Transmission problem - advice needed

[Billy Orr]

Need some help,

Trying to find a route to go to resolve a transmission issue I have on my 2018 ram 2500 6.4 L gas engine.

I need a new valve body and solenoid body and it's a 66RFE 6 speed automatic transmission.

At 88K miles the transmission went out and I took it to the dealership and they said it was out of warranty by mileage and charged me 4K a for rebuild and it lasted 3 months and went out again. They said they cannot get the parts to fix it that they are on permanent backorder with no ship date.

I was told to find the parts myself and I've looked everywhere and I do not want OEM because they are Chinese junk.

Can you direct me to a place I can find some quality parts that may have the upgrade or modifications to be dependable?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[mtofell]

Can't help directly but have the same truck/tranny and have had it go out twice (36K & 90K). The whole "cannot" thing with parts seems hard to believe. I'd definitely start by asking at a different dealer or getting a part# and checking around yourself.

Fwiw, on my second rebuild they tried not to replace the valve body and it failed within a couple weeks (sounds somewhat similar to your experience). I suppose if they skipped the valve body you saved a few bucks so paying for it now you're not really out money you wouldn't have spent before had they done it. After replacing the VB I've been essentially trouble free for nearly 20K. I say "essentially" because on it's best day, a 66rfe tranny is kind of poorly performing POS.

I just did a quick Google search for "buy 66rfe valve body" and got a bunch of hits. Put one in my "cart" and it seemed to be in stock and ready to ship. It was around $300 for remanufactured (+$100 core charge).

 

[ScubaSteve178]

For what it is worth the general consensus is that the transmission in these trucks is pretty good overall, but the main negating factor is that the valve body sucks. Sucks in that the channel plate to valve body seal is nothing but a metal separator plate with no gasket material on either side. This results in cross leaks which can cause various clutches to drag that are not supposed to be engaged, leading to premature wear. Beyond that, the accumulator pistons do not create an adequate seal and also tend to rock back and forth in the bores causing scuffing and more bypass leakage.

If the trans is burned out because of the VB issues, a normal rebuild should be adequate, but with a few aftermarket upgrades to the stock valve body being billet accumulator pistons and a billet channel plate and separator plate gasket. Sonnax makes a convenient drop in replacement with solenoid pack and a few other internal upgrades, but like the OEM, have been on backorder for months.

 

[jambbii]

ScubaSteve hit the nail on the head!

DNJ and Revmax both make the channel plate and you should be able to get the pistons and accumulator plate from multiple sources. A lot of aftermarket diesel companies have these for the 68rfe but the VB parts are the same.

 

[GsRAM]

I was going to suggest ATS, the company I purchased my transmission thermostat bypass block from. With your multiple failures to date I'd suggest you order one and bypass that thermostat. With your failures you may have foreign debris in it that could make it stick closed and if that happens, there will go another transmission.

I believe ATS has upgraded valve bodies for the 68EFE, not sure about the 66, but probably worth a call.

Good luck

 

[ScubaSteve178]

I was going to suggest ATS, the company I purchased my transmission thermostat bypass block from. With your multiple failures to date I'd suggest you order one and bypass that thermostat. With your failures you may have foreign debris in it that could make it stick closed and if that happens, there will go another transmission.

I believe ATS has upgraded valve bodies for the 68EFE, not sure about the 66, but probably worth a call.

Good luck

As far as I know, the 66 and 68rfe transmissions are identical save for the actual transmission case itself. I believe a majority of the hard parts are shared between the two, valve bodies included, and the only reason for the different cases is due to the bellhousings for the Cummins vs Hemi.

 

[GsRAM]

Could be..
I bought the ats bypass block for my truck and while I got it to work it's not the same as the factory thermostat block, which made the install a little difficult. I believe the 68rfe and possibly the aisin have rubber transmission cooler lines, at least part of them are. Mine are all hard aluminum, so I didn't have much play to work with.

The nipple included in my kit wouldn't thread into my transmission case, it was wrong. I played phone and email tag with the ats rep and they never did send me a replacemrnt nipple. That was the main reason I bought their kit too.

Oh well, typical crappy customer service of the days we're living in.

Just my .02.

 

[Dusty]

As far as I know, the 66 and 68rfe transmissions are identical save for the actual transmission case itself. I believe a majority of the hard parts are shared between the two, valve bodies included, and the only reason for the different cases is due to the bellhousings for the Cummins vs Hemi.

They do not have identical internals. The 66RFE is rated at 660 lb. ft. and the 68RFE is rated at 890 lb. ft.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 063671 miles.

 

[DodgeDude1999]

I bought a brand new valve body off one of the online Mopar parts sellers for around $550 (and that was with the solenoid pack!) back in May. I added the Sonnax pistons, plate, SSV, DNJ channel plate, and also a bonded separator plate from Revmax. This is essentially what you’re getting buying from the other places.

Revmax, Randy’s Babymaker, Muldoons, ATS, or track down a new Mopar one and add the aftermarket parts yourself.

Just take note that a VB isn’t plug & play. A trans quicklearn will have to be done with a scan tool, or some tuners modules like EZ Lynk (which deleted diesel guys use)have the ability to do it. And they you will have to baby it for a 100 miles or so for the trans to learn your driving habits.

Might as well get a deep trans pan and some Mopar filters while you have it down.

 

[Bandit1859]

Need some help,

Trying to find a route to go to resolve a transmission issue I have on my 2018 ram 2500 6.4 L gas engine.

I need a new valve body and solenoid body and it's a 66RFE 6 speed automatic transmission.

At 88K miles the transmission went out and I took it to the dealership and they said it was out of warranty by mileage and charged me 4K a for rebuild and it lasted 3 months and went out again. They said they cannot get the parts to fix it that they are on permanent backorder with no ship date.

I was told to find the parts myself and I've looked everywhere and I do not want OEM because they are Chinese junk.

Can you direct me to a place I can find some quality parts that may have the upgrade or modifications to be dependable?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

The only problem is most dealers will not install non oem parts. You may have to have this done elsewhere

 

[ScubaSteve178]

They do not have identical internals. The 66RFE is rated at 660 lb. ft. and the 68RFE is rated at 890 lb. ft.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 063671 miles.

I mentioned cases would be different, but share most of the internals. I think the pumps are different due to the difference in RPM range and TC stickout, but as far as clutches, sprags, and most of the other hard parts, I think they are the same unless you can confirm different. Brochure numbers don't tell the whole story. A lot of the torque capacity could be due to the fact the 66rfe case is a thinner casting, and ATS diesel confirmed to me that their 66rfe builds are basically the same parts as what they put in the 68's.

 

[jambbii]

I mentioned cases would be different, but share most of the internals. I think the pumps are different due to the difference in RPM range and TC stickout, but as far as clutches, sprags, and most of the other hard parts, I think they are the same unless you can confirm different. Brochure numbers don't tell the whole story. A lot of the torque capacity could be due to the fact the 66rfe case is a thinner casting, and ATS diesel confirmed to me that their 66rfe builds are basically the same parts as what they put in the 68's.

Although I am not a fan of ATS I think they are correct for the most part. I don't think the housing is part of the torque capacity, most likely is the torque converter I am assuming (they are way bigger on the diesels).

 

[Billy Orr]

Thanks to everyone for replying. This helps tremendously and I will you guys posted.

 

[DanEddy]

The 68RFE transmission has several weaknesses and has a reputation for early life failures. Here's the bottom line, do not rebuild it to OEM standards with OEM parts. The Pump housing is made with a soft aluminum and wears allowing leaks past the pump, the input shaft is not a billet unit and can break, the clutch pack needs to be a bigger unit. So the fix is to get a quality rebuilt trans to either a Stage 1 or Stage 2 which has the questionable components replaced with stronger aftermarket parts.

You can buy these online for between $6,000 and $7,000 and have your shop install it. It's allot of money but in the long run you'll be glad. You might also opt for a triple disc converter. The word is that the 68RFE is a great design, just that mother MOPAR made poor choices in component materials.