another dead overdrive unit

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ramenth

ramenth

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Got an '02 Ram 1500, 360/518 in the shop on Monday. Owner's complaining about the truck slipping to the point of not wanting to move.

Rolled it in and started doing the basic checks. Fluid is crap, lot's of debris. Pull the pan, filter is clogged, I mean packed, lot of debris in the bottom of the pan. Rut-row, Raggy.

Get the trans out and start doing the tear down. With every part we remove, there's more debris.

Tear down the valve body for overhaul. The solenoids are covered, the screen inside has actually been pulled open, blown right out. Lots of debris in the passage, too.

Things look good as far as the clutches go, but the front bad is smoked.

Then it gets bad. Real bad. Start to take the O/D unit apart and it ain't coming. Been there before.

Gear set is wasted.

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I've got another trans laying there for my Diplomat, so I called the owner and let him know that's he's gonna need additional parts, mainly mine.

He does a lot of towing. In O/D.

Not anymore, not if he wants to keep his warranty.

Gonna have to give him a nice write up with his bill on how to properly tow with his rig.
 
I just love carnage when it's a payin job.
 
I don't do a lot of towing, but when I do, I keep the o/d off until I get up to cruising speed and then switch it on, but only if there's a very good chance I'll be able to maintain that speed for a decent length of time. When I see a red light or something, I'll switch the o/d off, and let the rpms come up before I start applying the brakes.

Is this this OK?
 
Key words here.....

"Rolled it in and started doing the basic checks. Fluid is crap, lot's of debris. Pull the pan, filter is clogged, I mean packed, lot of debris in the bottom of the pan."

Did he change the fluid once every 10 years whether it needed it or not?
Sounds like he drove it until it would not move.

Does it have the tow package with the external cooler??

I change mine and flush the lines and both coolers every 30k and have never had a problem.
 
Well if he read the owners manual it say don't tow in OD...reading is a way to save money..Oh yeah i have 1500 dodge that i have 130'000 miles still original trans i do light towing and have 4 wheeled it since new always with OD off and i change my fluid every 15;000 miles and it shifts great. And i also turn OD off when just driving around town on only for hwy..Hoping to see how long it will last.Shes old and ugly and i love driving her she handles well for a truck rides nice and it was love at first sight.318 OD 4x4 extended cab a/c and no other options.Hell it had am fm only when i bought her.
 
Mine is a 2000 Dakota R/T.
I have 120,000 and never had any trans trouble (fingers crossed).
Seems like most late 90's era RWD transmissions have had a rebuild around 70K.
Not mine:)
I don't have UBJ issues or leaky interior (as per TSBs) either :)
This has been the best vehicle I have ever had, and the best I've ever heard of anyone else having.
Only repairs have been brake caliper and water pump.
 
YY1,
You know you aren't supposed to tow with an R/T, don't you?

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I dont mean to be a jerk, but what the heck happened to Chrysler? A 727 is bulletproof, daily driving and hard work no problem, you have to be an idiot to hurt one! Those stinkin 518's...I dont know anyone that hasnt had thiers rebuilt! Side note you giys on here that have kept them alive...I reckon you are pretty darn good drivers! Not many of those anymore.( man I sound like one old 40 yr old! hahaha) Had one buddy that went through 8 Dodge rams after the 93 restyle, just loves em, however he has had 17 transmissions! The only one that didnt get a trans was a Mexican built truck he had for 4 weeks! He insisted in the deal that his truck be a domestic...he didnt even know it until a week later when we pointed it out! The dealer made good on the deal and a month later they swapped him for a domestic...and you guessed it b4 it was out of warranty, it got a trans! How did Chrysler go from having the most underworked trans mechanics, to the richest trans mechanics? Just for the record, my buddy tows a heavy enclosed cycle trailer and works the devil out of them during the winter...skid of salt in the back, heavy plow, and heavy spreader. He also isnt the best driver, not quite idiot, but not good!
 
I don't understand the "no towing" recommendations. When we drive to Lake Tahoe we climb 5000 ft on I-80 at 65 mph for ~30 miles. Ditto for anyone leaving the LA Basin. Isn't that as much or more load for the drivetrain as towing on flat ground? You do see cars on the side of the road steaming every 1/2 mile the first hot day of the Spring, but that is usually because the fools didn't check their coolant all winter. Our 2002 T&C minivan has AWD and the factory towing package, but as best I can tell that is just a trailer hitch and a power steering cooler (why is that needed?). I don't recall the radiator being a different PN (replaced recently). I mentioned that I occasionallly tow a 2700 lb trailer with it and a mechanic said "I wouldn't". The most important thing is that the towing vehicle is heavier than the load and there is enough weight to keep the rear tires from slipping. I can't see how towing on the flatlands would stress most vehicles.
 
You think the 518s are weak, try playing with a stock 545RFE. What a hunk of poo. When you press the button to put it in tow mode, it just turns off fifth gear. You're still in overdrive, and it hunts back and forth between 3rd and 4th. It's obnoxious.

The dealership rebuilt mine at 39,000 miles. 39,000 basically passenger car miles. I don't shift it into drive while rolling backwards, I don't rock it back and forth in snow or mud. I was pretty easy on that thing, and it burning up its clutches in a couple of years. The Hemi puts out more power than the transmission can handle. I'd glady trade it for a 518. I really miss not being able to go 1:1 while driving up a pass.
 
71 Dusterdan,
When the R/Ts came out in April 98, a bunch of people bought them because of the 5.9 and 3.92 and the tranny and P/S coolers.


Then....
I start hearing rumors on the Dakota R/T Mailing List about DC 'revising' the towing rating on 98 and 99 trucks, and all subsequent R/Ts, to 2000 lbs

The suspension on the Dakota R/T is lowered by one inch at all four corners. To do this without designing a completely new suspension, DC decides to just de-arch the rear springs a bit and the front as well. Combine these two factors together and you have the main problem: With a larger diameter rearend and a lowered stance, the amount of travel between the rearend and the bump-stop on the frame goes from 6 1/2" on the 5.2 Liter Dakota to 5" on the Dakota R/T. Although this is still enough to be able to carry alot of weight on a trailer, DC engineers and lawyers feel that if a customer tows at or above the maximum towing rating of 6500 pounds, or above, that the rearend will continuously 'bottom-out' on the frame bump-stop, which will possibly weaken the frame and possibly cause a catastrophic failure of the truck's frame, which in Legal Land would be a big fat No-No

That is why I added Air Lift air bags to mine and 50 lbs in the bags will easily handle 800#s of tongue weight. 60 will handle 1000#s.
 
I tow a car dolly with my 66 Coronet big block car back and forth across the county, as well as my 87 5th Ave parts car. Recently I towed a 73 Charger across three counties.

What I heard from my buddy, who is a Chrysler dealership parts manager, is that the R/T specific nylon rear stabilizer links crack or break because of side to side torsion from the additional weight. I keep checking mine, but so far, so good.

I also have heard that the R/T trans is built different. Not sure how.
Maybe they hand picked the ones with tight tolerences?

I agree, almost every other person I know that has ever owned a Dodge truck with an o/d trans has had it rebuilt. Mine is fine and I've had it since 31,000, and put 90,000 on it myself. It is definately used as a truck.
 
Propaganda.

It is because of the de-arched springs and the reduced suspension travel.

Some people said it was the aluminium rims. Huh ??
Some people said the tires were not rated for that kind of weight.
Double Huh ??
 
Not use OD when towing?? Really?? Can't imagine towing across country and not using OD. My trans buddy, the one who conviced me to put a 4l80e in my car, hates 518's for this very reason, the OD crapping out.
 
On saturday I just rebuilt a 518 out of a Ram Van 3500. Somehow the dude stripped the splines right off the forward planetary and cooked the inner retaining clip into the forward input drum. Thrush washer material everywhere!! The pins holding the planetary gears in literally fell out when I pulled it out. Just gave it back to him today...$350 in my pocket :)
Will post pics later.
 
Guys, let me explain a few things. For those who live on flat lands where you can see for miles and miles and miles (damned song just popped into my head) and you know you're going to be able to do a constant speed, at a constant RPM, then sure, go ahead and tap that OD button.

Where I'm at, we're in the foothills of the Appalachian chain. The Adirondacks are just 3-4 hours away, with the Catskills being even closer. I'm talking miles of constant up and down, constant curves.

I put this up as example, not to start a pissing contest as to what trans is better than this trans, etc. I put this up so folks can see what happens when you stress parts too far. Most of these trans are found in our daily drivers out there, our tow rigs, and our work horses.

And this isn't Chrysler specific, either. It's a good idea to do this with all automatic tow rigs in the kind of environment I live in. Been around way too long, worked in too many shops besides my own, not to have seen something similar coming from the other auto manufactures.
 
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