Thread: A Transmission question for you Mopar guys....

Tweet

A buddy of mine has a '37 Chevy truck that has been mounted onto a complete '99 Dodge Dakota chassis with the 5.9L, 46RE trans. I think his builder isn't very comfortable with EFI stuff and convinced him to ditch the EFI/computer/etc and convert the whole rig to a carb to make it more "simple", which wasn't a great idea in my opinion (and quite expensive, too!) But the decision wasn't mine to make.

Being a '99, the trans is electronically controlled by the computer (TCU or whatever). So here's my question, can he make this trans work without a computer or will he have to swap to a 46RH or A518 trans? It's a good trans and he doesn't want to replace it if there is a reasonable alternative.

I tried several searches but haven't come up with anything definitive. So, if any of you Mopar aficionados have any words of wisdom that I could share with him, I'd appreciate it!

Thanks!!!

Look at Summit or Jegs for a stand-alone torque converter control. Almost a plug & play type that the driver has total control.
I know TCI makes them for 700R4, may be worth a call.
Also may need to check trans drive & driven gears for compatability.

Just a thought...

Yeah, I agree with T-top, I'd be spending some time on the phone calling the better performance tranny places to see if they can't provide a stand alone controller. Also agree that your buddy got some very bad advice from his "builder". That guy needs to take a step into today's reality if he's going to work with takeout OEM packages. I would think that the OEM ECU/TCM can be "tweaked" to keep only the TCM portion, but I don't know of anyone doing that specific service (like the guy in MO that strips all of the VIN/security/theft functions for OEM ECU's).

Thanks, guys! Unlike the Fords & Chevies, apparently no one makes a stand alone controller for these Chrysler electronic trans yet. At least that's what the owner has been told and is consistent with my online searches thus far. He said he drove the truck a couple of miles over the weekend without any controller. He had to shift the gears manually and the overdrive doesn't work. I'm not sure if this would eventually damage the trans or not.

I think you are correct Randy! I cannot find a separate stand alone system for any chrysler product! I think that's amazing actually!

I wanted to look through Hemmings but don't have a copy handy at the moment.. but you could check online??

Originally Posted by 34_40

I think you are correct Randy! I cannot find a separate stand alone system for any chrysler product! I think that's amazing actually!

I wanted to look through Hemmings but don't have a copy handy at the moment.. but you could check online??

Yeah, Mike, I've googled all kinds of stuff and scrolled thru various Mopar threads to no avail. I found this thread where a guy said he was going to build a stand alone controller but the last post on it was April of '13. moparts: 46RE standalone controller (I think I'll design one)

Any thoughts on whether driving the truck without a controller would actually damage the trans?

You'd need to know the pressures inside... if the servo pressure is low, it won't clamp a band to complete a shift, or it may let a clutch pack slip.. there are to many scenarios to even guess.. and I haven't been inside a mopar tranny in decades!!! But I wouldn't drive it if it were mine!

There was a big tranny shop in Las Vegas - they may have an answer? I'm wondering if anyone swaps out the valve body with an older series to get away from the computer....

It's a shame he's gone this far in the build on such bad advice! While costly, maybe revert back to the fuel injection and engine management computer with trands controls...??..?

Now is he also helping you get your car completed? LOL...

Originally Posted by 34_40

You'd need to know the pressures inside... if the servo pressure is low, it won't clamp a band to complete a shift, or it may let a clutch pack slip.. there are to many scenarios to even guess.. and I haven't been inside a mopar tranny in decades!!! But I wouldn't drive it if it were mine!

There was a big tranny shop in Las Vegas - they may have an answer? I'm wondering if anyone swaps out the valve body with an older series to get away from the computer....

It's a shame he's gone this far in the build on such bad advice! While costly, maybe revert back to the fuel injection and engine management computer with trands controls...??..?

Now is he also helping you get your car completed? LOL...

Well, Mike, he's actually a nice old guy from my gym. I overheard him telling somebody about his truck a few months ago and since I'm always eager to chat with people about their old cars I started asking questions. He's been paying to have this thing built for the last few years. The pics look beautiful, in a classic old truck with modern running gear sorta way, but he probably has $60K in it. He went through a couple of bad experiences in the early stages of the build. He finally got it to a body & paint guy he trusts, then commissioned him to build the rest of it.

If I had come into the picture sooner I would have definitely encouraged him to keep all the fuel injection & electronics. I think he now realizes it would have been way cheaper that way and it would be finished by now!

At this point it will probably cost about the same money to buy a rebuilt A518 or 46RH as it would to buy a stand alone controller (which doesn't seem to be available anyway).

As for him helping with my car......since he's not doing the work on his own, it doesn't seem likely he'll help with mine.... But he's a great old guy and I just thought I'd see if you guys had any ideas that might help.

Thanks again!

He sounds like a great guy to hang out with!

But you just KNOW! I'm gonna give you grief 'til you make some progress on your car! I promised IC2 that I wouldn't let you off the hook 'til it's done!

Originally Posted by 34_40

He sounds like a great guy to hang out with!

But you just KNOW! I'm gonna give you grief 'til you make some progress on your car! I promised IC2 that I wouldn't let you off the hook 'til it's done!

But, of course!!! I EXPECT the grief!!! Actually, as soon as I get my taxes done I'm looking for a little workspace offsite that I can rent for a few months till I can get the "noisy" parts done. The "powers that be" keep squeezing me tighter on cutting & grinder noise on the evenings & weekends, which makes it virtually impossible to get much done before the bitching starts. Till then, I have to plan my projects carefully.

Originally Posted by randyr

But, of course!!! I EXPECT the grief!!! Actually, as soon as I get my taxes done I'm looking for a little workspace offsite that I can rent for a few months till I can get the "noisy" parts done. The "powers that be" keep squeezing me tighter on cutting & grinder noise on the evenings & weekends, which makes it virtually impossible to get much done before the bitching starts. Till then, I have to plan my projects carefully.

AH! Gotcha.. Well, good luck on the "new" location.. seein' as your having such trouble with the neighbors.. maybe I'll tone down the harrassment??


NOT!!!

Good luck with the new location mate; I don't know how you've managed to put up with your present working conditions for so long!
I've got to admire you for achieving what you have considering where you are!

(Does that make sense?)

Originally Posted by johnboy

Good luck with the new location mate; I don't know how you've managed to put up with your present working conditions for so long!
I've got to admire you for achieving what you have considering where you are!

(Does that make sense?)

Yup, I hear ya, Johnboy!! My setup is not ideal for car building but I've managed to make it work so far. Heck, even the old guy who does all of the complaining about the noise loves to see what I'm doing! I can do all the "quiet" projects I want but when I pull out the grinder........ Maybe I need a few welding lessons from Robert (MP&C) so I won't have to grind so much!!

Randy, if he had the wiring from the donor truck with the PCM and TPS, he should be able to get it working this way. I know guys that have done this on cummins conversions using 47re's.

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

Randy, if he had the wiring from the donor truck with the PCM and TPS, he should be able to get it working this way. I know guys that have done this on cummins conversions using 47re's.

That's interesting, Ryan. The TPS could work with a carb? I know he had all the wiring and stuff but not sure what his builder did with it. I'll suggest him looking into. Thanks for the suggestion!!