Hello everyone. I have a neighbor who just bought a 2001 Dodge 3500 4X4 automatic w/Cummings. He got it for a real good price, because the transmission "computer?" is having a problem. Here are the symptoms we've found so far. After starting, he puts it in drive, it starts in second gear, he has to get the truck to over 40 miles an hour shifts to neutral, shuts off the engine, and restarts. This procedure allows the transmission to shift gears normally. Also, if the truck is initially started, it will go into first gear only by down shifting the column shift lever to First gear. The seller told him that he thought it was a computer problem and that by shutting off the ignition and turning it back on, reboots the computer. After this is done, it will shift normally until you stop and shut the truck off. The seller also told them that it is an intermittent problem that does not happen all the time. Sometimes it runs normally and you don't have to do anything to it other times you have to go through the procedure of exceeding 40 miles an hour shutting it off and then turning it back on. My truck is a 93 Ford F250 so I don't have computer controls. I'm not able to really help there. As far as troubleshooting of are there any codes that we can look for and how do we plug in a diagnostic and where. I'm going to assume that the transmission is in good mechanical shape because the problem seems to go away after you have run it for a while and it do you shut it off again. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to the site..

And welcome to the 47RE transmission in the dodge.

The biggest problem with these transmission is the Governor Pressure Solenoid gets clog with clutch debris because of the location on the Valve Body with mileage.

Dodge Heavy Duty Master Solenoid Kit

This kit will replace the parts that fail.

 

A quick question, if the transmission is shifting normally after we go through this business of shutting it off and turning it back on at 45 miles an hour, Is that still indicative of the solenoid that you're talking about? Also, is there any way to clean the solenoid or is it one of those parts that have to be replaced and cannot be repaired? Thank you for your response. We're just curious as to what we can do without spending a lot of money.

 

Yes, at 45 mile and hour the transmission is in Overdrive and the converter is locked. If the computer was bad there would be a check engine lite or it won't shift at all.
That soleniod sits with the opened end up in the VB so any little thing that get by the filter and it does will go in to the hole and mess the pressures over time. The 47RE also have band adjustments also that need to be done at every fliud change.

You could take it to a transmission shop and have them do a test on it.