45RFE Archives - Transmission Digest
Chrysler RFE 4C Retaining Ring and Shim Kit

The 4C return spring retaining ring in Chrysler 45/545/65/66/68RFE transmissions is known to come unseated and pop off, resulting in transmission failure. The Sonnax 4C retaining ring and shim kit (#72978-01K) solves this issue while offering more options when setting clutch clearance, and improving 4C to OD shift timing when more aggressive quicker applying OD

68RFE Overdrive Clutch Failure

What to Check First When Troubleshooting OD Issues

Transmission Tech: Filtration

Mike Riley describes how the transmission filter can aid in diagnostics.

TDTG 040820 Filtration
Hydraulics: Converter Limit Valves

This article is one of a series by Sonnax exploring how valves and hydraulic circuits work and what results when they quit functioning correctly.

Getting (and Staying) Connected

Being the technical director for the valve-body and solenoid department, I’ve seen more than my share of errors and mistakes that people have made while working with automatic transmissions. The majority involve electrical components, most of them involving the connectors in some way. Often damage to a connector is done during the disconnection process. We’ve all been told not to wiggle a connector to get it off because it can expand the pin cavities in the connector and cause the pins to have poor or no connection when the connector is plugged back in; for example, in Chrysler 604s.

45/545RFE Pump Mystery Solved

This article refers specifically to Dodge trucks equipped with 45/545RFE transmissions. Because Dan’s shop works on many of these units, which are known to have pump issues, he stocks new pumps on the shelf. When Dan called he explained to me that when he disassembled one of these brand-new pumps he noticed that the screws that hold the pump spacer plate to the pump body were missing. He wanted to know whether this could be some kind of assembly-line error and whether he should exchange the pumps for new ones.

Operation Multi-Select

The shift strategy of Chrysler’s 45RFE and 545RFE transmission is clever and unique. The computer controls a total of seven solenoids in the transmission to perform all shift-feel, shift-timing, converter-clutch-apply and failsafe strategies.

You Can’t Rely on the Relay

Chrysler’s 41TE transmission has been in use since 1989, the 42LE since 1993, the 45RFE since 1999 and the 42RLE since 2003. With each of these transmissions having similar electronics, they also have similar diagnostic codes and testing consistencies.

45RFE: Mystery Code 1781

This is another one of those frustrating and mind-boggling codes that you do everything to try to get rid of but it seems to always come back. The worst part about this code is that it will not appear when the vehicle is in your shop. Unfortunately, the code is intermittent and its frequency is erratic.