P0740 code with mopar lifetime warranty

[Blanked]

2016 2500 auto with 6.4 66 rfe. Intermittant P0740 torque convertor overange. Whats the best way to handle this to honor the mopar lifetime warranty? Took to 2 dealers. First said to keep driving until it gets worst basically then bring it back. Second says needs teardown for inspection likely needs a torque convertor. Had tranny full serviced nothing unusual found. Worst case scenario will this leave me stranded ? I drive in remote country all the time no cell service. Currently runs fine and normal tranny temp. Are there any fine print on the mopar warranty that they will not cover working on this intermittent problem? Code is stored not active when dealer looks at it

 

[oledirteh]

Honestly if there are codes stored, and its giving problems, have them tear it down. But the issue is parts availability.

 

[62Blazer]

The issue is that properly diagnosing an intermittent issue is extremely hard to do. Sure, you can throw random parts at it and hope you get lucky but warranty companies tend to cringe at that. If there are codes stored it can point you in the general direction of the problem, but it doesn't tell you exactly what repair is needed or part needs replaced.

 

[nlambert182]

Agreed with all the above. Most times for a warranty repair, the problem has to be positively identified. They're only going to repair what is confirmed to be the issue. They don't typically pay for discovery. Not sure is MaxCare is the same.

 

[Blanked]

You would think as many years as this transmission has been on the road the factory has a history of what is the most common fix.

 

[nlambert182]

It doesn't matter what the most common fix is if that isn't what's wrong with this particular transmission.

Multiple things can sometimes cause the same issue.

It could be low fluid, a bad clutch solenoid, a bad valve body, a bad TCM, and can even be a bad coolant temp sensor. You have to find the problem.

 

[2003F350]

Agreed with all the above. Most times for a warranty repair, the problem has to be positively identified. They're only going to repair what is confirmed to be the issue. They don't typically pay for discovery. Not sure is MaxCare is the same.

Having used Maxcare, particularly the lifetime one when it was available, even if it is an intermittent issue it covers it. It should be a $100 deductible THE FIRST TIME you take it in for the issue, and until the claim is closed out you don't pay again for that issue. I had a transmission pan that was rusty covered, I had front and rear parking sensors covered, various other small parts covered, and the final issue was the MAP sensor that went bad with no code before the truck wouldn't start again because of it. Took three weeks to figure it out, then another two weeks waiting on the Mopar part (they do have to replace components with Mopar parts under Maxcare).

In this case because it is a Mopar warranty it DOES pay for discovery. For an extremely intermittent issue, though, most don't want to spend time driving it to get it to do it.

I would suggest that you drive it until the code comes on, then DO NOT SHUT IT OFF until you have a dealer tech hook up their scanner to it to read the data. There's an asterisk here, if it happens in the middle of the night you're gonna have to shut it off or burn a lot of fuel, but if it happens during normal hours then drive to the closest dealer.

 

[62Blazer]

Having used Maxcare, particularly the lifetime one when it was available, even if it is an intermittent issue it covers it. It should be a $100 deductible THE FIRST TIME you take it in for the issue, and until the claim is closed out you don't pay again for that issue. I had a transmission pan that was rusty covered, I had front and rear parking sensors covered, various other small parts covered, and the final issue was the MAP sensor that went bad with no code before the truck wouldn't start again because of it. Took three weeks to figure it out, then another two weeks waiting on the Mopar part (they do have to replace components with Mopar parts under Maxcare).

In this case because it is a Mopar warranty it DOES pay for discovery. For an extremely intermittent issue, though, most don't want to spend time driving it to get it to do it.

I would suggest that you drive it until the code comes on, then DO NOT SHUT IT OFF until you have a dealer tech hook up their scanner to it to read the data. There's an asterisk here, if it happens in the middle of the night you're gonna have to shut it off or burn a lot of fuel, but if it happens during normal hours then drive to the closest dealer.

Agree with the above, regarding the warranty. A problem is a problem regardless of how intermittent. For the OP, it's not that the warranty will not cover it. Rather it is that the dealership does not want to deal with it. If they spend hours and hours trying to diagnose the issue but never resolve it they many never get reimbursed by the warranty company........that would be the warranty company paying them for not fixing anything. Or they can spend hours on it and randomly slap on $1,000 worth of parts that don't fix the issue. Again, that would be the warranty company paying them a bunch of money for not fixing the issue.
And most dealerships have a severe lack of technicians actually capable of in-depth diagnosis. Even if they did, they don't want to waste hours and hours when they can do simple jobs, and simple meaning stuff that just needs parts slapped on it.

 

[Blanked]

Thank you excellent info!

 

[mtofell]

Beauty of the warranty is to just drive it until it dies.... especially once you've taken it into the dealer and it's documented and they sent you away. Driving far away from cell service, etc.? No one can really do much about that. That being said I'd say the odds are you can at least limp out a few miles to civilization.

 

[GTyankee]

This site is usually a very good reference

P0740 Torque Converter Clutch Circuit Malfunction DTC

 

[Sherman Bird]

The issue is that properly diagnosing an intermittent issue is extremely hard to do. Sure, you can throw random parts at it and hope you get lucky but warranty companies tend to cringe at that. If there are codes stored it can point you in the general direction of the problem, but it doesn't tell you exactly what repair is needed or part needs replaced.

My late Dad was a systems engineer for IBM. He told me many times that it is better to be lucky than good when it comes to intermittent problems. I've experienced that enough times to know how true that is!

 

[Sherman Bird]

You would think as many years as this transmission has been on the road the factory has a history of what is the most common fix.

Your point, although seemingly a good one, is flawed in that what worked for a particular problem last time on a completely different vehicle for the same symptom, isn't likely to fix the problem because it implies skipping pin point diagnosis.