Transmission Time Bomb

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Woob

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Here is a weird one. My transmission has been having trouble between 2nd and 3rd gear. Sometimes I get a jerk, sometimes I get a KLUNK, sometimes I get a grinding noise, and sometimes I get all 3. I decided to use my phone to try to record the sounds. Here's the weird part. None of the sounds get recorded BUT there is a tick tocking recorded. Kind of like an old wind up clock. Anybody have a clue as to what is going on? Do I really have a time bomb of sorts on my hand? If I start in 2nd gear and then shift to DRIVE at 3rd, I get no klunks, thunks or noises. I haven't yet recorded this to see if the ticking is present while doing this. To record, I just laid my phone on the hump on the floor.
 

JL3100

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Might be 2nd prime going out, if you manually shift from 2nd to 3rd you would be skipping the prime gear
 
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Woob

Woob

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Can you explain "2nd prime going out" and "skipping the prime gear"? What does it all mean? How bad of an issue are we looking at? Thanks.

I just did some surfing and found out a bit about this 2nd prime thing. Seems I have a 4 speed trans with the 2 second gears. One for upshifting and one for down shifting. (1.67 upshift 1.50 downshift). OK. Whatever. My problem seems to be on the upshift. I get the grinding and jumping when going from 2nd to 3rd. I don't notice any issues when it shifts back down. If I start in 2nd, the truck shifts thru 1 & 2 and then I shift to DRIVE for 3 and I don't get the bumps, grinds and jerks. Ideas? Thanks, again.
 
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HemiLonestar

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The 45RFE (your trans, having a 2002 4.7) has four forward normal gears (1, 2, 3, OD), however when you romp on it it's designed to kick down to a gear ratio between 2nd and 3rd. The downside to this is that is uses the physically weakest clutches in the case. Enough full power downshifts (especially when there's a hemi in front of it) have been known to destroy that clutch set and cause problems.
  • 1st 3.00:1
  • 2nd 1.67:1
  • 2nd Prime 1.50:1 (Only used when a kickdown acceleration)
  • 3rd 1.00:1
  • 4th 0.75:1
The 545 gets an extra OD gear (.67:1, which you can enable if you want to) otherwise same exact trans, programming makes the different gears happen. This 2P issue is why most of us (especially with perf mods) either hit OD off or slap it down into actual 2nd gear to avoid 2P.
 

HemiLonestar

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Might be 2nd prime going out, if you manually shift from 2nd to 3rd you would be skipping the prime gear
Doesn't work that way, unless you meant downshifting from 3rd to 2nd.
 

1dbcoleman

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Can you explain "2nd prime going out" and "skipping the prime gear"? What does it all mean? How bad of an issue are we looking at? Thanks.

I just did some surfing and found out a bit about this 2nd prime thing. Seems I have a 4 speed trans with the 2 second gears. One for upshifting and one for down shifting. (1.67 upshift 1.50 downshift). OK. Whatever. My problem seems to be on the upshift. I get the grinding and jumping when going from 2nd to 3rd. I don't notice any issues when it shifts back down. If I start in 2nd, the truck shifts thru 1 & 2 and then I shift to DRIVE for 3 and I don't get the bumps, grinds and jerks. Ideas? Thanks, again.
 

1dbcoleman

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I have a 08 mega cab, 3 transmissions this year. These are a very touchy and expensive one to repair. I had a billet torque converter and the very best pads also billet clutch housings. 5200 on this one. The 5.7 is now stroked 396ci. With 550hp at the crank
 

huntergreen

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Line speed pressure sensor is faulty.
 
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Woob

Woob

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Doesn't work that way, unless you meant downshifting from 3rd to 2nd.
So again I ask, what could my issue be since the grinding and jerking happen during upshifting but not downshifting? As I said, if I start in 2nd and then put it in drive once I hit 4th, I don't have the problems.
 
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Woob

Woob

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full

Nice vehicles. I've got a 2002 1500 Quad-cab 4.7 and a 2007 Magnum SXT 3.5HO. Missed the hemi by 1 year.
 

huntergreen

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Do you mean trans speed sensor or trans pressure sensor?
I meant the line speed pressure sensor. It’s externally locacated on the trans. Had the symptoms you describe on our 2004 grand Cherokee. Replaced that sensor and all was fixed. Same trans used in ram 1500s
 

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