Forum Discussion
BenK
Jul 21, 2016Explorer
With your comment:
Best to leave the 'automatic transmission' to do what it was designed
to do...take away the manual shifting decisions from the human and
have it's computer decide...the Tow/Haul was added to further protect
the 'automatic tranny' as computers, for now, do NOT know if you are
hauling and/or towing...
Saving a few pennies via MPG vs thousands of bucks to repair isn't
worth it...or at least not to me...
"Like I said I know nothing about transmissions,"
Best to leave the 'automatic transmission' to do what it was designed
to do...take away the manual shifting decisions from the human and
have it's computer decide...the Tow/Haul was added to further protect
the 'automatic tranny' as computers, for now, do NOT know if you are
hauling and/or towing...
Saving a few pennies via MPG vs thousands of bucks to repair isn't
worth it...or at least not to me...
Jim-Linda wrote:Dave Mck wrote:
I've done a few long trips in my 07 ram 1500 and have always just put tow/haul on and left it on the entire time.After reading some different views here I figured I would shut it off because I was on a flat road and maybe get a little better mileage.
After a while I notice I'm running at 3,000 rpm at about 70mph. I usually run 70 mph at 2,000 rpms in tow/haul mode. So I take my foot off the gas and slow down to about 65 but I'm still at 3000 rpms, the transmission is not "kicking" down. Go down to about 50 mph I'm running just under 3000 now. I tried accelerating and decelerating again to get the transmission to shift and it won't. I tried putting in and out of tow/haul several times and nothing changes. I got off at the next exit, fueled up checked the fluid and it was good. As I'm getting back on I-95 I try to merge and the truck will barely move, I got my foot on the floor and the truck is barely moving. Now I know absolutely nothing about transmissions, nothing at all, but it was like it was stuck in 3rd gear or something, wouldn't down shift engine wouldn't rev out nothing. Then I got that sinking feeling in my stomach, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. I'm about 400 miles into my 1200 mile trip home somewhere down at the bottom of North Carolina in the middle of no where! I picture Chevy Chase in my head where the mechanic is also the sheriff when he asks how much the bill is and the guy says how much you got? Lol. Slowly I got back up to about 60mph and got off at the next exit. I let it sit while I was trying to figure out what to do for about 15 minutes, I shut the engine also. I figured there was nothing I could do at this point so I was just going to get back on the road and drive as far as I could. I started it back up put tow/haul on and started out. As I'm merging I hit the gas and everything works normal, the engine revs up the tranny shifts right and I get right up to speed. I get up to about 70 mph and it settles into the right gear and I'm at 2000 rpm. I slow down and speed up a few times and everything is working normal, I had no issues for the remainder of the trip.Like I said I know nothing about transmissions,
but maybe it was heating up because I wasn't using T/H mode and the computer put it in a "safe mode"? Restarting the engine reset it maybe? I've learned a lot on this forum and wanted to share my experience, I don't know what happened, if it was luck or what? Maybe someone with more knowledge will know. By the way, this transmission was completely rebuilt 27,000 miles ago.
I would love to read your post, BUT, with everything together, no paragraphs, I gave up.
Jim
About RV Tips & Tricks
Looking for advice before your next adventure? Look no further.25,141 PostsLatest Activity: Jun 14, 2025