2011 2500 Power Wagon 545RFE transmission woes

[gtomike60]

My neighbor just bought this truck last week
Trans was rebuilt at some point,but the mileage on it is unknown,and it went into limp mode on his way to work this morning
I pulled the codes for him and there are 7...P0750,0882,0876,0988,0871,0846,and 2181
I cleared the codes,started the truck and put it in drive and it went back into limp mode right away
He says it isn't/wasn't slipping

Will a new solenoid pack fix this?
If so,where's the best place to get one?

Thanks for any help/advice

 

[Burla]

Everyone facing this needs to make a decision to try and toss money at the VB or get a new trans, you have no history on this thing and you are gonna start throwing pieces at it. The downside, if the clutch packs are old and worn but you replace all the brains and the weaknesses and you end up needing a tranny at some point soon, you get no credit for all of those pieces you threw at it.

If it was me personally, the first thing I do is make sure the battery is new or newish and it working fine. Then I check the trans fluid level and condition to make sure. Try and find was it flashed or quick relearn after trans work. Replace that sensor on the trans housing (psi sensor) or every sensor related to trans I dont know if there are more offhand, this might just work. Try and find out what work was done and when, if not it is a risk. Then I'd replace everything you can without dropping trans, which is valve body with upgrades, solenoid (white), transmission filters and upgrade canister filter to metal upgrade (very important). I think it is a safe move as your symptoms are not typical of clutch issues, so a calculated risk it might pay off, but risk none the less. Again, the risk is clutch pack condition, if those are bad this will be a waste of money, no shop will rebuild the tranny and leave what you did in the trans and warranty it. Other risk may be it is something else that fixes it, but still in a 2011 depending on what trans work was done a dn when, all of these items are really good investments. It's a big unknown anything about this trans?

 

[gtomike60]

Thanks for responding Burla

I'll tell him what your thoughts are and let him decide his next course of action

 

[gtomike60]

Who makes/sells the best quality valve body and solenoid pack?

If he goes this route,he'll want the best quality parts

 

[Burla]

Because he has the 2500 their are a lot of great choices. The best solenoid is the GM, so look up GM solenoid upgrade kit for the rfe, or just get the white oem. The "known" best would be sharadon if you can get them to rebuild it or suncoast of you can find a 545 option. ATS had some issues when they first come out, but the 911 is lately they addressed them and are a much better product. I say that because for sure they are easily found. I cant remember off hand look and see if ats has the gm solonoid upgrade.

So there are two ways to go about this, you can just get a replacement vb and it will likely be good as good as oem if not a little better as they address weaknesses of oem. However, those generally arent upgraded. The different is upgraded ones the expensive options use a solid plate so you will never have a leak there and you can run increases psi to protect the trans. But for this option you will need a tune to go with it to justify the expense. If it were me and I didnt tow super heavy over 7k pounds or I didnt beat it, I'd opt for a oem replacement. There are plenty out there ats, sonnax or revmax are just some options or brands he can look into. You can even go to a junk yard and get a VB and do the upgrades yourself, get all hands on with it. Or find a reputable company that gives refund if it doesnt work. If the VB doesnt work most of the time it was the solenoid as the culprit.

 

[Burla]

Send him this video to watch, hemi395 found this a while back very helpful...

Product Overview: ATS 68RFE Valve Body and ATS Co-Pilot

Clint Cannon, President of ATS, describes the inherent weaknesses of the 68RFE (545RFE, too) valve body. This is a comprehensive overview of the numerous pro...

youtu.be

 

[gtomike60]

Got it fixed and working good again
Drained the fluid into a clean pan and there was no glitter in it.The magnet had barely anything stuck to it
New Sonnax valve body and Mopar solenoid pack,new filters and fluid.
Did the quick relearn and took it for a test drive and it performed perfectly

Thanks again for your advice Burla,much appreciated