Transmission Whine

[MyDigitalParadise]

As the title suggests I've a whine coming from my transmission. Not a very strong one, in fact my wife can't hear it but I definitely do. I've also lost noticable in town milage. Now no better than 10-11 MPG when I used to manage 15-16. The whine is subtle and quiet but similar in tone (sound frequency) to a bad power steering box. I've also noticed that when I start the truck after sitting and go to give it gas that the transmission is in obvious need to build up pressure. Highway performance I've only lost a mile or two per gallon though. My truck is a 2004 Ram 1500 with the Hemi motor. No upgrades still all stock.

Any suggestions on how best to diagnose the issue. I've no good shops around here I trust and too many of the local shops here know that the next nearest option is 90+ miles away so pricing reflects a captive audience so self reliance is really important around here.

 

[AJMAG]

id like to know this too my trucks doing the same thing and i just had my trans built not to long ago.

 

[Redtruck-VA]

Just throwing out some ideas, any codes? Maintenance history? Are you sure it's the trans and not the differienial?

 

[AJMAG]

Just throwing out some ideas, any codes? Maintenance history? Are you sure it's the trans and not the differienial?

for me, i got my trans and rear built at the same time (bad day) and all fluid levels and everything are spot on with no codes

dont mean to thread jack either..

 

[OlDirtyJohn]

first thing to do is check your fluid. the level, and the smell, and how it looks. it should be bright red, not the slightest bit brown. it should not smell burnt at all. and the level needs to be spot on. any slight variance in fluid level can cause some crazy things to happen.

 

[Redtruck-VA]

for me, i got my trans and rear built at the same time (bad day) and all fluid levels and everything are spot on with no codes

dont mean to thread jack either..

AJ, in your case I would definitely be checking the rearend because they worked on it. IMO, the rear differential is more prone to whine than the trans.

 

[MyDigitalParadise]

I'll recheck the fluid levels. I've moved to driving my bike most days to save on Gas so I'll have to recheck the levels, No codes and the fluid was changed by myself just a few months ago. Mopar filters and the such, no shortcuts. The biggest thing I can say aside from the noise is that there is a noticable response gap from when I step on the gas and the motor revs up and the drive train actually engaging. As I stated above almost a 1/3 loss of milage in town but highway performance is a minimal loss in fuel performance.

Unfortunately My ex girlfriend drove the truck a fair bit and I've since found out she overloaded the trailer she was hauling as well as being really rough on how she drove it. Definitely has been some abuse of the transmission to consider.

I will recheck the fluid conditions and level tonight. There have been no codes to consider and I do have a code reader.

 

[Redtruck-VA]

Along with checking fluid levels I would a PCM reboot by disconnecting the battery.

 

[KGBIGCOUNTRY]

Could be the converter going out on it, deff check the fluid. On your fluid changed did you run it through all the gears and then recheck after?

 

[MyDigitalParadise]

Along with checking fluid levels I would a PCM reboot by disconnecting the battery.

I believe I have done that but can do so again.

Converter? How would I check on that?

 

[KGBIGCOUNTRY]

The verter is between the trans and motor, no real way to check that far as I know. Check the fluid to make sure non of its low.

 

[MyDigitalParadise]

Torque Converter "Duh"

Bit dense sometimes. One of the things I was worried about is that the seals between the transmission and the torque conveter may have started to give out under the abuse the transmission recieved.

 

[MyDigitalParadise]

Well back at it again. Never did get this fixed. Still at the same status. Intown milage sucks, highway down but only by about 2mpg.


I'll be checking all fluid levels again as well as all vacuum hoses and such. I will do the aformentioned reset and see what shows up as well and if need be I'll do another change on the fluid. No leaks, no bad smells. Fluid is still clean and red. Not sure where else to go with this other than I will dig into it this weekend.