66RFE TROUBLE

[mtofell]

The mechanic at the dealership left a message that he'd like to speak with me tomorrow.

Wow!! I've tried many times to talk to the dealer mechanic and have always been turned down. I managed to catch one once after my first tranny failure and it was nice to get his direct take on things as opposed to the somewhat cryptic notes on the paperwork.

 

[deputy25]

Wow!! I've tried many times to talk to the dealer mechanic and have always been turned down. I managed to catch one once after my first tranny failure and it was nice to get his direct take on things as opposed to the somewhat cryptic notes on the paperwork.

He wanted to explain the repairs to me and asked if I had any questions. I did, so he answered those (all would void my warranty). We leave in the AM for some camping in central PA and WV. There will be some decent climbs, we'll see how it goes.

 

[crazy jerry]

, without any forethought for customer self-service.

are you for real. most people probly couldnt change a flat tire let alone a set of spark plugs and you want a serviceable trans

 

[HEMIMANN]

are you for real. most people probly couldnt change a flat tire let alone a set of spark plugs and you want a serviceable trans

Um, you familiar with ZF oil change process?

If not, read it. If so, your comment makes.no sense.

 

[deputy25]

We gave the transmission repairs a good workout the last few days. We have been pulling our camper (about 7K w gear and full tanks) on some long grades in central Pennsylvania. It has also been pretty warm and humid the last couple days. Trans is shifting fine again, highest temp we saw was 170 on a long grade between 99 in Altoona, PA and 22 west at Cresson Summit. It's not the Ike Gauntlet, but it's a good workout. We are still planning on the RevMax bypass and a deep pan. So far, so good.

 

[Megazor]

Question for those that have had their 66RFE replaced under the Max Car Warranty. How long did the process take? Tomorrow makes five weeks my truck has been at the dealership as they submit multiple reports to multiple departments within digital imaging (I think that the name). Side note... my dealership submitted the report wrong twice and once to the wrong department. The amount of paperwork the service team has to submit is ridiculous and I feel contributing to the delay issues.

Took my truck in for a transmission service and recall work on 19 June 2023, in preparation for a two week vacation in July. A half day service quote ended up taking 3 days and a return trip (23 June 2023) due to the dealership breaking the transmission dip stick tube, the transmission pan caked in RTV and leaking fluid, and check the programming and conduct a relearning for shifting issues. During the drive home the truck had very hard shifting from 5/6 into 4th and would not shift into 1/2/3 until it shifted into 4th. Which was not normal behavior. Before the service the transmission was shifting fine. It did have an issue when brand new (2300 miles) that required the solenoid pack to be replaced. Since then 60k miles and no issues. Fast forward a few days (27 June 2023) and the truck was back with the dealership due to shifting issues and overheating transmission temperatures, where it has been sitting since. Dealership called and said clutch pressures for forth gear were off and after tearing it apart, several clutches were toast.

The dealership quoted prices are nuts with 100k plus miles 66RFEs being almost as much as a new one from Mopar.

 

[Treburkulosis]

Sorry to hear about the bad luck. Mine has been awesome! Hauled some very heavy loads over the years. I am 160k on the original transmission and it is perfect. Ive kept up with maintaining it and that has been the key. Redline and a factory dodge filter.

 

[mtofell]

Question for those that have had their 66RFE replaced under the Max Car Warranty. How long did the process take?

Yeah, it can take a bit depending on parts availability. And that's once the mothership gods at FCA give them the approval which can take some time. My tranny failures got started pretty quickly and, IIRC took 1-2 months each. The engine was a whole other beast. They put me through hell proving I owned the truck and going over my service records. They tried to object to the way my state (Oregon) labels the registration. It says "Registration Application" across the top and they said that doesn't prove it's registered to me. The fact that I had the keys, the title and the truck I guess wasn't enough for them Anyway, I finally got it worked out and it was 3+ months. Putting it together the radiator got damaged and was going to take six weeks on back order and they got approval to get one from NAPA which surprised me. Overall, I think a lot is out of the dealer's hands but that does suck if they are submitting the paperwork incorrectly.

 

[deputy25]

Our local dealership completed the repairs on our truck transmission in three days start to finish. New valve body, solenoid pack, input clutches, pump, and trans cooler.

 

[HEMIMANN]

Sorry to hear about the bad luck. Mine has been awesome! Hauled some very heavy loads over the years. I am 160k on the original transmission and it is perfect. Ive kept up with maintaining it and that has been the key. Redline and a factory dodge filter.

I'm on the bubble whether to get my 66RFE upgraded or not. I'm keeping this truck as long as I can, only has 53k miles on it. Still towing with it, got rid of cooling line thermostat and changed to Red Line C+AtF trans oil. Shifts better, stays cool, but still.

Reading more about this trans, not enough clutches, overdrive sprag undersized with plastic spacers instead of steel, torque converter stall speed too high breaks stator fins, and of course, the wonderful valvebody.

The really sad part of this is the planetary gear sets seem solid. Then they built everything around them for crap. What a kluge.

I'm getting to creaky to go after it myself - do any of you guys recommend a trans rebuild shop finder specializing in RFE's in particular?

 

[06 Dodge]

I'm on the bubble whether to get my 66RFE upgraded or not. I'm keeping this truck as long as I can, only has 53k miles on it. Still towing with it, got rid of cooling line thermostat and changed to Red Line C+AtF trans oil. Shifts better, stays cool, but still.

Reading more about this trans, not enough clutches, overdrive sprag undersized with plastic spacers instead of steel, torque converter stall speed too high breaks stator fins, and of course, the wonderful valvebody.

The really sad part of this is the planetary gear sets seem solid. Then they built everything around them for crap. What a kluge.

I'm getting to creaky to go after it myself - do any of you guys recommend a trans rebuild shop finder specializing in RFE's in particular?

My self I check with Goerend down in IA and see who they would recommend...

 

[HEMIMANN]

My self I check with Goerend down in IA and see who they would recommend...

Who they?

 

[bigdodge]

Sorry to hear about the bad luck. Mine has been awesome! Hauled some very heavy loads over the years. I am 160k on the original transmission and it is perfect. Ive kept up with maintaining it and that has been the key. Redline and a factory dodge filter.

120k. Not much towing but I run the crap out of it at the dunes. Use redline as well and change it about every 30k. It's been solid. Redline made a big difference in shifting.

 

[06 Dodge]

Who they?

Goerend is a top of the line trans shop for the Ram 47 & 48 ref and Allison transmissions, so my self I would be asking them if they would recommend a good trans shop for a 66ref trans

 

[70UTE]

Update: rebuilt the transmission in the garage last week and installed over the weekend. Test drive today for about 20 miles after fluid fill and relearn. Used an OEM rebuild kit with the updated TSB provided by mopar in the kit. Sonnax valve body, sonnax bushing and Torrington bearings. Moses performance 2400 stall. Shifts as it should and had a couple clunks in 4th but without actually putting it through a drive cycle for miles and letting the computer learn on its own no telling just yet. Hoping for the best or I’ll be moving in to a. New truck. Currently at 102,900 miles. I forgot who mentioned the Moes performance converter but thanks for the heads up, it’s a little sluggish but through the gears it feels good.

 

[70UTE]

So the saga continues, 600 miles in on the rebuild and the overdrive clutch assembly failed, the clutch hub welded itself to the new sonnax bushings. Bearing material in the pan and filter. Ruined the new converter as well. After the rebuild I was having the same issue as I originally started out with. Loss of RPM and strange shifts from 2nd to 3rd and 4th, along with out right dangerous downshifts into passing gear where I lost power and then surged forward. As a reminder I had no codes and the ram service center couldn’t figure it out either. So the rebuild didn’t fare well with the result noted above. So I opted for a rebuilt replacement from veterans powertrain out of Wisconsin. I’m a tad bit over 100 miles after the install and I’m having yet again odd shifts. Mind you the guys at veterans powertrain are incredible Stan and Kurt are first class customer first and worked with me on a tight deadline. So this leaves me with even more confusion than when I started. These guys provided me a rebuild with billet valve body, new solenoid pack, tuneless shift kit and all the other goods. This leaves me to believe this truck has electrical issues and or PCM/TCM problems. I’ve traced a fair amount of the harness and tested pins to no avail and have t found shorts or issues. Any gurus know where to source PCM/TCM units ready to run for a 3/4 ton 5.7 66RFE combo? It’s possible that I have a strange mid year production truck with a nag4 controller as my build date is 04/2013, although a late production date I might have 2012 stuff on the mix.