1992 Diesel Dodge/auto)

[2.216VTurbo]

Well, would you rather spend a few duckets and fix an old friend or spend quite a few more and a have a fresh' only check the fuel and oil', all the creature comforts, fresh and shiny new towing rig? There is something to be said for both routes...

[tommyturbo]

Could the big drop in mileage be from the trans having been on it's way out? Cheaper to fix than buy a new one by far.

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Also, any diesel truck shops you could try, being a cummins.

[jonnyb]

What happened to the transmission (symptoms/conditions)?

Maybe use it as an opportunity to upgrade. Get a nice tight TC and do some VB mods. I bet you get your mileage back and then some.

[Johnny]

Well, would you rather spend a few duckets and fix an old friend or spend quite a few more and a have a fresh' only check the fuel and oil', all the creature comforts, fresh and shiny new towing rig? There is something to be said for both routes...
Oh I'd love both. But decided to keep the old friend.
I have a guy down the road about a mile, he bought a 2006-7 and he rarely drove it. The pasted away 2 years ago.
His wife still has it and never drives it. Says she would sell it to me. "IF" I only had the money….


What happened to the transmission (symptoms/conditions)?

Maybe use it as an opportunity to upgrade. Get a nice tight TC and do some VB mods.

It acted like it went into neutral. Changed the fluid/filter. Bad stuff in the pan. And it will move now but
not right and I don't trust it.
I do plan on doing it upgrade!

[shackwrrr]

Was TC lockup working? That seems like the first to go on diesels and when they do your mileage drops and they release a bunch of junk and clog the filter. I would keep the 1st Gen before getting a 6.7. The aftertreatment and egr system is a major reliability weakness. Deleting them is a major expense too.

[Johnny]

Was TC lockup working?
I am not sure.

[jonnyb]

Was TC lockup working? That seems like the first to go on diesels and when they do your mileage drops and they release a bunch of junk and clog the filter. I would keep the 1st Gen before getting a 6.7. The aftertreatment and egr system is a major reliability weakness. Deleting them is a major expense too.

Exactly where I was going.

06-07...hmmm - 5.9 in 06 and 6.7 in 07. I'm with you on the 6.7, but those last year 5.9's are nice (I have an 03 and am now wishing I had gotten an 06 since I'm doing everything to my 03 to make it that level hp/tq anyway...LOL).

Good luck Johnny!

[ShadowFromHell]

That truck is definitely worth putting money into. I always kinda watch the prices on them and if anything they are going up in value around here. My cousin bought a really nice 93 4x4 3500 7 years ago for 10k, and he could probably sell it today for more then that, with a ton more miles. If your just wanting a tranny, or maybe a manual swap I have heard there is a guy either in portland, or hermiston (cant remember) who buys up all the cheaper 1gens in my area to part out. He has want adds all over CL.

[bakes]

The bad mileage could have been the Torque converter was giving signs the stator starting to slip
i get the transmission rebuilt and new TC

[Johnny]

Might be part of it BUT tons of black smoke I am sure is most of it.

[Subliminal]

My transmission exploded on me a few years back. I bought an old rust pile of a standard transmission truck, parked them beside each other in the driveway and slowly swapped the parts over. The G360 has been great these last few years. Ended up paying about $700 for that truck after I sold the rest of it for parts, too.

I always was upset with that 40% power-loss-to-keep-the-auto-together thing that Dodge did. Plus there's just something about rowing that old boat. :)

[Johnny]

Hope this next month when I do the trans to get a much better torque converter to help a little with the auto efficiency.

[The Pope]

with my truck when I needed to pass emissions I turned it way down on the power screw and flipped the fuel pin around back wards. No power and 14 MPG. Then I put the fuel pin back in right and bottomed the power screw, back up over 25 MPG. Then I finally got 4" exhaust and the mileage dropped to 18-19 around town and 23 highway, it doesn't lag now.

The star wheel gives the truck fuel quicker and when you turn it down into the pump the truck gets smoky and eats fuel. I'd raise the star wheel to the top and make sure the fuel pin is facing the right direction. Then turn up the power pin. This gives the least pre fueling and the most injector pressure for best mileage.

My truck also eats up pumps, a piston pump is a great mod. Mine needs a compressor upgrade next as I'm surging it bad now.

On the trans I don't get it. My trans is original with 230K and the last 100K abused. I added a shift kit to it. Shredded my flex plate, posted that on TD. The took the converter to the local converter builder to get beefed up. Added the newer stronger flex plate and converter a few years ago now. Being non lock up it is tough to kill the early trans, the lock up 47RH and newer caves from the lock up converters. I also thought you got a core from Matt up here to rebuild? Doing the work yourself you can rebuild the trans and build a converter around $500. You need an inch lb 1/4" torque wrench and a stand up shop press for adjusting the bands and compressing the man drive OD clutch pack.

All of these trans require a 2 year power flush to stay going, too much gets to floating around in them.

[Johnny]

Finally started on the truck project.
Got the torque converter.
Got a good used trans.
Was going to rebuild it first but its good so just going to install and then rebuild mine.
lock up? 1992 did not have lock up converters.

[135sohc]

92 should be a lockup, 89 to mid 91-ish was open converter. Does the input shaft have splines all the way to the end (non lockup) or do the splines stop short of the end and it gets smooth (lockup).

[Johnny]

Funny, because 4 people I talked to said none were lock up.
I'll see when I pull it out.

[135sohc]

Funny, because 4 people I talked to said none were lock up.
I'll see when I pull it out.

Derp on me:

For the Cummins:
1989-1991: A727 (aka 36RH) 3-speed. No overdrive, no lock-up (http://viglink.pgpartner.com/rd.php?r=5316&m=1476684686&q=n&rdgt=1409500633&it=1409932633&et=1410105433&priceret=184.44&pg=~~3&k=a34da1e69238ce555d81bbf48141f86d&source=feed&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eamazon%2Ecom%2Fdp%2FB00F8LO ZQQ%2Fref%3Dasc%5Fdf%5FB00F8LOZQQ3294538%3Fsmid%3D A1NUQJY9IZUN8K%26tag%3Dpgmp%2D1585%2D01%2D20%26lin kCode%3Ddf0%26creative%3D395109%26creativeASIN%3DB 00F8LOZQQ&st=feed&mt=~~~~~~~~n~~~).
1991.5-1993: A518 (aka 46RH (http://stat.dealtime.com/DealFrame/DealFrame.cmp?bm=519&BEFID=96477&acode=530&code=530&aon=&crawler_id=1912695&dealId=QWmaq5DTlhwPKc1NBZdMzg%3D%3D&searchID=&url=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F711-57618-1854-0%2F2%3Fkwid%3D1%26mtid%3D570%26crlp%3D1_240251%26 linkin_id%3D%7Blinkin_id%7D%26sortbid%3D%7Bbidamou nt%7D%26fitem%3D350416228428%26mt_id%3D570%26mpre% 3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.ebay.com%252Fitm%252Flike %252F350416228428%26mid%3D446528%26sdc_id%3D%7Bsdc _id%7D&DealName=A518%2046re%2046rh%20A618%2047re%2047rh%2 0Overdrive%20Retainer%20Hd&MerchantID=446528&HasLink=yes&category=0&AR=-1&NG=1&GR=1&ND=1&PN=1&RR=-1&ST=&MN=msnFeed&FPT=SDCF&NDS=1&NMS=1&NDP=1&MRS=&PD=0&brnId=2455&lnkId=8070676&Issdt=140831050720&IsFtr=0&IsSmart=0&dlprc=49.5&SKU=350416228428)) 4-speed. Overdrive, no lock-up.

Thats where I was getting and remembering those dates from. oops...

[Johnny]

Confirmed! Thanks.

[The Pope]

There is a lot to gain from going from a 46RH to a 47RH

The 94-95 tans is a complete bolt in and PATC has the pressure switch setup to operate lock up. With mild mods most get 100 WHP when the converter locks. Down side is you have to spend on a converter. Up side, lock up trans don't run nearly as hot pulling a load.

[bakes]

Pope your right on the lock up and temps when my truck hit's lock up it just starts to pull like a freight train temps run 172 -189*f i just like to mod my trans to lock up sooner and a in 2nd gear

[Johnny]

Finally got the truck (after all this time) up on the lift this morning.
Got the transfer case out and all the other stuff disconnected. Ready
to unbolt the trans next.

[The Pope]

fun times.

[Johnny]

Got it all back together today. Did a test drive. Works.

[bakes]

what did you find?

[Johnny]

Find? I put a known good used trans in. I'll have mine rebuilt soon. So don't know what was wrong yet.

[Johnny]

Yes, I am not in the nut house yet.

[Turbo Joe]

hopefully i don't go nuts... my 47re has given me grief just about the whole time i have owned this truck. spent alot of money for the rebuild ( even though i got a break ) and after that my trans was good for maybe 500 miles? then OD went out again but the converter lock up was good , I just had some electrical issues to deal with. I ended up just parking the truck and only using it if I had to, I finally got around to putting some time into it and fixed alot of stuff. I had alot of bad electrical connections that I fixed including new Battery terminals I really needed badly. My converter lock up has been perfect, but my OD still wasn't working so I ordered a new soleniod kit that came with a few extra springs and a clip so yesterday I dropped the pan and VB and swapped out the solenoids and happen to find the 3-4 accumulator piston return spring was broken. It was a good thing this kit came with an upgraded one :). So I replaced that and put it together and about 9-10 quarts later I took it for a quick ride but it was late and I was low on fuel so 1 quick ride around the block but I had slow traffic infront of me the whole time ( figures) so I said screw it I'll check it tomorrow. Well hopefully all goes well. It seemed ok last nite but today will tell the story. Wish I had a manual trans.

[Turbo Joe]

Still no Over drive .. spoke to the trans guy today and it's most likely an internal issue with the Overdrive not working.. it goes to the trans shop next week before I burn the truck.

[Johnny]

Wow,,,a year later. That used trans was not good after all. Truck has sat. Finally last weekend put a rebuilt trans in it. ALL good finally.

[Rrider]

Did you ever find out what the deal was with the original one that went out?

[Johnny]

No, I just had it rebuilt. He told me but it was just tranny stuff....

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NOW to address the terrible fuel mileage issue.