2004 Dodge diesel automatic transmission

I have a 04 that the tranny shot craps.
It has a little over 200K miles, with about 60K in a new trans, the trans shop assured me all was well with it before I bought it. They dropped the old fluid out, found no filings in it, and refilled with Amsoil.
The dealer I bought it from knew how week Dodge trannys are, so he had them do the proper maintenance on it. But that is not the issue.
I see that Rock Auto has a 3 year warranty on the stuff they sell. This truck pulls a boat and a 2 axle 30 foot trailer.
I went down 200+ miles yesterday to check out a diskbine (New Holland 1411) which I did not buy. On the way down I heard a 'pop' then the tranny kept getting worse. I checked the fluid, it was way over full. That is not normal for this truck.
I made it home, left the truck idle why I unhooked the trailer, and that is all she wrote for the tranny.
Can anything be done to keep one alive with the Cummins in front? Don't suggest a manual trans, the wife needs an automatic.

The tranny can be rebuilt stronger and with any updates, improvements and upgrades as needed by a professional rebuild shop, but it will be EXPENSIVE.

Contact Certified Transmission, they offer a number of different stages of upgraded transmissions.

Find a reputable re-builder and have it gone through. It's going to be expensive, but probably worth it as long as all of the updates are done. It will go another 200K. Problem with all automatics is they are basically a hydraulic pump and motor with lots of wear parts.

Greg

Buy a 2010 on newer with the 68rfe, trannys in the 2003-2009 weren't the greatest, but think 94-02 were worse. I love dodge trucks but will say some did have tranny problems but now they have it figured out. Guess if it where me I'd pay the extra to fix a tranny every 60,000 miles than drive a ford, but that's just me.

If that is a 48RE transmission they are very good. I haul up to 30000lbs combined load with mine and it is still going strong at 95k. The key to making the transmission last is regular service. I have mine serviced every 10k by a professional transmission service shop. Don"t take it to Sears, Oil Can Henry"s or other drive through lube places. It cost about $100 each service but it is well worth it. Just my opinion and person experience.

http://www.goerend.com/images/header.jpg They have a 3 year 100000 mile warranty My son had them build him for his 2000 dodge with a larger turbo then it came with and 100 hp injectors and it will and has pulled any thing it can get traction for The dodge transmission don't lube the input bushing when idleing but this place fixed that so it does .

Check with DTT diesel and see if they have any authorized installers near you. They make a transmission that will stand up to any power a Cummins will put out, get any power box you want their transmission will handle it.
Think the address is: DTTdiesel.com

Whatever you do, do not buy any mail order transmission. They may have a warranty, but by the time you are through paying you will wonder what it covered. I have a customer that could tell you the saga of a superdeduper wonder trans he bought off the Internet. He ended up buying a GM trans after the second wonder trans crapped and he was tired of the run around. Do yourself a favor and get a reputable local shop to rebuild it or by a Jasper from a reputable shop where you see their face.

1. Professional rebuild/upgrade by a specialist

2. Allison makes very good automatic truck transmission for medium duty trucks, how good are you at adaptive mechanics aka redneck engineering aka Bubbabuilt Industries LLC?

Is that called stubborn?

DITTO!!!!!

Its called trying to stir up trouble.

Several years ago someone I work with purchased a Dodge 1 ton with Cummins, and auto. Dealer offered her extended warranty, and she declined initially, then after several people told her the tranny was weak, she contacted the dealer and paid $2,000 for an extended warranty. To my knowledge she never used it, but at the time the biggest load she carried was groceries or something from the home improvement store. This amazes me as I once declined a charge of $600 for an extended warranty for a Honda car. Boy, did I regret that, when the trans failed within 6 months of purchase. Dealer wanted $3500 for a "reman" trans. I replaced with used and promptly sent it to a new home once I found out how weak those transmissions were, and that they fail frequently at around 60K. I admit I have never even driven a Dodge/Cummins, but I find it hard to believe I would like it enough to accept rebuilding a trans every 60,000 miles with the costs associated with it, but maybe so.

Doug,

I own a transmission shop that does a lot of work on pickup transmissions. A lot of these guys are giving you great advice.

Id stay away from the remans. The ones that are built right with the right HD updates are way over priced. Mopar remans aren't built well and are also way too expensive. All will have a good warranty on paper, but may not in reality.

Find a reputable shop in your area and take the whole truck there.

The way a 48RE works is mechanically identical to how the 47RE/H, 46RE/H, 42RE/H have worked. The 48RE has more clutch capacity and heavier planetary sets.
They are all 3 spd transmissions that are virtually identical to the old torqueflights of the 60s-80s. Dodge built an overdrive unit in the tailhousing behind them that simply runs in direct in 1-3, then overdrives a planetary for 4th. This really is a solid theory.
They also added a lockup torque converter.

This is almost always where the trouble starts. Your converter charge oil and lube oil are the same oil circuit. When a converter clutch starts to fail, it piles the cooler full of clutch debris, then the chain reaction meltdown is on.

The biggest mistake I see in here is a guy puts a different transmission in his truck, runs a little bit of gas, solvent, air or whatever through the cooler lines and calls it good. a lot of dealerships even do it this way. Unless you have some form of a hot flushing system and can verify cooler flow, you need to replace the radiator and cooler with the transmission. If that cooler is restricted, the best transmission in the world is still a time bomb.

In my opinion, here are the crucial updates your transmission needs.

Quality billet cover converter-The billet cover dissipates heat much better and faster than the stock stamped steel cover and because of how the cover is designed you get a bigger lockup clutch(increased clamp load)

Shift kit- There are different brands that seem to be OK, I prefer Sonnax as they are the most in depth and I have the machining fixtures and tools to take care of problem wear areas. Transgo kits are OK too. The thing needs some lube flow updates, lockup pressure update, and a manual valve that charges the converter in park.

Coolers- Hot flush and verify flow, or replace.
Once a kit has been installed with the right manual valve, there is an inline check valve in the cooler line that needs to be removed, because it is not necessary anymore. This greatly opens up cooler flow and is a huge must.

The rest of the stuff- All new clutches, bands and electrical. Borg Warner builds a better governor solenoid that is the same price or cheaper than OEM. I only use transtec overhaul kits and mostly Borg Warner clutches and bands. Raybestos builds a great intermediate band.

The stuff that I think is overkill- Triple disc converter, hardened input shaft, hardened output shaft, other miscellaneous billet goodies sold on the internet for ridiculous prices.
Some of this stuff has its place for guys with big power additions on their trucks, but really does nothing for durability for the guy who pulls a lot. I feel your money is better spent on the problem areas, then on the chance you might snap a shaft when you bounce the truck at the county fair truck pull.

Find a good shop and ask questions, a good one can easily tell you what they do, and how they do it. They also should be able to get you a very close estimate range before they even start. Being a rebuild shop, it is very easy to hand you an itemized parts list and show you all the parts that were replaced when the job is done. For comparison, Im in central MN, and Im rural. My labor rate is $60hr and I run close to a 40% parts mark-up. That job would be in the 3k-3500 range with everything said and done. Where you are at labor may be higher, or they may run a little higher markup. At least it gives you an idea.

Sorry this post is long, but I am pretty passionate about the fact that built right, these are a great transmission that can take a beating.
BW

Where are you in Minnesota? I do have another truck I can pull the trailer with.
There isn't a good transmission shop near here. The last time I had a trans rebuilt here it took 3 tries to get it right. That was Powerstroke diesel.

Doug,

Im in central MN, but I was in no way soliciting work.

What you can do is go to the ATRA site. They have a shop locator there, punch in your zip and it should bring up all the member shops in whatever radius you set. ATRA is a national network of shops like mine. If I know where you are at I can hopefully get you a referral to a good shop that is a lot closer to you than I am.

Another option is like someone said below, call Goerend transmission in Iowa if they are closer.
I have seen some of the stuff they are doing, and they seem to do a good job. The others mentioned I just don"t have any experience with. Goerend does sell remans, then you would just have to find someone to replace it and take care of the cooler, or take the whole truck there and have them deal with it.

I would love to work for you, but Im a long ways away if you have any sort of issue down the line. My email should be open, feel free to email me and we will see what we can figure out. BW

STAY AWAY FROM DTT!!!!!!!!! The kid took over a few years ago and is a crook, runs it out of the basement, there's a body shop in their old location, THEY BUILD NOTHING!!!!!!! He doesn't even pay his suppliers anymore. THEIR PARTS ARE COMMON OE REPLACEMENT JUNK, THEY DON"T EVEN REMOVE THE OLD SHIPPING LABEL, JUST PUT THE NEW ONE OVER IT!!! If you are lucky to even get ANYTHING from them.

SAVE YOURSELF A TON OF HEADACHE, HEARTACHE, AND CASH. Go somewhere else. Eventually the word will get out enough and he won't be able to rob anyone blind anymore.

links to a few good reads about DTT. There's a couple websites they pay to advertise on, and the people who run the site protect the guy. The guy who runs the Diesel Truck Resource Forums banned him for his business practices.

There's a couple companies that built transmissions that if you break one, you were trying to break it. Goerend builds custom converters and valve bodies, but no longer sells complete transmissions. Call them up, they'll ask about your truck and what you do with it, and set you up with a rebuild kit, custom covertor and valve body, have a shop put it together and you'll have a transmission that you change the fluid and filter every 20K and not worry about it. Or get a FSM, a few tools, and do it yourself, the torqueflite-based transmissions aren't that complicated.

ATS is another. They say if you burn up a stage 2 transimssion from them, you made it your mission in life to burn it up.

You'd have better luck dumping hy-guard in that transmission than Amsoil. There's a fair number of guys who do. The additives help the clutches hold better.

There's no need to change the radiator on a Cummins. There's an oil-water heat exchanger under the turbo on auto-equipped trucks. Any auxiliary cooling is added in front of the radiator. Change it if you've got one. If not, get one. Don't ditch the heat exchanger, someone on the DTRF did, and nearly burnt up a new transmission on his first trip with the camper.
Good read about DTT

issues with DTT trans?

(quoted from post at 12:57:32 06/05/14) Doug,

Im in central MN, but I was in no way soliciting work.

What you can do is go to the ATRA site. They have a shop locator there, punch in your zip and it should bring up all the member shops in whatever radius you set. ATRA is a national network of shops like mine. If I know where you are at I can hopefully get you a referral to a good shop that is a lot closer to you than I am.

Another option is like someone said below, call Goerend transmission in Iowa if they are closer.
I have seen some of the stuff they are doing, and they seem to do a good job. The others mentioned I just don"t have any experience with. Goerend does sell remans, then you would just have to find someone to replace it and take care of the cooler, or take the whole truck there and have them deal with it.

I would love to work for you, but Im a long ways away if you have any sort of issue down the line. My email should be open, feel free to email me and we will see what we can figure out. BW

Click to expand...

How close to Battle Lake?

Doug, a good tranny shop is expensive and worth every penny. This isn't a you pay for what you get game. The rip off places charge just as much as the good guys. FWIW I'm in west central MN. It's 8 hours from here to north Chicago. So it would be a drive to get to brokerwrench, but it might pay off in the long run. Seems to me he gave sound advice. I've worked as an auto mechanic and have done a few of the older autos and if I needed to would take the more modern trannies into a professional tranny shop.

Rick

Some of this has already been mentioned but at bare minimum I would consider a good single disc billet converter, valve body shift kit/mods, some of the bigger name T/C places also sell valve bodies ready to go, compare prices. A good rebuild/clutch kit and kevlar bands (alto red eagle clutches & kolene steels are top level) upgraded gov solenoid, and billet accumulator and servo pistons. You can really keep going with parts and upgrades but I think you would be just fine at this level.

I saw Goerend was mentioned and that's a good place to get parts, kits, converters. I don't know why they don't offer built transmissions anymore. I ended up using RevMax for the converter and rebuild kit etc. RevMax was real easy to deal with and knowledgeable and their prices were good compared to others like them.
http://www.revmaxconverters.com/

I am right between Alexandria and Willmar.

You are absolutely right. I woke up in the middle of the night and realized the info I gave Doug on replacing his radiator was right for a gasser but dead wrong for a diesel. Thanks for catching that.

I have three Hot flush systems here, they are fully automated cooler flush machines. Sometimes they will run for more than a day straight to get all of the debris out of the cooler system, and get flow back to normal.

I have also seen them in here where guys have tried to eliminate the oil/water cooler. It always ends badly.

I had no idea Goerend wasn't building transmissions anymore, either. I think they used to have a full shop where they would work on the whole vehicle. Times change.

That's what was said on the DTRF, I haven't checked with them. Working on the other truck right now. They can probably tell you a good place to go for assembly that's not too far away. Good people, I hear.

Like the people at Colt Cams and Hamilton Cams. Hamilton flat told me Colt has a cam that would fit what I want to do with my Cummins better than what he has, and Colt said they'd give me free shipping since Hamilton referred me to them.

One guy on the DTRF has his A518 set up with a tight enough non-lock-up converter to engine brake through it. It ballooned the housing so Goerend replaced the cover with a billet cover and replaced the internals, all under warranty.

I was more worried about someone else getting shiestered by DTT than anything.