Dodge Automatic Transmissions DON'T SUCK! | What You Need to Know 

Just did my all the adjustments you suggested from that forum today! And it’s like a brand new truck! It’s unreal the difference it made. Thanks for the great content

Ovens garage has a video on adjusting the bands and line pressure.

The trans in these was based on a 727, which during the muscle car era was pretty much bullet proof. I have noticed that many of the largest critics of these transmissions tend to think nothing of hitching up to a 40' stock trailer, car hauler, flatbed with a 20,000 + lb. tractor/escavator/backhoe/max load of hay, etc. and pretend their truck can do anything that a semi could do. Then when the trans breaks it's the truck that's the POS-lol. Considering the size of the parts, there is only so much that a clutch pack, a band or a converter can do.

Another Great Upgrade to add to the list. Thanx Tim. Thumbs Up !

Great video Tim 👍🏻

Your link above for Mag-Tech transmission oil pan takes me to 1994-2007 2nd gen pan, not 1st gen.

Great video amigo!!! Solid information!!! My only question is, what about the pump? If you extend cooling lines is there a point when you're straining the transmission pump?

Mr Tim another great vidya. Good info. I think if more people did this to their a518's they wouldn't get such a bad rap. I can't to it to mine I have a nv4500 in my 93 but it did get me looking into adding the coolers that mount to the PTO covers. That is on my list of upgrades now. I finally purchased the fuel pin , 3200 gov spring and brass plunger for the FSS from THD. Looking forward to getting this installed. Your vidyas help abunch. Also got all the blue seas fuse blocks to delete the amazing dodge fusible links. Thanks again.

Really enjoy ur channel🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽Keep up the the great content.

Thanks again for the help! With my Instagram! Not back to where I was but it's increasing thanks to you!

Another great video with good advice! One point that is often overlooked on these transmissions is the gear ratio. First gear is 2 1/2 to 1. Reverse is around 2 to 1. Great for a passenger car. Not good for trying to get heavy weight moving from a dead stop. If you put lower gears in the axle's then you lose some FWY gearing. Most truck manual transmissions are in the 5 plus range in first gear. So, yes the auto can be made to work better but will never be as good as the newer lower geared autos or manuals. The diesel engines like to have 5 or more gears available when towing heavy weight because of the narrower power curve. Some of the newer autos also have a "tow mode". If you have ever tried one of those you will really see what they are capable of!!!! LOVE those those 85 4 doors!!!!!!!!

Also there are different filters for the transmission a metal style that only sucks from the bottom of the pan and a fully open filter that can suck from the bottom and top. The fully open filter is what you want since it less restrictive. I believe those filters came on the 727 torqueflight.

Can't go wrong with those chrome wheels. 👌

Thanks for the great content! I have non ic 1991 truck. It had a 727 3 speed. I found a deal on a A518 o/d without lock up. I plan on running it in the truck. My question is, does your transmission have lock up? I would like to copy some of your upgrades going forward. What is the sun coast part number for that TC.

Great video solid advice. Also worth noting, keep your bands adjusted often. I mean really often especially the external one. Number 2 killer of automatic transmissions is probably slippage.

What ever happen to the converter, what was your final opinion?.

How to get it to go in over drive 93

The jeep transmission pan helps I mean it can’t hurt in real cold weather and it can be a hindrance because it takes a lot longer to heat the fluid that’s why the heat exchanger on the side of the block is a critical but a big thing is a shift kit and if you’re doing a lot of towing an external cooler like you mounted on the back of your truck with a bar and play cooler with the its own electric fan very good thing to half and a good quality shift kit Transco toe and go it reprogrammed the shifting and also you bump up the pressure some one of the big mistakes guys make for every day driving is they get these packages where are you boost pressure way way up don’t need that not for every day driving now if you got 1000 hp and you’re making a blast on a quarter-mile OK you do but another thing is knowing how to shift your transmission shifting under a real heavy load no you can but I recommend like you’re going from 1st to 2nd gear let off the throttle a little bit let it shift roll on the throttle get up a decent amount of speed come off the throttle a little bit hit drive and I’ll tell you another thing Amsoil makes a transmission fluid all match against anybody they did a field study in Las Vegas for the taxi cab and ran the cab 186,000 miles without changing the transmission fluid the transmission fluid still Met spec for Ford and was transmission was an excellent condition I mean this is a taxi cab in Las Vegas all right this is six in a row jimFrom Kennerdell PA

Have you ever had your ecm repaired? My overdrive wont shift., i did the toggle swith and worked good for about a year and suddenly overdrive wont kick in., any suggestions?thanks

Even the 68rfe is a good Trans IF you don't crank up the power. They weren't made for it. 5th and 6th are both overdrive gears and made to make the "driving experience" more pleasant. Kind of like your weak converter. So, those 2 gears have a light clutch that won't hold up to 1k tq. If you pull anything with the 2500 diesel with the 68rfe, you should have the tow haul mode on because the computer is programed to avoid too much tq in those 2 gears. I'm not sure when they originally signed the contract for those Trans that kids were going to buy the cheapest used 2500 they could find and crank th sh>t out of it. That's why they gat a bad rap. Aisn contract is coming to an end either end of 22, or end of 23. At that point I'd really like to see them design and make their own zf Trans. People complain about needing a 10sp to keep up, yet they don't understand that the other 2 are v motors and rev 2k more reps, a lot for a diesel. 6 was fine but if you really was to make the earth move backwards 1,200tq with a 7sp would do the trick. More gears mean more shifting. The inline more is made to pull and will never be faster than a v motor, but it will out pull it and get better milage doing it.

Transgo kits as well

Our trans lasted 240k, and the stock motor had 285k before rebuilds. I would buy this truck again. 96 1500 Sport 4x4 5.9 Magnum. Larger cooler and a 185 degree thermo.

Never had a Dodge/Cummins with an auto, but can say the Getrag 5 speed wasn't that good. I converted from the Getrag to an NV4500 (wished I had done the NV5600). I added two cooling units that also increased oil capacity: Fast-Cooler which has a site glass for oil level on passenger side, and Trans-Cool on the driver side which also is used for the oil temp sending unit. The only bad thing about the NV4500 or NV5600 is the requirement to run specific synthetic GL4 (GL5 will harm the unit). Drove my 1/2 ton automatic Chevy today for first time since rotator cuff surgery. It was an emergency (nobody available to drive me) to see a doctor and would not do it again unless it was an emergency; I'm just beyond week 8 since surgery. I am good at driving less than 5 miles, but this was closer to 30 round trip. I installed the Mag-Tec trans and differential upgrade on the Chevy, and differential on the 93 Dodge.

Hey I've got a 2nd gen dodge ram 3500 with a thoroughbred 5qt deep 4 spd tourqe flight o/d 2wd 787 torque converter with external cooler and a max tow gauge on a 064-8 how many more atf+4 quarts do I need ?currently at 6 qrts now!? Don't wanna overfill

So you're going to stay with this transmission through 600hp?

Silly question. So I think I have a 46re paired with my 1993 cummins. It will not go into gear. I want to try to replace the filter and fluid, and adjust the bands to see if I can get it to work properly. If I wanted to replace the filter and gasket should I replace any other components while I am in there? Is there a kit I should use?

Great video! I have a question. Is there a way to make these A518 shift right out of park rather then having to go to neutral for it to get the pump going then shift into drive or reverse? I’m not sure if the torque converter drains or exactly what it is doing. Does a shift kit solve this? Just one of my pet peeves with my 92. Thanks

What about the dam over drive

To be fair, you had to do a lot of upgrades to improve the transmission to the point it will last.

Good afternoon. How much horsepower and torque can this transmission handle? I am in the process of deciding on a transmission and I think I want to go with a 47rh. However, I want to weigh out as many options as possible. Thanks!

Get a 47RH already! haha

The bad reputation comes from ppl beating on them. Mine has 271K and the only issue I have is if it sits the fluid drains out of the converter which is no big deal. If not mistaken this is the same 727 case used on factory Hemi race cars in the 60s.

So you would need to change the location of your transmission heat sensor if you get a deeper pan? I always heard the more fluid you have the more pressure it creates which fucks with the tranny, could you explain to me why a deeper pan and more fluid would help keep the tranny cooler.

Your take on the engine mounted heat-exchanger will do a 180' if it ever fails on you! Trust me. I understand exactly why its there. And agree that it performs its job flawlessly. But, removing it is the first mod I make on any auto-equipped Dodge diesel. I have had them ruin the cooling system. And I have had them ruin the transmission. And I have seen them ruin BOTH at the same time. I am in AZ so there is no need for me to warm my tranny. And there are far more efficient ways to cool it. So, on my trucks? It is a GONER!

😎🇺🇸🔥

Correct. They all suck. No matter what brand.