Help troubleshoot possible tranny issue

Hey all! New to the forums, but hoping someone may be able to lend a hand. I drive a 95 Ram 1500, 5.9 v8 Mag, with 135k on it. I've had it about 8 months, and I don't have any sort of service records from the previous owner. Anyway, 2 nights ago was driving to camp, going about 40, slowed to take my turn when it kinda clunked. Made my turn and it died. Turned it off, started it back up, put it in drive and it didn't move, just rev'd high like it was in neutral. Dropped it to 2nd, same thing. Dropped to 1st and it went. Made it the quarter mile, reversed into my spot just fine. The next day I checked the fluid and it was low, so added a couple quarts, ran it through all the gears a few times, but still no luck. Decided to try and make it back to town in 1st, but only made it about 5 miles before I lost that as well. It'll still engage reverse just fine, but the weird thing is that now, when it's in 1st, it goes in reverse. Any ideas about what it could be would be appreciated!

Thank You!

Sounds like the rear clutch is toast. Manual low and reverse both use the rear band, but the rear clutch needs to work to go forward in any gear.

Would this cause it to go reverse while in low?

I am not sure, I have never heard of that happening before.

Yeah, that's what I've been getting, lol! Haven't come across anyone that's had or heard of my issue.

Just for S&G's get under the truck and check the shift linkage.

A couple of quarts is a lot of tranny fluid. Are you sure you didn't overfill it? Have been leaving tranny fluid on the ground lately?

I put one quart in, ran it through the gears, then checked the level in neutral and it was still reading low. I added the second quart after that, again through the gears, still a little low. I haven't noticed leaving anything behind, and driving an old rig, I check my parking spots often!

2 quarts of tranny fluid went somewhere. Have you checked it again since adding it? I think I'm seeing a new tranny in your future.

It was still reading a little low after that last quart. Now that's it's level I'll be checking it again in the morning. Gonna make sure it's full and see if I can get it do anything. I know there's gotta be a leak somewhere, but it's gotta be pretty small if I'm not leaving anything behind.

I hope it works out but as NYCruiser posted be ready to be replacing your tranny.

Sadly, I'm prepared for that possibility. Figured it be worth trying a few things first though. I'll let y'all know if anything happens! Thanks for the input so far.

the 46re is kinda known for only loosing fluid under pressure (IE when driving) so you park it and no spots and wonder WTF?

Yup, you might be shafted. Err, are probably, shafted. If it does come down to a new tranny, think about getting someone to build it before you install it. Two birds, one stone.

Well, it looks like a rebuild for sure! Pulled the pan, full of shavings. Found a pretty good deal, rebuild with upgrades for $2500, 2 year, 24k mile, nationwide warranty! It definitely wasn't the answer I was hoping for, but it's gotta be fixed. Thank y'all for your input!

leadrofthepak said:

the 46re is kinda known for only loosing fluid under pressure (IE when driving) so you park it and no spots and wonder WTF?

Click to expand...

Wish I had known that before now! Lol