June 2011 Archives - Transmission Digest
Volkswagen 09G or TF60: Clearing and Relearning Shift Adapts

Body of Evidence The 09G is an adaptive-learn transmission. The TCM can adapt the upshift and downshift pressures for each shift as well as initial engagement into drive and reverse. Whenever the transmission is rebuilt or the valve body is replaced the shift adapts should be cleared and the vehicle driven to relearn the new

Keep Your Eye on the Ball

If you have had the opportunity to work on a 62TE transmission, you may have noticed nine checkballs in tapered pockets that are held into place with C clips (Figure 1). In our seminars we explained that these balls are used during an assembly-line check with a special tool that pressurizes their respective circuits. Once the tool is removed these balls become plugs. Apparently this procedure was more economical when compared with the cost of providing typical pressure taps. But what this means to you is that these balls must be checked to ensure that they are in their location and that they are sealing. Otherwise you could be fighting a variety of different complaints.

Chevy Volt vs. the Nissan Leaf

Frustration can be seen on every technician’s face from time to time. Will it ever end? Electric cars can give us the relief for which we have been waiting for more than 100 years. And it can start now.
The first two electric cars on the road today are the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt. The Leaf is pure electric (no gas tank), and the Volt is more of a plug-in hybrid. They are here, in the hands of a few early adopters. There is nothing to compare the old versus the new as we usually do, so we will compare them with each other.

June 2011 Issue

What’s Inside
Chrysler 42RLE: Output-shaft removal
GM 4T45-E: Harsh shifts, DTC P0010-P0011
Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep 41TE/42RLE: DTC P0740 – TCC slip/shudder
Chrysler 45/545RFE: No reverse
Isuzu A465 (AS68RC): Shift-adapt manual relearn procedure

Doing Business with Integrity

His name was Mendy Sussman. He was in his early 80s when I knew him back in the mid-1970s, so either he’s no longer with us or he’s about 117 years old and still sitting under a palm tree in Miami Beach. What that man taught me in about a half hour modeled my entire career.

Similar but Different: A look at Ford’s 6R140W

For the 2011 model year Ford Motor Co. replaced the 5R110W in its Super Duty pickup trucks with a full-time six-speed transmission. Those of us in the aftermarket industry are calling this transmission the 6R140W. Ford likes to call it the TorqShift®6.

Verify the Systems Before Condemning the Transmission

A few months ago a customer brought in a 2003 Dodge 1500 pickup with a 5.7 Hemi engine and 545RFE transmission. The Check Engine lamp was on and the truck would not accelerate from a stop unless you put the transmission in second gear.

Understanding and Analyzing Manual-Transmission Failures

The most-abused components in a vehicle are the clutch and the manual transmission, as these components are completely at the mercy of the driver. Most of this discussion will be tilted to performance vehicles, because they make up the vast majority of domestic cars that are still available with “stick transmissions.” The same parameters of this discussion also apply to foreign cars and, of course, the few pickup trucks and SUVs that are still optioned with a manual transmission.