Transmission feels sluggish

Hello,

On my 2010 Ram 1500 I can't tell if its in my head or an actual issue.

The shifting from higher and lower gears seems to be working beautiful.

However, lately I am noticing when driving at highway speeds say 65mph. If I let me foot off the gas. The truck is slowing down quickly. Then when the mds kicks in it really starts to slow down the truck at coasting. So much that I can actually feel the truck jerk as the mds initializes. It has this behavior everyday on the highway lately. So much so that I hate when having to use the brakes on the highway. Because you adjust your foot pressure on the brakes to slow down. Then once that MDS kicks in you almost have to completely release the brakes. Otherwise you will slow very rapidly.

I have noticed when I get up to say 60mph and let of the gas the truck will drop 10mph within 3 seconds and continue to drop.

Also, when I am accelerating on the highway or even the local streets. It will seem a little sluggish for a few seconds and then feel to power up. Oddly, I will sometimes get a erratic surge in power. Say if I give a slight press on the peddle to speed up. It will thrust with power for a second enough to jerk my head back.. like woah .. shi..then continue normal.

Now, if I hammer down on the gas it has excellent power and shifting. Or even if I need to rapid stop. The entire powertran functions beautiful. It's just these little issues that are causing some concern.

The engine power feels fine. You would think of it as if the transmission is giving alot of resistance. Like it can't just free coast when letting off the gas or that it has to fight going up hill when giving slight acceleration.

Make any sense?

are your brakes dragging? If you don't have wheel covers, you can pull over after getting off the freeway, and feel the wheel hubs. they shouldn't be too hot, and all should feel about the same temp. If you have an infrared temp gun, you could get a more precise sense of temp.

I was having pretty much the same problem in my 2010. Like Rusty said. It turned out my parking brakes were not fully releasing. I had to persuade the sliding arms(where the cable connects on the inner side of the hubs) with a hammer.lol until I could take the wheels off and clean out the rust build up.
An easy check is to look at your parking brake cable running the driver side of the truck and see if it is hanging down and kind of loose with the brakes released. It shouldn't be loose at all.
Hopefully, that's all your issue is.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

if not the breaks, when was the last time you serviced your trans ?

Funny, I was starting to feel the same thing on mine. just didnt feel quite right. sort of felt loose when between acceleration and full coasting. It has been about 60k since a drain and fill on the trans with new filters

Thank you guys for the replies! I just had the brakes inspected about 500 miles ago when they did a oil change at the dealer. It's not really saying much. However, once the weather warms up. I' be sure to do that! And yes I hope it's something simple like that!

I am not sure if the transmission has ever been serviced. It's at 170k miles. The fluid still looks decent and no burn smell. I've always been on the fence about changing transmission fluids. Some say to do it, others say don't touch it. Even on Engineering explained. They went in depth about the fluid changing.

Thanks again! I'll keep you guys updated!

170k without a transmission fluid change is pretty excessive.. I would definetly not do a flush in that case as it could just push and free up gunk and possibly cause more issues, but I would drop the pan and change the filters and fill up with new fluid

The owners manual states that the fluid is good for 120k for "normal" service and 60k for "severe" service. So it is possible that is the original fluid although I would doubt it if the fluid is still red and doesn't smell burnt.

As mentioned, DO NOT have a flush done on the trans if you're not sure how old the fluid is. Even a pan drop could potentially cause issues when that fresh fluid starts cleaning things up inside.

One thing to try is to disconnect the battery and touch the disconnected terminals together for 10 mins or so (make sure there isn't a second battery!). This will clear the adaptive info in the PCM so the trans will have to "relearn" how you drive. That way if the problem goes away you know its trans related.

Hemi395 said:

The owners manual states that the fluid is good for 120k for "normal" service and 60k for "severe" service. So it is possible that is the original fluid although I would doubt it if the fluid is still red and doesn't smell burnt.

As mentioned, DO NOT have a flush done on the trans if you're not sure how old the fluid is. Even a pan drop could potentially cause issues when that fresh fluid starts cleaning things up inside.

One thing to try is to disconnect the battery and touch the disconnected terminals together for 10 mins or so (make sure there isn't a second battery!). This will clear the adaptive info in the PCM so the trans will have to "relearn" how you drive. That way if the problem goes away you know its trans related.

Click to expand...

Well I went ahead and finally checked the rear braking system. The rear rotors looked fine and so did the pads. I went ahead and changed them anyway.


AS I am focusing more and more on the issue. I have noticed the throttle will sometimes surge between 23-35mph. When I say surge it is like a random thrust on the truck. the rpms rise and the truck trusts for a moment. Oddly sometimes the opposite happens on the highway.. I will be driving with a steady foot. Before I know it the truck is from 70 down to 55. Today I found myself in such a rage over the issue. I got on the highway at 55mph. A ford 150 was riding my ass hard. I slowly pushed the throttle down. Speed was increasing. Once the kick-down enabled. I fishtailed and the truck raged forward to 90mph in no-time. Nothing could keep up around me. Cleveland drivers are insanely idiotic. Most of them will drive Honda civics or Rav Toyoyta's. They will race their tiny engines to speed past you. Then once they are in front. They slow down and travel at 60. While you are trying to go 65-70. One night after work I was racing home at 70 in a 60. A small Toyota pulled in front of me. I actually had to slam on my brakes. You don't know how bad I wanted to follow that person home. Then beat them senseless. Which is why I am trying to find the issue with my powertran surge.. The more I behave the mph and system. The less I am competing with old cavilers and ****** Ford trucks. Oddly my old 2002 Ram 1500 is easier to control than my 2010 5.7 Sport Ram.

To me sounds rather obvious, you need a complete tune up including a tranny change, not flush but pump the pan drop it and change filters. Plugs, wires, PCV, coolant, which is HOAT, Zerex G5. You need the entire shabang.

BTW- I have drove my 2010 in Tow Haul 24/7, as long as I'm not over 65mph. Tranny behaves much better.

idk what trans is in yours but the 8spd is very slow and sluggish