Tranny won't shift gears

I use a 1996 Dodge Ram 2500 ext. cab 4x4 5.9lt pickup to tow my Nissan with. The other day my wife drove the Ram to work in the morning and called me when she got to work to tell me that it wouldn't shift out of second gear into third and she had to limp it a couple blocks to get there. I drove the truck the entire week before without any problems, infact it drove great. The truck had been sitting most of the time because of gas prices with the occasional drive to the convienence store. So I went up to her work and got in for a test drive. I drove a couple blocks and sure enough no shifting going on. After running though the gears manually I noticed that if I bumped it from drive into neutral the back into drive it would shift into second, sometimes third, and into OD. I limped it to my work and figured that I should drop the pan and take a look in there to see if it was anything obvious. Fluid smelled good, filter looked ok, and the pan was clean minus a small amount of material around the magnet, my guess would be really fine metal shavings almost feeling like grease when I put my finger into it. Went down and got new fluid and a filter, cleaned the pan out, and installed it all. Took it around the block and it didn't fix the problem, still no shifting. So I called the nearest tranny shop, 2 blocks away, and told them about the problem and made an appointment to bring it in to have checked out. They called me a couple days later and told me that there was a small pile of fiberous material, that looked like material out of the torque convertor or off the clutches, in the center of the pan. I told them that I had just put new fluid and a filter in it but that the pan was clean when I had dropped it. He says "ok the shift solenoids are bad too and they need to be replaced". I ok them to change the shift soleniods. Next day he calls and says that they drove it half way around the block and it shifted good but then it started acting up and not shifting on the way back to their shop. He continues to tell me that they dropped the pan when they got back and that there was another small pancake sized pile of the fiberous material in the pan and that the new shift solenoids where plugged up and no good and that the tranny needed to be rebuilt. Prices were starting at $1400! I told him to stop working on it, put it back together, put the old shift solenoids back in because I wasn't paying for two new paperweights, and I would be down to get it. I picked it up and drove it, still not shifting correctly, 2 blocks back to my shop and drove it onto a trailer and brought it home where I dropped the pan again, and low and behold no pile of anything in the pan. There was some material down in the fins of the pan but nothing like they had described to me. So whats the deal, does the tranny need a complete rebuild, is the torque convertor bad, were they trying to take me for a ride? The tranny acted fine before that morning, no slipping, stumbling, or anything. Sorry about the novel but I wanted to provide good information to somebody that might be able to lead me in the right direction. Thanks!

im no pro but some shavings are to be expected with miles, id try changing out the solenoids yourself, the way you put it, sounds like the shop is friggin you around. every tranny ive had go out on me has showed some kind of warning prior to messing up, but again im no tranny guy. are you the first person to every drop the pan?

No prior warning what so ever! I dropped the pan when it acted up and everything looked good. Put new fluid and filter back on it and still had the same problem. Took it to a tranny shop and they tell me there a pile of debris in the pan on when it got there and also after they supposedly changed the shift soleniods. Got it back home and pulled the pan and there was minor material in the cooling fins of the pan. Pulled the valve body down and looked at the screens in the solenoids and they were clean as well.

as shitty as it sounds, i think they were yanking you. it seems like there are NO GOOD tranny shops anymore, no matter where you go. since it sounds like its not your daily, talk around to your buddies, and make some phone calls to other shops. explain to them what happened and your experience with the first shop, no need to drop names though. try to feel out the shops and take it there for a thourough inspection.

Good luck bro, I absolutely hate automatics, and vow to never own another one if at all possible. just way to expensive when they break for no reason.

Hoping to replace the shift solenoid and govener and get it to work correctly without spending a boat load.

let us know how it works out

I HAVE A 1996 DODGE RAM 1500 4X4 AND THE TRANNY WAS ACTING UP. BAD SHIFTING SO THE NEAREST PLACE TO GET IT CHECKED WAS THE DODGE DEALER THEY CHECKED IT OUT SAID THE TRANNY WAS SHOT AND I NEEDED THE TRUCK REDAY TO ROLL IN A COUPLE OF DAYS I SAID FIX IT THEY PUT IN A NEW TRANS AND SAID ITS GOOD TO GO PAID 2500.00 BUCKS GET IN THE TRUCK GET OUT ON THE MAIN ROAD AND GUESS WHAT SAME PROBLEM SO I GO BACK TO THE DEALER SAY WHAT THE FUCK ITS STILL THE SAME THE SERVICE ADVISOR SAYS OH THAT CANNOT BE OUR GUY IS THE BEST YOUR MISTAKEN I SAID THEN YOU GO TAKE YOUR TRANNY GUY AND GO FOR A DRIVE HE COMES BACK AND SAYS THATS ODD IT IS NOT WORKING RIGHT I SAID THEN FIX IT RIGHT DUMB ASS THEY GO AND SCAN IT TO SEE IF THIER IS ANY CODES COMMING UP AND GUESS WHAT THE CODE FOR A BAD THROTTLE POSTION SENSOR COMES UP HE SAYS WE FOUND THE PROBLEM BUTS GOING TO BE ABOUT 200 BUCKS TO FIX I SAID SCREW YOU GUYS YOU JUST TOOK 2500 BUCKS FROM ME FOR FALSE REPAIERS AND NOW YOU WANT MORE MONEY SCREW YOU I SAID HERE IS YOUR CHOICE GIVE ME MY 2500 BUCKS BACK AND I WILL GIVE YOU THE 200 BUCKS TO FIX IT RIGHT OR YOU CAN FIX THE SENSOR FOR FREE YOUR CHOICE NEED LESS TO SAY THEY TOOK TO FIX THE SENSOR FOR FREE MAN I DID I TAKE THAT ONE UP THE HOOP.SO I WOULD SAY CHECK THE SENSOR FIRST AS IT HELPS CONTROL THE TRAN WHEN IT SHIFTS SORRY FOR THE LONG STORY

"BAD SHIFTING SO THE NEAREST PLACE TO GET IT CHECKED WAS THE DODGE DEALER THEY CHECKED IT OUT SAID THE TRANNY WAS SHOT AND I NEEDED THE TRUCK REDAY TO ROLL IN A COUPLE OF DAYS I SAID FIX IT THEY PUT IN A NEW TRANS AND SAID ITS GOOD TO GO PAID 2500.00 BUCKS GET IN THE TRUCK GET OUT ON THE MAIN ROAD AND GUESS WHAT SAME PROBLEM SO I GO BACK TO THE DEALER SAY WHAT THE F**K ITS STILL THE SAME THE SERVICE ADVISOR SAYS OH THAT CANNOT BE OUR GUY IS THE BEST YOUR MISTAKEN I SAID THEN YOU GO TAKE YOUR TRANNY GUY AND GO FOR A DRIVE HE COMES BACK AND SAYS THATS ODD IT IS NOT WORKING RIGHT I SAID THEN FIX IT RIGHT DUMB A** THEY GO AND SCAN IT TO SEE IF THIER IS ANY CODES COMMING UP AND GUESS WHAT THE CODE FOR A BAD THROTTLE POSTION SENSOR COMES UP HE SAYS WE FOUND THE PROBLEM BUTS GOING TO BE ABOUT 200 BUCKS TO FIX I SAID SCREW YOU GUYS YOU JUST TOOK 2500 BUCKS FROM ME FOR FALSE REPAIERS AND NOW YOU WANT MORE MONEY SCREW YOU I SAID HERE IS YOUR CHOICE GIVE ME MY 2500 BUCKS BACK AND I WILL GIVE YOU THE 200 BUCKS TO FIX IT RIGHT OR YOU CAN FIX THE SENSOR FOR FREE YOUR CHOICE NEED LESS TO SAY THEY TOOK TO FIX THE SENSOR FOR FREE MAN I DID I TAKE THAT ONE UP THE HOOP."

holy crap batman! that is the longest sentence ive ever read!! haha. just joshin ya. that sucks bad dude...i would think the scanner would be the first place ANY new vehicle would go when its acting up with a CE light on

arso suppose to be able to speak a whole sentence one 1 breath? the first guys problem is def. electrical.

try a tranny flush before you go tearing into it. usually the valve body will get some trash in it and cause that. rams are notorious for this!