Sons 08 Ram 1500 is starting to have tranny (42rle) issues. Started off shuddering and continued to get worse. Tried some additives but now slipping in 1st gear. Replaced speed sensors and thst didnt work, so gonna try and replace shift solenoid before I decide to take it to shop.

From what I can tell it needs a new TC or a tranny. Wondering if used tranny is worth it or are they darn.

the shuttering is the torque converter, the slipping is the clutch discs, it needs rebuilt. fyi, don't use a reman torque converter, make sure it is new

p.s. i would go rebuilt before i would go used

Doh... might have to make this a diy project. As I can't sink 2k into this.

i may know of a guy in arlington that rebuilds them for less than a thousand

Thanks Spanky.. based on what i am reading on the 42rle.. they are [censored] at 125k.

Will probably just bite the bullet and get it rebuilt.

If you want to go the used route, look at Car-Part.com! My opinion is to get it rebuilt! They are junk transmissions!

Try friction reducer additive.

I'd only go used to unload the truck.

Had a buddy in college with a '90's model chevy his transmission over heated and was starting to act up on him. He aked if I would put in a used transmission for him so off to the salvage yard etc. we went. All the transmissions we looked at were leaking some fluid out and my guess is none of the drivers of them were into preventative maintenance as the fluid was all dark and burned already. We ended up flushing the trans fluid several times through the cooler lines and giving it a healthy dose of an additive and it ran for another 30k miles working fine till he sold it.

Did that and it stopped the shudder, but caused the slipping. Gonna have it flushed later in the week and see if anything changes.

Does the transmission have a dipstick?

Is it at the correct level? Is the fluid nice pretty pink and smells good?

If the fluid isn't nice a new looking I would drop the pan and fill a few times with some stop slip additive. Go to Walmart and you can get jugs of the trans fluid cheap, your out a few bucks and your time if it doesn't work. If it makes an improvement repeat in a few hundred or thousand miles.

Yes... it is nice and pink and good level, but I'm going to do as you suggested before I drop some serious dollars on it. I think my son has just beat on it too much, and it is probably going to bite me in the butt.

Update: Did a fluid exchange and getting some better results, so I put in a big bottle of Risolene trans non-slip and it seems to be helping. Gonna run it another two weeks, then drop the pan and change filter and put in some more Risolene.