48re shifting issues

K

kamdsl

CAT tech
Joined
Apr 1, 2012
Messages
54
So I'm 14 hours from home with the family and my trans decided to give me the big ole fuk u. It started by not shifting up out of second gear after I slowed down for a construction zone. Only way I could get it to shift up a gear was to rev out second then pop it into neutral, rev out third and same to get it into fourth. Lockup worked as normal. Then now I go to slow down through a small town and it stays in lockup fourth and almost stalls the engine. So I kick it into neutral, back to d and it shifts right to fourth lockup and lugs the **** out of the engine. Took tow haul off and it now doesn't lockup the tc but seems to shift up really early. Now when driving down the road at like 40 mph if I turn on tow haul or OD off it locks up in fourth right away and won't downshift even at full throttle lugging. I watched on my efi v2 and when I turn on OD off it shows that it is in third gear, but the trans goes to fourth lockup and stays there. So it seems it is not being commanded to do this weird ****. Any trans guys have an idea of a place to start?

Thanks for any help, don't feel good about driving it like this.
 
Sounds like a solenoid issue best case or a valvebody. Find a local tranny shop the install is easy on the solenoids and they can scan for issues. OR jump on the freeway and don't stop till your home!
 
I'm going to call a couple trans places this morning and see what they say. It really does not make sense to me though. Now when I just put the shifter in D it will sometimes lock the tc in first gear all the way up to fourth. Sometimes not. If it was a solenoid stuck I would think it would be the same all the time. But it does change. What I can not wrap my mind around is how when I turn OD off it unlocks in fourth, doesn't shift to third and then re locks the tc. If anyone has any ideas or a good person to call that could help, I would really be thankful.

Thanks.
 
Well the good news is I found the shifting problem... The bad news is I'm in for a tear down and diagnose where all the metal and brass filings are coming from. FML. Oh well, anyone have any guesses as to what is brass and a common failure point in these? Also any good canadian options for a trans or trans parts? I've talked to Steve at commercial powertrain but am going to explore all my options.
 
I know this guy ain't in Canada, but he built my 47 into a bulletproof 48. He did a friend of mine and is gonna do another for a pullig truck another friend of mine and I are building. This guy is a wizard with these things.
http://www.htstransmissions.com/
 
Steve is as good as they get. We could destroy a trans at will before Steve, and now have put the same clutch packs back in for the fourth season.
 
kamdsl said:
Well the good news is I found the shifting problem... The bad news is I'm in for a tear down and diagnose where all the metal and brass filings are coming from. FML. Oh well, anyone have any guesses as to what is brass and a common failure point in these? Also any good canadian options for a trans or trans parts? I've talked to Steve at commercial powertrain but am going to explore all my options.
Click to expand...

I've heard good things about Commercial Powertrain as well. Don't know anything about them. Are you North of Calgary? You could check with Armor. They carry Georend stuff. Apparently Dave Georend isn't doing full builds anymore, so maybe they are doing builds with his parts? I wonder if Dave Georend wasn't maybe one of the leaders in shifting strategy- it seems like even some of his moderate builds went through the wars pretty well. There's a lot of shops offering BD transmissions and ATS transmissions as well scattered amongst the province. Sounds like Firepunk is another major player.
 
I did call Steve for some ideas to try and he confirmed my suspicions when he said that there was no one item that could cause all of my issues. When I logged it with efi my governor pressure actual was spiking all over the place when the commanded was nice and steady climb with wheel speed. He said to pull the pan and that I would find something coming apart, he was right. I do appreciate when someone with knowledge is willing to help a guy out. I did think about armour as well, but I've heard so much good about Stevie's transmissions that I'm sure I will just end up going with him. The fact that JSP and Torrey can't kill them speaks volumes to me. I am in northern AB now, Fort Mac to be exact. I really don't care if I have to drive a ways to get it done, so long as it's done right and has good support. This DTT that is screwed now only has 30k kms on it since installing. I am really pissed about it and can not get through to anyone there. Tried for quite a while now. I'm sure this one will be on me, so hope Steve works out good and it lasts. I would be willing to try a firepunk unit but they are a ways away and the dollar exchange right now is so terrible that it's not even an option. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
I hear ya on the exchange. I'm not liking that either. And the few people I've asked, sounds like you can't go wrong at Commercial Powertrain. 30k on a trans is pretty disappointing.
 
Ok, couple of questions for you guys.

First, obviously there is contamination throughout the whole trans and coolers/lines. Should I just get new lines and coolers or trust that they can be flushed by a shop?

Second, I'm thinking I might take this time to do the full manual valve body that I have been contemplating, what is your favourite shifter setup and why?

Thanks for any input, I like hearing all different thoughts.
 
I think you have to expect contamination, but I would think it should all be able to be flushed. Pail pump or Baker pump hooked to one line and pump through everything into a waste pail maybe? There is a thermostat in the front cooler. Have you ever changed the front cooler? Mine started leaking a couple years ago at about 220k kms. So if you're unsure and it hasn't been replaced already, then you might not be out much if you were to replace it. If I remember right though, I think you can pull the c-clip and get the thermostat out of the block (top driver's side square shaft). There were pictures of somebody doing it because their transmission suddenly started running hot. Took a little heat and then the thermostat popped free. You can't get any parts separately though. It just gives you another way to blow air through and pump oil through to flush. There's also a tapered shaft and spring in there that like to travel as well if you decide to disassemble it and clean. I'm not sure what the exchanger on the back of the engine is like for trapping crud. I would think if you pumped ATF through everything before hooking it up to the trans, they should be good. But Commercial Powertrain can give you better advice on that.
 
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