2001 46RE won't shift without coaxing

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vandor

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DFW, Texas
Ram Year
2001
Engine
5.9
Hi,
Newbie here, I'm trying to help out an old lady by selling her late husband's 2001 Ram 1500 4x4 (107k miles). It has sat for ~18 months after he passed away. At first the truck would not shift form 2nd to 3rd unless it was put into Neutral for a few seconds, but after some driving usually it won't shift out of first either unless it's shifted to Neutral. Sometimes it will shift at high rpm, but usually not. Her brother replaced the governor pressure sensor and solenoid (and of course the fluid and filter), but it has not gotten any better. I read up on forums, but I did not find any obvious answers to what it could be.
My plan is to replace the valve body and adjust the bands, and hope for the best. Am I on the right track?

BTW, I removed the valve body last weekend, and the accumulator piston only had the larger spring, not the skinny one. I looked all around to see if it fell somewhere, but I can't find it, so I'm assuming there was not one there? Is that even possible?

Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks,

Vandor
 

dudeman2009

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2001 1500 Sport with enough electrical modifications to make my brain hurt
Engine
Magnum 360
You're looking at a rebuild at some point in the near future. The first thing to do would be to perform a fluid and filter change and also adjust/inspect the front band. It's likely worn quite a bit if you have to shift to neutral first, mine is doing the same thing, I have to floor it to near redline then let off the gas and shift to neutral then back into gear after the Engine rpm drops to below 2k.
 

yoda

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If it is a 5.2 its only supposed to have 1 accumulator spring, the 5.9 has 2.
Have you checked the throttle pressure adjustment, made sure its not stuck at wide open throttle, return spring is in place?
 

SYKRAMMAN

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06 Mega
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5.7
Throw a junkyard trany in it for 200$ then sell it. Instead of throwing parts at it and wasting your money. A trans swap is very easy to do on those. Good luck man, if you lived closer, I'd buy it from you.
 
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vandor

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DFW, Texas
Ram Year
2001
Engine
5.9
Hi,
Thanks for the replies. It already had a fluid/filter change with no change in behavior. I'll adjust the bands this weekend.
The engine is a 5.9, so it should have 2 springs. I will check if it's even available new, I'd hate to have to take one apart at a junkyard.

It's a 4x4, so I'm guessing the tranny removal is not as easy as on a 2WD, or am I wrong? A junkyard tranny would also be an unknown quantity, but would be the cheapest option for sure.

Thanks,

Vandor
 

dudeman2009

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Engine
Magnum 360
New ones are near impossible to find for less than 3K, rebuilds are around 1.2-1.4k, used rebuilds 800+. I just bought one from a junkyard for $450 and thats keeping my old one, trans was rebuilt at 140kish and it had 193k when it drove in. I pulled it apart to check and its definitely better than mine. I just have to install the shift kit.
 

Ford300runner

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1999
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360
If you intend to keep the truck and replace the transmission anyhow, you might want to replace the pressure solenoid and the governor pressure sensor and see what that does for it. You can alway's pull the parts off and throw em on the shelf for the next dodge transmission thathe haunts you. I've seen it fix the shifting issues and I've personally replaced them when it didn't but for a $80 investment that could save you some major headaches
 

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