Okay so before I get into it, heres the info about my truck

99 Ram 2500

47re

Edge EZ (set on level 2, 40hp)

RV275 injectors

BHAF Intake

Boost elbow

 

(15F today)

Okay so I'll get right into it, my transmission was acting up this morning on my way to work. I left my house after about 10 minutes of letting my truck idle at 1200rpm, the engine was still below 140 so I took it easy and kept it below 1800rpm until it got over 150 degrees.

I left my house and drove down the road before I turned off overdrive (slows me down on hills and powers me through hills better) and as I was going down a hill with the torque converter locked at 30mph, it randomly unlocked for a few seconds before relocking. I didnt think much of it, like maybe I moved my foot.

 

But then after a few miles, I get onto the highway, get up to speed, and after a few miles my truck reaches 190 degrees. Feels pretty decent, peppy truck, but I notice that something isnt right

 

Typically going 65mph, My boost is at 5psi and egts are around 650, engine rpm at 1850 (35in tires)

This morning again at 65mph, boost is at 10psi, and egts are constantly around 800, same engine rpm as normal.

Thats on flat land. Going up hills usually is 10-15psi of boost for me at 65mph depending on the hill, this time it was at about 15-20psi with higher egts

 

After about 10 miles and everything being nice and warm, I feel a slip. It doesnt feel like a transmission slip as much as it does unlocking the torque converter. Keep in mind im still doing 65. As I get closer to work, which is about 25 miles from my house, it slips more and more.

It only does it when my torque converter is locked. When it slips, I lose power and speed for like 1 second before it locks back up and goes, sometimes itll be a few seconds before it does it again and sometimes itll be a minute. When it slips/unlocks/whatever the issue is at 65mph, my rpm jumps up by 200ish.

 

Once I got off the highway and was driving to work, I wasnt going fast enough for my torque converter to lock up and I had no issue

 

Still peppy as hell, even on the highway.

 

I checked my fluid level once I got to work, it was full, smells good, no burnt smell, just smells like warm transmission fluid. I am using ATF+4.

 

I did have a fluid dump on christmas morning, my cooler line came off and puked all of my fluid, I pulled over fast and got a tow home, reconnected the line, filled it back up and got all of the air out of the system. Slipped a few times the first day because of air in the system but that went away fast. Didnt have any issue after that, until now.

 

I do have an APPS noise isolator, installed it about 6 months ago and never had an issue, I only had the locking and unlocking issue at 40-45mph

I also replaced my alternator about a month or two ago so Im not thinking that is the issue

 

Uploaded is a photo of my transmission fluid on a napkin, the fluid is pink but when I wipe the stick on the napkin, the grey shows. No chunks of anything or particles, its just grey streaks.

I did a fluid/filter change about 3 months ago and only put less than 1k miles on it since.

 

Im kinda at a loss, is my torque converter on its way out? Something wrong inside my transmission?

 

 

 

EDIT: Forgot to mention that with pan off, it looks like I have a shift kit and some guys are thinking I  have a billet single disk torque converter. I have no information on my transmission so everyone in 2nd gen cummins on facebook and I are going off what we can see with inspection cover and pan off

Edited January 19, 20196 yr by KeelinTy

It sounds like you have the common torque converter lock/unlock problem caused by high AC voltage from the alternator.

You need to check what the AC voltage is at the B+ terminal at the back of the alternator.  It should be .03 volts or less.

 

 

You might want to do this modification.

 

 

Just now, IBMobile said:

It sounds like you have the common torque converter lock/unlock problem caused by high AC voltage from the alternator.

You need to check what the AC voltage is at the B+ terminal at the back of the alternator.  It should be .03 volts or less.

 

 

You might want to do this modification.

 

 

I used to have it but it only happened at 40-45mph before I got my noise isolator

 

Would it still happened at anywhere from 30-70mph as long as the torque converter is locked?

 

The isolater just masks the issue. A quick check of your alternator will help to diagnose this. It takes longer to walk outside, open the hood and start the engine than it does to do the test. Many a rebuilt alternator will fail the test out of the box. WT's ground mod will also reduce the noise if this is your issue. It is also very simple and inexpensive to do.

4 hours ago, KeelinTy said:

I used to have it but it only happened at 40-45mph before I got my noise isolator

 We've seen this problem before; like @dripley said, get rid of the isolator, test alternator ac out put, and do the ground mods.  This is cheap and simple before you go dumping a bunch of money chasing the problem.  If the AC level is to high it can also take out your ECM, PCM, or the ABS module in due time.   

17 hours ago, KeelinTy said:

I used to have it but it only happened at 40-45mph before I got my noise isolator

 

Would it still happened at anywhere from 30-70mph as long as the torque converter is locked?

 

 

The noise isolator is a band-aid fix, and the alternator will blow the A/C past the diodes at certain rpm's and frequencies. Its best to get to the bottom of this before you kill the PCM/ECM/and VP-44.

Edited January 20, 20196 yr by pepsi71ocean

The problem is the alternator get rather hot during grid heater cycles. This is why its best to start the engine and get rolling soon after starting to get the ECM to cancel the grid heaters. Now the alternator diodes get stressed from the grid heater and start to bleed AC noise. Being the ECM, PCM and VP44 ground is running parallel to alternator charge lead the AC noise jumps off to the ground side and messes with all the electronics. 

 

Here you can see the black/tan ground running right beside the black alternator charge lead. After the mod, the ground is on the driver side and the alternator is on the passenger side battery.