gwuhesos
Member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2020
- Posts
- 74
- Reaction score
- 72
- Location
- Mooresville, North Carolina
- Ram Year
- 2017
- Engine
- Hemi 5.7
Hey guys!
Okay guys, I’m afraid the dreaded day is approaching soon and I need some advice. Just for some background, my ‘17 Crew Cab 1500 had some collapsed lifters in the original engine at ~315,000 miles, and I had a brand new long block installed by Dodge, along with servicing a few things except for the transmission. The truck was/is a workhorse, and there really weren’t any symptoms or issues with shifting, no noises, no vibrations, perfect shifting and rpm’s while driving under and all conditions.
At some point, I am pretty sure it was after the engine swap, but could have been prior (not sure if it’s relevant), the truck started running a bit warm under load; Both the engine oil, and transmission temps were higher than I was used to… Fast forward to several weeks ago and I found a little drip, coming from an unusual spot- from the front bumper! Turns out, the OEM radiator failed… at around 380,000 miles… Fast forward a bit more, to a few days after the radiator was replaced, when an all too familiar sound presented itself- it was the water pump.
Now, if you recall, I had a BRAND NEW engine installed in Sept. ‘23 and they put the old water pump and thermostat in…. How do you guys feel about that? As a note: When they pulled the old block, and were prepping to drop the new one, I told them that I wanted to replace anything and everything that it would make sense to replace while the engine was out - while being conscious of my limited budget. I decided to get the 4x4 system serviced (which came with a 3 year unlimited mile warranty) as well as the fuel system serviced, also with a 3 yr unlimited warranty ( as does the block)… if I had known that the water pump was not part of a brand new long block, then I would have surely paid $200 for a new water pump, as it would have been $0 in extra labor. They also left the old t-stat and failed to recognize/replace the worn and slightly dry rotted serpentine belt.
Needless to say, the oil and trans temps are both still getting up there, while under load ( and trans temp runs high pretty regularly, by ~10 degrees F) The oil temp goes from 1/2 position on temp gauge under normal operating conditions and creeps up to 3/4 on the gauge, but not at or above 3/4, at “heavy” load. The transmission temp which used to be 1/2 position consistently ( if I remember correctly, even under load) and now normally operates at 5/8, and under “heavy” load, creeps up to about 2/3… sorry if that’s confusing, I’ll specify temps if anyone wants.
Which brings me to the real issue at hand… I have a not so familiar vibration, and it appears to be related to the transmission. First of all, on a cold start, after a minute or so of idling, when I first start to accelerate in Drive, first to second gear “thumps” a bit if I give it too much gas. The other fairly recent symptom, or so I believe, is when driving for extended periods, let’s say coming off the highway on an off ramp, one of lower gear shifts produces a “thump” as well. This transmission now has 409,000 miles on it, and as far as I know has never been serviced.
I bought the truck with 40k miles in the earlier part of 2020. Since then, besides the basic stuff and common issues with vehicles, first of all- it has been absolutely amazing to me and for me, and has never left me stranded for something unreasonable or not due to my negligence, I have done the following “mods”:
Also, in addition to the suspension work, I got new tires recently, a set of Maxxis Rzr's, in case it may bear some relevance in the vibrations I am getting at high speeds… well, that’s up until recently… it appears to be vibrating as though I’m driving on a rough road…. And seems to get worse during shifting… where I feel a vibration.
My question is… do I simply service the transmission (it’s the 8 speed) and take a chance on it needing to be rebuilt? do I buy a used one (around $1000 bucks after shipping)? Do I buy a remanufactured one for $2,500-$3,500? Unfortunately, I think getting it done at the dealer this time around is in the cards for me, so that’s not an option, but when I talked with a dealer some time back, they suggested it could be in the $9,000 range for parts and labor for a new transmission. So again, not going to happen.
Financially speaking, I’m leaning toward servicing the transmission, and possibly upgrading the pan/filter for a bigger sump and better cooling fins and metal filter… or something like that… and crossing my fingers these symptoms go away. I’m not sure if I want to do the service myself, or have my mechanic do it, as I have a feeling it may be a waste of time given the symptoms… ALSO- there is oily residue on the bottom, back side of the transmission pan, but no signs of leakage according to the dealer and mechanic. Granted the dealer told me this, now 91,000 miles ago roughly, when I had the new block dropped.
What are your guys’ tboughts? Thanks!
Okay guys, I’m afraid the dreaded day is approaching soon and I need some advice. Just for some background, my ‘17 Crew Cab 1500 had some collapsed lifters in the original engine at ~315,000 miles, and I had a brand new long block installed by Dodge, along with servicing a few things except for the transmission. The truck was/is a workhorse, and there really weren’t any symptoms or issues with shifting, no noises, no vibrations, perfect shifting and rpm’s while driving under and all conditions.
At some point, I am pretty sure it was after the engine swap, but could have been prior (not sure if it’s relevant), the truck started running a bit warm under load; Both the engine oil, and transmission temps were higher than I was used to… Fast forward to several weeks ago and I found a little drip, coming from an unusual spot- from the front bumper! Turns out, the OEM radiator failed… at around 380,000 miles… Fast forward a bit more, to a few days after the radiator was replaced, when an all too familiar sound presented itself- it was the water pump.
Now, if you recall, I had a BRAND NEW engine installed in Sept. ‘23 and they put the old water pump and thermostat in…. How do you guys feel about that? As a note: When they pulled the old block, and were prepping to drop the new one, I told them that I wanted to replace anything and everything that it would make sense to replace while the engine was out - while being conscious of my limited budget. I decided to get the 4x4 system serviced (which came with a 3 year unlimited mile warranty) as well as the fuel system serviced, also with a 3 yr unlimited warranty ( as does the block)… if I had known that the water pump was not part of a brand new long block, then I would have surely paid $200 for a new water pump, as it would have been $0 in extra labor. They also left the old t-stat and failed to recognize/replace the worn and slightly dry rotted serpentine belt.
Needless to say, the oil and trans temps are both still getting up there, while under load ( and trans temp runs high pretty regularly, by ~10 degrees F) The oil temp goes from 1/2 position on temp gauge under normal operating conditions and creeps up to 3/4 on the gauge, but not at or above 3/4, at “heavy” load. The transmission temp which used to be 1/2 position consistently ( if I remember correctly, even under load) and now normally operates at 5/8, and under “heavy” load, creeps up to about 2/3… sorry if that’s confusing, I’ll specify temps if anyone wants.
Which brings me to the real issue at hand… I have a not so familiar vibration, and it appears to be related to the transmission. First of all, on a cold start, after a minute or so of idling, when I first start to accelerate in Drive, first to second gear “thumps” a bit if I give it too much gas. The other fairly recent symptom, or so I believe, is when driving for extended periods, let’s say coming off the highway on an off ramp, one of lower gear shifts produces a “thump” as well. This transmission now has 409,000 miles on it, and as far as I know has never been serviced.
I bought the truck with 40k miles in the earlier part of 2020. Since then, besides the basic stuff and common issues with vehicles, first of all- it has been absolutely amazing to me and for me, and has never left me stranded for something unreasonable or not due to my negligence, I have done the following “mods”:
- new engine replacement
- radiator & water pump
- Front hubs replaced
- Front struts, rear shocks and coils.
- High flow catalytic converters
Also, in addition to the suspension work, I got new tires recently, a set of Maxxis Rzr's, in case it may bear some relevance in the vibrations I am getting at high speeds… well, that’s up until recently… it appears to be vibrating as though I’m driving on a rough road…. And seems to get worse during shifting… where I feel a vibration.
My question is… do I simply service the transmission (it’s the 8 speed) and take a chance on it needing to be rebuilt? do I buy a used one (around $1000 bucks after shipping)? Do I buy a remanufactured one for $2,500-$3,500? Unfortunately, I think getting it done at the dealer this time around is in the cards for me, so that’s not an option, but when I talked with a dealer some time back, they suggested it could be in the $9,000 range for parts and labor for a new transmission. So again, not going to happen.
Financially speaking, I’m leaning toward servicing the transmission, and possibly upgrading the pan/filter for a bigger sump and better cooling fins and metal filter… or something like that… and crossing my fingers these symptoms go away. I’m not sure if I want to do the service myself, or have my mechanic do it, as I have a feeling it may be a waste of time given the symptoms… ALSO- there is oily residue on the bottom, back side of the transmission pan, but no signs of leakage according to the dealer and mechanic. Granted the dealer told me this, now 91,000 miles ago roughly, when I had the new block dropped.
What are your guys’ tboughts? Thanks!
