When I was driving my 05 hemi home after buying it I hit a large 6% grade hill and the truck would lose about 5mph then drop from 5th gear to 2nd gear, pick up speed and up shift through gears normal till it would lose speed and do it again.
It did this a number of times going home (100 mile trip).
I was using cruise running about 78mph.
Driving around town the truck will settle into 5th and with only a little pressure on the throttle the truck will drop to 2nd then shift up till in 5th again.
This seems a bit aggressive to me. Is there anyway to calm this shift action down? It would seem a drop to 3rd would be more fitting unless I was really aggressive with the throttle.
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It is likely dropping to 3rd, not 2nd. Tow/haul mode will smarten it up. The last gear change is the converter locking in 5th and not an actual gear change.

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I was using cruise running about 78mph.

That says alot about it.. lol.

Anyways with the auto its hard to tell what gear your in, it might be the torque converter your mistaking for gears. Also the trucks don't go in 5th very often from what I can tell, it either has to be down hill or flat after awhile. The ratio between 4th and 5th is almost unnoticable though, so maybe.

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Also the trucks don't go in 5th very often from what I can tell, it either has to be down hill or flat after awhile.

mine settles into 5th with 15% throttle pressure at 58mph... but i do 30k miles a year highway driving.

Im with Frost... it was jumping into 3rd, not second, 2nd at 80mph is almost redline on most of these trucks (3.92 gears with 20s). Mine does the same thing with cruise set... for some reason the downshift schedule for kickdown 3rd, is REALLY close to 4th kickdown pressures. A diablo will let you fix this, as you can customize your own up AND downshifts, for EACH gear... based on RPM and throttle pressure.. pretty sweet!

No not 3rd.Its going into 2nd.
It upshifts twice then the converter locks.

A programmer will help that!!

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No not 3rd.Its going into 2nd.
It upshifts twice then the converter locks.

Something wrong with that picture. If it's going into second, and up shifts twice, it would be 2nd to third,)first up shift), 3rd to fourth, (second up shift), what happened to fifth?

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Originally posted by reddooley:
No not 3rd.Its going into 2nd.
It upshifts twice then the converter locks.

5th to 4th = 1st downshift
4th to 3rd = 2nd downshift

This message has been edited. Last edited by: madcat,

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Originally posted by madcat:

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Originally posted by reddooley:
No not 3rd.Its going into 2nd.
It upshifts twice then the converter locks.

5th to 4th = 1st downshift
4th to 3rd = 2nd downshift

Thats the point. It isnt dropping like that.
It drops in one big drop.
I could tell you the RPM spread if I could remember, but it was dramatic. Id have to look at the tach. Then it pics up 2 gears, then drops a couple hundred RPM again, for the TC lock/5th gear.
So, nobody has an idea other than a programmer?

Just tells us what RPM its at once it down shifts and we can figure out what gear. My truck won't downshift into second if youre going above about 75ish.

My truck rarely ever downshifts to 4th. If it ever downshifts its straight to third. Idk about yalls trucks but my truck never stays in 4th gear longer than about 1/2 a second. 4th gear is absolutely pointless.

Tow/Haul locks out 5th turns the MDS off and I was told locks the converter. My truck sucks in tow haul. It stays in 3rd way too long and the pedal is way too sensetive to downshifting. With any pedal at all it drops back into 4th.

It is easy to mistake the TC locking for a gear but if you drive it enough and pay attention you can feel the difference. After it locks if you give it a little big of gas it goes without revving up. When it's not locked it revs a little before it goes. It's annoying as hell.

It's got to be third though. Because without a programmer and 3.55 gears with 30" tires the most you can do in 2nd prime is about 87. I doubt at 78 it would automatically drop to 2nd because it would only drop down to 2nd for a few seconds then shift to third.

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I doubt at 78 it would automatically drop to 2nd because it would only drop down to 2nd for a few seconds then shift to third.

YES EXACTLY! It drops down 5mph to 73 shifts to second and then starts upshifting. Irritating as hell. Maybe its just a gas burner thing? My diesel had a manual and I could put it in fifth at that speed on cruise and it would just go right up the hill no problem.

That's because your diesel makes its peak torque at under 2000rpm so cruising at about 70 is perfect and it will hardly ever need to downshift.

Wait what slows down your truck? That doesn't make any sense. You're at 78, it somehow slows down to 73, downshifts to 2nd then shifts back up to 5th?

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Wait what slows down your truck? That doesn't make any sense. You're at 78, it somehow slows down to 73, downshifts to 2nd then shifts back up to 5th?

Climbing a 6% grade

ok... easy test time...

set cruise at say 75 in OD. RPMS "should be" around 2200 (3.92s w/33" tires).

push the tow haul button, once. (locks out 5th gear). Wait for rpms to settle back down (will jump to 3rd initially, but will shift back into 4th after about a minute). RPMs should now be around 2500

Press tow haul button again (OD OFF mode, locks out 4ths gear)
RPMS will be north of 3000, but less than 4000 rpms.

Now... pull gear selector down to "2"
RPMS will now be around 5000, and it will be screaming.

If your truck is jumping from 5th gear to 2nd (prime) on a 6% grade, i would be talking to the dealership/service department. Mine will hardly ever kick down at 70+ , and when it does, it NEVER kicks down below 3rd unless i floor it for whatever reason, but only then will it kick on down into 2nd.

The ONLY other thing that may cause this, is if your truck somehow has 3.55s (common with OEM 17s from factory), but upgraded the wheels to 20s and/or overall tire height to above 32".

ok.. never mind step one (tow/haul) mode. 03-05s do not have a two step tow/haul feature, only a one touch/function button.