Tranny Slip..... still

[WY.Ram]

Hey all, I am hoping someone can advise before I have to take my beloved to the dealership for tranny work.

2016 Power Wagon w 58K miles on the clock. Only once have I ever had any significant problem and it was with the trans at approximately 40K miles -during interstate travel trans dropped into Safe Mode / Limp mode at which point I had the TSB for a trans solenoid completed. Aside from that, and a few nuance items the truck has been nothing short of perfect.

I started noticing tranny slip, delayed start from a stop, in heavy, hot stop and go traffic a couple weeks ago. I immediately checked fluid level, 3/4 qt low, I added the same to bring level up. No change. Trans still slipped on starts. I did a oil and filter change, a pan drop but I let it drain for a good amount of time also lifting the front end with a jack in order to drain the TC as much as possible. I drained and replaced 9qts of ATF+4 fluid. The slip improved significantly but I still detect slip on start - maybe even intermittently, sometimes the slip is no doubt, sometimes I think its fixed but then it slips happens again.

Mostly stock, CAI, pedal commander, Trinity T2 (canned tune until header install which will happen immediately upon tranny fix) magnaflow catback, 35" MTs, I baby the crap out of her until we need WOT.

Any suggestions on what I am looking at or could possibly do to correct would be greatly appreciated.

The magnet was covered with a light gray film, as was the filter and inside of pan but nothing gritty, the outside of the filter and the magnet were covered nearly the same, the magnet had only slightly more gray film covering it then the filter, and the smell was the smell of clean synthetic, the color was just a shade darker in the old oil compared to the new Mobile 1 ATF*4.

Any other info I can provide please let me know. thank you again

 

[Tach_tech]

Honestly if it’s slipping, tranny has to come out. There’s not much you can do to fix a slip with the trans in. I’ve seen a few accumulator piston covers pop off due to the screws coming out. That usually causes a consistent slip though.

 

[WY.Ram]

It might be more consistent then I want to believe, I might just be in denial and hoping the slip is gone and then it leaves me no doubt. Wow, that is somewhat disappointing but information is much appreciated. Hopefully warranty is still intact.

I guess looking ahead, would this be a good time to change out the TC and do you think the dealer would install an aftermarket TC if it were a Mopar unit? I understand dealerships can be unique, I have very little experience dealing with them and I just moved to CO so I didn't even buy my truck from the place I am going to take it. Ah out of the ol comfort zone.

Thank you again.

 

[Tach_tech]

Wouldn’t be a bad idea to replace the converter as well. I imagine most dealers would install a different converter if you want but there may not honor any warranty on that converter, if it’s not the OE one.

 

[WY.Ram]

Right on, any recommendation on make and stall for converter?

 

[Tach_tech]

Right on, any recommendation on make and stall for converter?

If it’s just a daily driver that you don’t really race I’d just stick with a stick converter.

 

[WY.Ram]

I do like to drive her everyday but we don't fit the mold of the daily driver. And at $3.60 a gallon some days i just give her a good cleaning, then sit and look.

Right now the truck is mostly stock but we have solid plans in the next 6 months. She'll never be a quarter mile stallion but I do not mind running light to light with whoever is sitting next to me, sometimes we get a nice display of power from another - such as your 5.7.

At 75mph and uphill not much gives us grief, But we could do a lot better down low, those 35" tires changed the gearing enough that it takes a second or six to get her 7500 lbs moving, (actually gotta be closer to 8500lbs).

Also I live at 7000 ft, and a good portion of the year we are 10,000 to 12,000 ft higher then where most people live. From there we start climbing.

So between the weight, the tire size, the elevation, the light to light with a Furd v6 next to me, and some mid-weight off-roading I was thinking a 25%-ish higher stall speed TC can be one of the best mods I do to this truck. If I am wrong let me know

If I am wrong and there is a better mod to recover my low end torque and power (besides get a diesel) let me know I'm down.

Tach-Tech I do appreciate you Brother, thank you!

 

[Burla]

Do you always tow in tow/haul mode? What is the gearing?

Diesel wouldn't help either, my brother went through 3 auto tranny's in his business truck (Ram Cummins) til he said screw it and went manual transmission. He never looked back, it is the weakest spot on these rams, always has been. We aren't rocking Allison's like some lucky fellas. However, you need to drive a chevy to get one from factory and I would rather die.

Check your warranty, what is it on 6.4 as far as power train? Is it a business truck? They denied my brother, he had to pay out of pocket because it was a business truck. I believe they paid for the first failure but he was out of pocket on the next two, but to be honest I forgot, it was a long time ago. I know he had to pay for the last one, that is why he went to a manual transmission. He towed heavy, real heavy though, landscape business and heavy equipment.

Did you follow temps,is the tranny getting hot for extended periods of time? Like 225f or higher?

 

[Burla]

I would get a valve body upgrade before a TC for this, easy install you can do it yourself if you drop the pan. Here.

 

[WY.Ram]

I do not tow, nothing really noticeable. When my family moved I pulled a uhaul for a couple days and I think that is the bulk of it. The truck is registered to my business, an LLC, under my name only. I paid for a Max Care the day of purchase, so that should be under my LLC also. I haul tools and crew but thats it. Thats creepy FCA bailed on the warranty for a commercial vehicle.

I believe the 6.4 powertrain warranty is 100K / 5 year, I will try to confirm thru online info, my paperwork is in the truck, which I did drop at dealership last night. no word yet.

I do follow my trans temp and I have to work real hard to get the temps above 180F. Most often when I check the temp is pretty stable on 160F. thats on my Evic, I have to scroll to get a numeric readout but I have one of the dummy gauges permanently displayed and I have not seen the trans above like half way - kinda worthless dummy gauge. I guess they could be used to alarm and if I want a number I can scroll. With that, I have my Trinity displaying the trans temp - this is fairly new device, I have logged the crap out of numbers but I haven't set up the viewer yet. I will do so and look to see if any high temps were recorded.

What would extended high temp cause and or indicate??

What would a valvebody upgrade do for trans and performance? I do like the idea that I can install myself. I just had the pan off while changing fluid and filters. felt like surgery to me, I was sketched to to touch the valvebody of even have the sump filter off for more than 10 minutes.

thank you Burla

 

[Burla]

Hot transmission oil can varnish clutches. But that doesn't sound like your problem, it would have to be hot like 220f and up for a long time. Sharadon valve bodies are very popular, but I don't know what they would do to your warranty. You can't keep the old one, you have to send it back as a core. I think with your warranties in tact, you should just do nothing and see if it fails. Stick with atf-4 as well. Now when you are out of warranty, go with VB upgrade and get ester oil in there.

VB puts more fluid every faster, I believe more psi as well, faster shifts for sure. When you let the oil fluid level go low, it can do the opposite, I doubt less then a qrt did that, but I keep checking the dip stick while engine running and cold. yes check the level when cold and hot.

 

[WY.Ram]

So check the trans hot and cold? I feel llke that is really good advice. I actually did a couple times then I stopped because twice I checked it cold and the reading cold was higher then the reading hot, and I don't mean by a little but the entire distance between the cold high level and the hot low level. I decided it was due to the pump hadn't put the juice back in the torque converter yet, since This was immediately after adding new fluid during the fluid and filters change. I decided I never wanted to see a cold measurement higher then the hot again, once the the Hot level was perfect I never looked at the cold again. In retrospect it doesn't seem real smart to me now either.

Varnished clutches seems like a real possibility. I watch the trans temp but not for the life of the truck. Probably over the course of the the last 8K miles due to from reading here. I don't think I watched too carefully in the beginning. Would a varnished clutch slip immediately after a high temp event or could it gradually start slipping after high temp event cleared? like several thousand miles later ?

oh yeah, I don't tow enough to claim towing but I drive with tow/haul mode on almost exclusively.

 

[Burla]

Trans slipping is always gradual in my experience. Other then some type of shift kit or valve body, using a cleaner or different fluid would be a shot in the dark, maybe it will hit the target, but I wouldn't wager money on it. Verify the warrant you got left, the answer may be clear, let it fail.

 

[RLJ10X]

5/6 or 8?

 

[WY.Ram]

Six speed

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