Finally got everything buttoned up tonight and fired it up, only to notice a small, but steady stream of ATF coming out near the front of the trans. Further tracing of the leak found a hole worn through the hard line that runs from the heat exchanger up to the trans cooler. So, I cut that worn section out and fitted a section of hose and clamps in place to hold over til I get the new lines ordered. Anyway, after that drain-and-refill exercise, we took it off the jacks and loaded tools and such in the bed, and headed home. About 2 miles in (and this is in 4am traffic, mind you, i.e., non-existant) with some basic testing of functionality like downshifts, WOT 1-2 and 2-3, lockup, etc. and after a sharp right turn, the trans temp warning light came on. OD never locked out, and the warning light went away after about 8 seconds. Since I was only a half-mile from home at this point I took it easy and pulled in the driveway. Immediately I popped the hood and went for the trans cooler. It was warm, but I could hold my hand on it as long as I wanted without any effort. So, my question is, could it be a sensor issue? There may have been some water or fluid in the main connector on the trans. I do not have any gauges yet, but I am definitely going to start shopping for a trans temp. One other thing: in reverse, and only under throttle, the truck makes almost a rattling sound. It sounds like it's coming from the transmission; before I put in the new FTI converter, it was kind of a high-pitched whine (but still only in reverse) whereas now it's more of a gravelly, rattling medium-pitch sound. Any ideas what that might be?

hmm.. the noise change could be due to the different stress levels the new converter is applying.as for the temp light, it could be the sensor, or even a short/open in the wiring. I know when I disco'd the temp sensor the light came on as if the temp was too high, and it was a cold transmission.

Finally got everything buttoned up tonight and fired it up, only to notice a small, but steady stream of ATF coming out near the front of the trans. Further tracing of the leak found a hole worn through the hard line that runs from the heat exchanger up to the trans cooler. So, I cut that worn section out and fitted a section of hose and clamps in place to hold over til I get the new lines ordered. Anyway, after that drain-and-refill exercise, we took it off the jacks and loaded tools and such in the bed, and headed home. About 2 miles in (and this is in 4am traffic, mind you, i.e., non-existant) with some basic testing of functionality like downshifts, WOT 1-2 and 2-3, lockup, etc. and after a sharp right turn, the trans temp warning light came on. OD never locked out, and the warning light went away after about 8 seconds. Since I was only a half-mile from home at this point I took it easy and pulled in the driveway. Immediately I popped the hood and went for the trans cooler. It was warm, but I could hold my hand on it as long as I wanted without any effort. So, my question is, could it be a sensor issue? There may have been some water or fluid in the main connector on the trans. I do not have any gauges yet, but I am definitely going to start shopping for a trans temp. One other thing: in reverse, and only under throttle, the truck makes almost a rattling sound. It sounds like it's coming from the transmission; before I put in the new FTI converter, it was kind of a high-pitched whine (but still only in reverse) whereas now it's more of a gravelly, rattling medium-pitch sound. Any ideas what that might be?

Only time that happened to me was straight after my install - I was effectively in limp mode. You could still drive teh truck - but taking off in 1st (actually 2nd or 3rd I forget) was sluggish. So basically the TC was really heating up that ATF ..... and sensors started playing ping pong. For me - I had to replace the VB with a new one the company shipped. Then it was a-ok. But I would think if you are facing that you would definately feel it taking off. Also if you have a QUAD/EDGE JUICE they come with a tranny sensor you plug into the test port on tranny. Gives you readings of the fluid temp to watch rather than witing for the OEM console warning light - which seems to come on pretty high.

No power mods on my truck. The governor and sensor are new Mopar parts as of about 5 months ago. There is no driveability issue aside from the OD locking itself out every now and then. Also, tonight I verified with an IR thermometer that, while the trans temp and OD OFF lights were on in a parking lot, the top of the trans cooler was at 165 and the bottom was hovering around 130. So this clearly seems like an electrical issue to me, and after putting about 30 miles on it tonight, I'm very satisfied with the performance of the trans and converter.