Limped home 7 hours doing 18mph...46re trouble

Hi All,

First time posting. I have a 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 5.9L Gas Automatic 4x4. I live in South Philadelphia. I left for a camping trip to State College about 200 miles away on Saturday at about 5AM. About 130 miles in everything was fine i was cruising around 75mph the whole time on the turnpike. I slowed down to pay the toll to get off the turnpike just outside of Harrisburg, as i leave the toll booth i give it a little gas just to get going and RPM's skyrocket and i barely go 30mph, i pulled right over checked the fluid which was the perfect color and in the right range but smelled burnt, i sat there for 20 minutes to let everything cool off, the outside temp was 25 degrees. I started it back up Put it in drive three with the overdrive on and merged back on to the road it shifted into 2nd fine the would not go into 3rd the rpm's would just jump up real quick if i went over 3000 so i shut of OD and got off the highway doing about 35mph at 2500rpm's in 2nd. I pulled into a parking lot and checked fluid again and checked for leaks, everything looked normal but still the burning smell, i also still had reverse. I had three options to get home 1) AAA tow back home $550 2)Local tow guy, one guy quoted me $425, another Said $400 3) Limp home 140 miles on the back roads. I choose door #3. When i pulled out of the parking lot it it went into 1st then shifted into 2nd but slipped right back into 1st in 100 yards or so, so i drove home in 1st doing 15-18mph 7 hours straight never going over 2500 rpms because after that the rpms jumped right up to 5k and i could hear a slight whining noise. I drove on the shoulder where i could, down hill i got up to 50pmh lol. Once home the fluid is still not dark at all and i still have reverse. Is my trans cooked, or is it worth trying to replace the governor pressure sensor and solenoid before i get a rebuilt one. Also how much would i be looking at for a rebuilt 46re. And i have rebuilt an engine so im semi handy and ive seen some videos on rebuilding the 46re and it looks pretty straight forward is that worth thinking about.

Sorry for the long post.

First, do a fluid and filter change. That might help long enough for you to get some money around for a rebuild if you don't have t already.

Its not a matter of if, but when these trans need to be rebuilt. Rebuilding the 46re isn't super difficult, as long as you don't mess with the valvebody. As soon as you take that apart, it goes from an intermediate skill level job to master level.

If you decide to buy a reman instead of doing the rebuild yourself, make sure you get proof that it was properly rebuilt by a reputable shop.

Also, its worth installing a trans cooler if you don't have one already.

I had this problem. Alas it led to an entire transmission rebuild at AAMCO. I tried changing fluid, i tried to flush it, i tried to add a trans cooler, i tried to rebuild it myself. Bottom line is i bet there are metal shavings in the pan, time to bite the bullet and get it fixed.

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Do you have a trans temp gauge? did the Trans Temp light ever come on?

I would do the check ball delete in the transmission line to radiator with a fluid and filter change.

I had a truck that wouldn't drive at all and with multiple flushes I was able to bring it back.
If I was you during the flush undo the return line on the tranny pan to truly get it all out, just keep it full with fluid through dipstick.

I don't know if they still offer this but I have 4 tows of up to 100 miles per tow (plus 4 more for my gf) with AAA. I signed up about a year ago. It's not their entry level plan but the next one up (~$120 a year). It's been a life saver. I've probably gotten somewhere around 300 miles worth of tows this year.

You might have still been SOL because I think it takes 24 hours from signing up to being able to get a tow but might be worth getting in case something like that happens again.

dudeman2009 said:

First, do a fluid and filter change. That might help long enough for you to get some money around for a rebuild if you don't have t already.

Its not a matter of if, but when these trans need to be rebuilt. Rebuilding the 46re isn't super difficult, as long as you don't mess with the valvebody. As soon as you take that apart, it goes from an intermediate skill level job to master level.

If you decide to buy a reman instead of doing the rebuild yourself, make sure you get proof that it was properly rebuilt by a reputable shop.

Also, its worth installing a trans cooler if you don't have one already.

Click to expand...

What's the best tutorial on the internet for doing a rebuild?

bluwarguy said:

What's the best tutorial on the internet for doing a rebuild?

Click to expand...

This guy and a proper repair manual. . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrZxEp9ZgXY

https://www.amazon.com/ATSG-Dodge-Techtran-Transmission-Manual/dp/B005PGRE62