Transmission Crapped Out

[maverickmk]

2015 2500 4X4 SLT 5.7 gasoline. Last Friday the trans finally crapped out. The shifting started getting harsh in a few up shifts a few weeks ago, then a few days later down shifting under light acceleration (not aggressive to-the-floor acceleration) there was a squealing noise, then it finally gave up the ghost. Towed to the dealership, they called yesterday and said they think it's the valve body and it will take 3-5 days to get the part, they will install it, test it and let me know if all is well.
My questions are this: has anyone had experience with this - valve body replaced? If so, was is as good as new or was it a band aid? Any long term issues? It has just under 81,000 miles. I'm concerned that this is just the first in a long line of issues to come.
Thoughts?

 

[mtofell]

The valve body in my 2014 crapped out at 38K suddenly while just sitting on the freeway. Stop/go traffic, traffic cleared, I hit the gas and pretty much went nowhere. I did manage to limp it a couple miles to an exit but it was barely moving by the time I got off the highway. Had it towed to the dealer and it was all fixed under warranty.

I'm not sure if the tranny paired with your 5.7 is the same as mine with the 6.4 - mine is a 66rfe model. Anyway, I'm now at 90K and things have been uneventful. The tranny still shifts like ****, shudders at times and regularly feels as though it is going to blow up again but I've learned this is just life with a Ram tranny. It did this both before and after the rebuild. I have a lifetime warranty so I really don't care if/when it goes again (ideally, I won't be out in the woods miles from cell service).

 

[VernDiesel]

2019 HD gassers have the ZF 8 speed. Should be Dramatically better especially towing. Test drive warning you may come home with it.

 

[maverickmk]

The valve body in my 2014 crapped out at 38K suddenly while just sitting on the freeway. Stop/go traffic, traffic cleared, I hit the gas and pretty much went nowhere. I did manage to limp it a couple miles to an exit but it was barely moving by the time I got off the highway. Had it towed to the dealer and it was all fixed under warranty.

I'm not sure if the tranny paired with your 5.7 is the same as mine with the 6.4 - mine is a 66rfe model. Anyway, I'm now at 90K and things have been uneventful. The tranny still shifts like ****, shudders at times and regularly feels as though it is going to blow up again but I've learned this is just life with a Ram tranny. It did this both before and after the rebuild. I have a lifetime warranty so I really don't care if/when it goes again (ideally, I won't be out in the woods miles from cell service).

That's good to hear. I'm still under the 100,000 mile drive train warranty, so this "should" be covered.
Hopefully this will fix it. Thanks for the information.
One thing that does concern me is that it was a slow death and hopefully it didn't burn any clutches, or something else. Mine finally did the same thing as yours, it finally got to where I couldn't get over 5 mph, if even that. I guess we will see. I will let you know of the outcome as soon as I know.

 

[HammerHead]

2015 2500 4X4 SLT 5.7 gasoline. Last Friday the trans finally crapped out. The shifting started getting harsh in a few up shifts a few weeks ago, then a few days later down shifting under light acceleration (not aggressive to-the-floor acceleration) there was a squealing noise, then it finally gave up the ghost. Towed to the dealership, they called yesterday and said they think it's the valve body and it will take 3-5 days to get the part, they will install it, test it and let me know if all is well.
My questions are this: has anyone had experience with this - valve body replaced? If so, was is as good as new or was it a band aid? Any long term issues? It has just under 81,000 miles. I'm concerned that this is just the first in a long line of issues to come.
Thoughts?

Completely possible; valve bodies in the RFE transmissions are known to warp. It’s one of the many weak points.

 

[maverickmk]

They replaced the valve body and it didn't fix it. Now they are just throwing parts at it. One week down. Hopefully not much longer.

 

[mtofell]

They replaced the valve body and it didn't fix it. Now they are just throwing parts at it. One week down. Hopefully not much longer.

When mine went they said it tore up the entire inside of the tranny. They put in new steels, new torque converter and cooler. I think it shot metal shrapnel through the whole thing. My receipt is attached that explains what all they did.

I also remember it took them a while to get it done right. They were supposed to have it done on a given day then called to say 5th and 6th gears weren't working (great....). Then, suddenly, they had it done. I was surprised that they have all the stuff at the dealership to rebuild a tranny. I don't know a lot about it but I do know it's a very specialized thing that not just any mechanic can do.

 

[jeveretts]

2019 HD gassers have the ZF 8 speed. Should be Dramatically better especially towing. Test drive warning you may come home with it.

I bought my 2019 Classic a few weeks ago. I just got back from a 2500 mile camping trip with my Grandaughters. I pulled a 3500lb trailer through the Blue Ridge Mountains with 4 people on board and probably 500lbs of gear in the bed. This is the best towing transmission I have ever seen. I kept the temp gauge on the whole time and never saw it go over 185 degrees, with most of the time it holding between 177-183, even climbing very steep grades at full speed.

This is my first Dodge in a long time, and it was transmission that made me stop buying them... I think this truck might be a keeper!

 

[maverickmk]

When mine went they said it tore up the entire inside of the tranny. They put in new steels, new torque converter and cooler. I think it shot metal shrapnel through the whole thing. My receipt is attached that explains what all they did.

I also remember it took them a while to get it done right. They were supposed to have it done on a given day then called to say 5th and 6th gears weren't working (great....). Then, suddenly, they had it done. I was surprised that they have all the stuff at the dealership to rebuild a tranny. I don't know a lot about it but I do know it's a very specialized thing that not just any mechanic can do.

Holy crap! It took a month to get it fixed? I hope mine doesn't take that long. Thank goodness yours & mine are under warranty, I would hate to have to pay that bill. I bet it was well over $6,000.00 for what they did to your transmission.

 

[mtofell]

Holy crap! It took a month to get it fixed? I hope mine doesn't take that long. Thank goodness yours & mine are under warranty, I would hate to have to pay that bill. I bet it was well over $6,000.00 for what they did to your transmission.

I think it was just a couple weeks - went in on May 18, was ready June 1. I remember they were pretty lame about keeping me posted about what was going on. I guess I should be pretty confident in the repair since it's made it 3+ years and 50K+ miles. Thankfully, I have the lifetime Maxcare warranty so I really don't fret about it too much. I don't think I'd have much interest in driving this truck without a warranty. Of course, with how hi-tech and expensive vehicles are these days I don't think I'd want to drive any of them without a warranty.

 

[VernDiesel]

I bought my 2019 Classic a few weeks ago. I just got back from a 2500 mile camping trip with my Grandaughters. I pulled a 3500lb trailer through the Blue Ridge Mountains with 4 people on board and probably 500lbs of gear in the bed. This is the best towing transmission I have ever seen. I kept the temp gauge on the whole time and never saw it go over 185 degrees, with most of the time it holding between 177-183, even climbing very steep grades at full speed.

This is my first Dodge in a long time, and it was transmission that made me stop buying them... I think this truck might be a keeper!

Agreed I now have 575,000 miles on my 8 speed towing TTs commercially. I’ve done 5 fluid changes & 3 filter changes and no repairs. I do have the GDE trans tune the last 350,000 miles plus and do use Tow/haul faithfully.

 

[HammerHead]

Agreed I now have 575,000 miles on my 8 speed towing TTs commercially. I’ve done 5 fluid changes & 3 filter changes and no repairs. I do have the GDE trans tune the last 350,000 miles plus and do use Tow/haul faithfully.

Ok, I’ve got to ask? What oil do you run in your ED? What’s the oil change interval? What oil weight?

 

[maverickmk]

I think it was just a couple weeks - went in on May 18, was ready June 1. I remember they were pretty lame about keeping me posted about what was going on. I guess I should be pretty confident in the repair since it's made it 3+ years and 50K+ miles. Thankfully, I have the lifetime Maxcare warranty so I really don't fret about it too much. I don't think I'd have much interest in driving this truck without a warranty. Of course, with how hi-tech and expensive vehicles are these days I don't think I'd want to drive any of them without a warranty.

Agreed about the warranty. I will definitely broom this one before the 100,000 mile drive train warranty is up. Which is sad. It's been a great truck but I have always heard about the transmissions being the weak point. I thought that had been worked out prior to 2015. The only issues I have experience is that the radio sometimes will not come on at all when I start it. If I let it sit for a while it works fine and the power mirrors aren't working, but since I'm the only one driving it doesn't affect me at all. The radio thing is a PIA sometimes if I am driving more than 5 minutes. If my wife is with me she will ask "would you like me to sing?" I have yet to take her up on her offer ;-)

 

[VernDiesel]

She’ll Rotella T6. 10k interval.

 

[Garry71]

I had a 2012 Ram 1500 at 71,000 miles the transmission went out, when the dealer pull the cover pieces just fell out, tranny was junk, still the warranty covered the repairs, it took them 5 weeks to repair and return to me, thinking it was a fluke deal I upgraded to a new 2015 Ram 2500, at 46,000 miles the torque converter goes out and need replacement back to the dealer it goes,the have it 7 days,low and behold at 71,000 miles the valve body craps out and I only have 4th gear and reverse, once again I take it to the dealer they have it 10 days before I get it back. This is not a work truck, we pull a 24 foot travel trailer, we don't abuse it. So at this point we are looking for something other than any Ram product, as they get a total no confidence vote from me.

 

[2500farmer]

We have a 2014 2500 4x4 with the 5.7 and thank goodness nothing has happened with the transmission yet iy only has about 40,000 miles and the only problem with the transmission is when we are towing a gooseneck or any other trailer with a load even in tow/haul mode it still shifts wayyyyy too early

 

[maverickmk]

I had a 2012 Ram 1500 at 71,000 miles the transmission went out, when the dealer pull the cover pieces just fell out, tranny was junk, still the warranty covered the repairs, it took them 5 weeks to repair and return to me, thinking it was a fluke deal I upgraded to a new 2015 Ram 2500, at 46,000 miles the torque converter goes out and need replacement back to the dealer it goes,the have it 7 days,low and behold at 71,000 miles the valve body craps out and I only have 4th gear and reverse, once again I take it to the dealer they have it 10 days before I get it back. This is not a work truck, we pull a 24 foot travel trailer, we don't abuse it. So at this point we are looking for something other than any Ram product, as they get a total no confidence vote from me.

Wow, that really sucks. If this takes 5 weeks I'm going to be upset. But, at least I won't have to pay to get it repaired, so there's that

 

[mtofell]

So at this point we are looking for something other than any Ram product, as they get a total no confidence vote from me.

I don't blame you in the least and, even as a Ram owner, agree to a large extent. I like Ram because I feel I generally got a lot more for my money than with Ford or Chevy/GMC. That being said, I went in suspect of reliability. Things do seem to have gotten better over the last decade (of course, all vehicles have gotten better but I mean Ram has closed the gap). For whatever reason though, transmissions have been a bit of an Achilles heel for Dodge/Ram over the years. Certainly no Allison like comes in the Chevy/GMC. Ford? I know they had some really bad ones 15-20 years ago but have gotten a tick better lately. I really hope Ram has got it better figured out.

As a guy who's 66rfe blew up at 38K for no reason it would be easy for me to just bury my head and say Ram trannys suck. Honestly though, from hanging out on this board for the last 5 years, tranny failures and problems are fairly rare.

 

[maverickmk]

I was informed yesterday that my truck is ready. I was told that they rebuilt the transmission. It had scorched the clutches and a few other parts were taken out as well. I have yet to pick it up. Hopefully it will be a full recovery

 

[maverickmk]

Got my truck back last night. Driving it home put a big grin on my face (the fact that it cost me $0.00 certainly is a part of that). The tranny has not been this good since I've owned it. I had appointments to go look at a few cars today, but cancelled all of them.