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Ok, so I got rid of my 24V with headaches, and apparently picked up a 12V with someone else's headaches.. So, out of the frying pan, into the fire.I've been working out some kinks on this '97. I test drove it last friday, and from what I recall, it seemed to be fine.. Unless I didn't notice it (my fault for lack of due-diligence.)At any rate, the issue (for this thread) is the transmission.Story goes: 2 owners ago, dude bought a Jasper trans, installed it, killed it, warrantied it, killed that one, warrantied it, killed it, then Jasper said "this is your last one."so he pulled the 5spd from this '97, installed the Jasper auto in it, and stuck the 5 speed into the truck that he was using to kill transmissions.However, he did a ____-poor job, and sold it to last owner, who killed the poorly/improperly incomplete install in short order. So he took it to a diesel trans guy in MD, who rebuilt the Jasper trans using triple disc TC, red clutches, kevlar bands, HD valve body, etc. (parts from HTS Diesel).Installed a PCM (to replace a non-existant one) and rewired everything, so to speak, or so the story goes.Fast forward to me.. ( I don't need any "I told you so" type stuff, because I know. Believe me, I know.. One word: Wife. )I drove it home last friday, and all seemed well, although I did notice it seemed to rev a little higher to get it moving.. Granted, I'm new to autos, as my '01 was a manual, and the '96 before that, was manual, so I'm somewhat rusty on how they perform/react. Thought maybe the TC had a little higher stall.Last night, my 7 y.o. daughter wanted to ride around the block in the new dually.. Wish granted. That's when I noticed that something wasn't quite right... No low/1st gear engagement. Neither with shifter in D, or if I manually drop it to L (1), nothing, nada.. it seems to stay in 2nd gear or so.. I will add that if in D, at a stop, let off the brake and the truck starts to creep forward.. give a little throttle and drop it into 2nd, it feels to almost 'drop' a gear, as the forward progress seems to be a more positive engagement, but still no 1st. Driving 30mph, slow prepare for a stop sign, drop lever to 2, it downshifts.. drop to 1 from like 10mph, no gear change/drop occurs.. it stays in 2nd..TC lockup and such works, and with the 4.10s, 60-65mph yeilds about 1900-2000rpm.The Coolant Temp Sensor circuit is fubar somewhere, as is the tach in the I/C. The tach does read through the scan gauge, however, so the Crank Position Sensor seems to be operational.I was told this trans has a 3/36 warranty, but getting that info is proving to be a tad on the tough side..Trans looks fresh, complete with gray paint, Jasper stickers, etc., so it was apparently rebuilt in the Jasper case.Help. I need to troubleshoot this as inexpensively as I can, for obvious reasons.

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Well Rick, I hate to say it, but you may want to look into parting out what you have and replacing it with another truck.......:banghead::banghead:

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I'm trying to fund a 4500 swap as soon as my money tree sprouts...Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

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Yeah I guess so. Lol Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

I've been told buying lotto tickets is a valid retirement strategy so I don't know why it can't be a valid truck repair strategy also. :pray:

  • 5 weeks later...
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so, yeah, this is still on-going.. I haven't done much with it lately, however. 245/75-16s, 4.10:1 gears, In OD/Lockup: http://forum.mopar1973man.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5987&d=1375187051 Who else has 4.10s, and roughly same size tires with the 47re? What are you guys turning at this speed, rpm-wise? I'm really thinking it's in the OD section of the trans, now.. If I manually shift, it's a positive engagement and almost no slippage if I manually change 1-2-3 at 1800 or more.

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I got a couple gauges (0-100, 0-300) and a couple 1/8" NPT fitting, and tested the pressures per the chart above. I never heard back from Suncoast yet (go figure) on their specs.

So here they are:

Rear Servo:

Reverse - Idle/WOT = 130psi/300+psi

Front Servo:

Reverse - Idle/WOT = 0psi/0psi (PROBLEM!)

Accumulator:

L - Idle/WOT = 80-90psi/145psi

2 - Idle/WOT = 95psi/142psi

1st - Idle/WOT = 100psi/140psi

2nd - Idle/WOT = 100psi/145psi

3rd - Idle/WOT = 90psi/142psi

4th - Idle/WOT = 92psi/170psi

OD Clutch:

4th - Idle/WOT = 90-100psi/150-155psi

Governor:

This one was weird, and not anywhere like I was expecting. I understood it to be 1psi per mph (ex. 20mph = 20psi, 30mph = 30psi, etc.) It was NOTHING like that, nor was it linear..

Best I can tell is this:

10mph = 12psi

20mph = 40psi

25mph = 55-60psi

30mph = 70psi

When it went into 4th + Lockup, it jumped +30psi, and pegged my 100psi gauge..

Now, if I only knew where to go from here LOL

Now, if I only knew where to go from here LOL

Maybe try to call that guy I suggested earlier?

I got a couple gauges (0-100, 0-300) and a couple 1/8" NPT fitting, and tested the pressures per the chart above. I never heard back from Suncoast yet (go figure) on their specs.

So here they are:

Rear Servo:

Reverse - Idle/WOT = 130psi/300+psi

Front Servo:

Reverse - Idle/WOT = 0psi/0psi (PROBLEM!)

Accumulator:

L - Idle/WOT = 80-90psi/145psi

2 - Idle/WOT = 95psi/142psi

1st - Idle/WOT = 100psi/140psi

2nd - Idle/WOT = 100psi/145psi

3rd - Idle/WOT = 90psi/142psi

4th - Idle/WOT = 92psi/170psi

OD Clutch:

4th - Idle/WOT = 90-100psi/150-155psi

Governor:

This one was weird, and not anywhere like I was expecting. I understood it to be 1psi per mph (ex. 20mph = 20psi, 30mph = 30psi, etc.) It was NOTHING like that, nor was it linear..

Best I can tell is this:

10mph = 12psi

20mph = 40psi

25mph = 55-60psi

30mph = 70psi

When it went into 4th + Lockup, it jumped +30psi, and pegged my 100psi gauge..

Now, if I only knew where to go from here LOL

When I checked the pressures on mine they were actually higher than that. With 4th locked up I was getting approximately 170 psi. The only one I didn't check was the front servo in reverse but if I'm thinking correctly through the powerflow of these transmissions the front servo doesn't have anything to do with reverse so 0 psi would be correct. I'm trying to find my service manual now to double check but not having much luck remebering where I placed it.

Found my manual, there is no fluid in the front servo when in reverse and no pressure specification listed for the front servo. However the rear servo minimum is 145-175 psi with a max of 230-280 psi.

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I finally got to talk to someone with a little knowledge @ Suncoast yesterday afternoon, and he stated that same thing, fire. :)Basically, he thinks there may be something wrong with the TC, and possibly the VB.. duh.

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So I took a couple videos of the trans issues, and forwarded them to Ernie @ Suncoast. He reviewed them, but his pc has no sound, so he couldn't hear it.

He called me last evening and wants me to drop the VB out of the trans and verify it is a Suncoast unit. If it is, he's going to send me some springs and some instructions on what he wants me to mod/change on the VB, rather than have the downtime of shipping it back/forth to FL. Which is cool..Posted Image

As for the TC, that'll be a bird of a different color... Posted Image

This first video is 2 starts.. 1st is non-narrated.

This one is a manually shifted take off with demonstration of the TC "flash" at speed..

Wow. If mine shifted like that it would really suck. Once you get the tranny to function like it is supposed to you are gonna be one happy dude!!

Manually shifting seems to over ride the Automatic shifts points, which seems normal. Glad my experience has only been with the manual. Got to give you Kudos for persevering and educating the rest of us here!EDIT: Must be some kind of record, almost 8000 views on your post !!

EDIT: Must be some kind of record, almost 8000 views on your post !!

Ya, it's because nobody can believe he is still putting up with this. :doh:
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Ya, it's because nobody can believe he is still putting up with this. :doh:

Can't afford NOT to.. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2 EDIT: So, I pulled the valve body out of the trans for the 2nd time in 4 days. I've been working with Ernie @ Suncoast Trans (Lead Dodge Tech for 20+ yrs) We found out that it is NOT a Suncoast VB (which sucks). But, Ernie has probably spent at minimum 8 hrs on the phone with me, over the course of 3 days, trying to help me troubleshoot/fix this trans. Let me add that he's doing this out of kindness and pure customer service. He could just as easily tell me to buy a new one or bug off, and I'd understand. But to go out of his way and help me work through a problem is totally awesome. We also determined that the nimrod that built the trans and VB (East Coast Diesel, no longer in business), was a moron. He put 2 valves in backward, and ground the wrong spots, drilled wrong holes, etc.. I'll hopefully have pictures up, maybe this evening.
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Valve body is back in. I've made some mods (per Ernie's direction) to also include a lockup in 1st and 2nd while I had it apart.

I test drove it. Technically, I should be able to start the truck, put it in gear, and flip the toggle to stall the truck when the TCC engages. Well, the only thing that happens is the RPMs drop about 50-75rpm. Turn the toggle off, and they raise back up 50-75rpm.

So now I'm wondering if the 3disc billet converter is fubar'd. I know the VB has circuitry that controls the TC engagement, via fluid path, but there's no real way I know of to test whether or not the valve is truly closing off all fluid flow to the TC, or whether the TC clutches aren't fully releasing, or whatever..

Some images:

Dismantled Valve Body:

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trans pan after about 8000 mi. Fairly clean

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Billet Accumulator piston:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/96/k1tv.jpg/

Borg Warner GPS and Pressure Sensor:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/197/esym.jpg/

- - - Updated - - -

Ok, this weekend, the trans, VB (again) and TC come out. TC gets shipped to Suncoast for diagnostics..

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This just made me laugh. Sorry, not at you, I just know you got to feel like a elephant with his head in the sand. Just struck me as funny. Stay away from guns and sharp objects. :smart:
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This just made me laugh. Sorry, not at you, I just know you got to feel like a elephant with his head in the sand. Just struck me as funny. Stay away from guns and sharp objects. :smart:

No worries; it was meant to make someone laugh. Keeps us sane. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

Valve body is back in. I've made some mods (per Ernie's direction) to also include a lockup in 1st and 2nd while I had it apart.

I test drove it. Technically, I should be able to start the truck, put it in gear, and flip the toggle to stall the truck when the TCC engages. Well, the only thing that happens is the RPMs drop about 50-75rpm. Turn the toggle off, and they raise back up 50-75rpm.

So now I'm wondering if the 3disc billet converter is fubar'd. I know the VB has circuitry that controls the TC engagement, via fluid path, but there's no real way I know of to test whether or not the valve is truly closing off all fluid flow to the TC, or whether the TC clutches aren't fully releasing, or whatever..

Some images:

Dismantled Valve Body:

Posted Image

trans pan after about 8000 mi. Fairly clean

Posted Image

Billet Accumulator piston:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/96/k1tv.jpg/

Borg Warner GPS and Pressure Sensor:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/197/esym.jpg/

- - - Updated - - -

Ok, this weekend, the trans, VB (again) and TC come out. TC gets shipped to Suncoast for diagnostics..

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Feel like sharing the mods for 1st&2nd lockup? I'd be interested in doing this and testing mine to see if it stalls or the rpms just drop a little like yours did.

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Feel like sharing the mods for 1st&2nd lockup? I'd be interested in doing this and testing mine to see if it stalls or the rpms just drop a little like yours did.

Yeah. I will write it up. Its lengthy. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2