32 GEARS October/November 2013

As with most manufactur-ers, updates

and interchanges become part of grow-ing up, but they also can become night-mares. In this issue of “Word on the Street” we’re dealing with a 2010 Dodge Ram 4X4 pickup equipped with a 68RFE transmission that has a “clank” noise caused by a separator plate.

The complaint is a metallic-type clank that only occurs when shifting from drive to neutral. The noise is the same in 2-wheel or 4-wheel drive, and seems to get worse as the transmission tem-perature rises.

The differential and driveshafts were fi ne; the engine and transmission mounts were all good. Engine idle was normal, with no notice-able driveability problems. No codes present for the engine or transmission.

The noise is defi nitely coming from the transmission. You can hear the clank every time you move the shifter from drive to neutral.

Removing and disassembling the transmission revealed some wear in the clutches and bushings, but nothing that should have caused the clanking noise:

no broken parts, worn splines, or exces-sive endplay problems.

A little research revealed that the customer’s complaint is “normal” by factory standards. What’s interesting about that is they’ve issued a bulletin that addresses this exact complaint: Dodge TSB #21-010-12, dated July 16, 2012, for the transmission and transfer case group.

The TSB addresses a complaint of a “clank noise” when shifting the trans-mission from drive to neutral. It applies

to 2011–12 Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500 series trucks, plus Durango, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and International trucks equipped with an RFE transmission.

The correction requires an updated valve body separator plate, part number 52120004AB. The TSB doesn’t distin-guish between the 545RFE and 68RFE; it just says RFE transmission. The 545RFE and 68RFE valve bodies are virtually the same. The main difference is the heavier accumulator springs and updated manual valve in the 68RFE.

no broken parts, worn splines, or exces-sive endplay problems.

to 2011–12 Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500 series trucks, plus Durango, Jeep Grand

Figure 1

by Mike Souzamembers.atra.com

THE WORD ON THE STREET

Stop Clanking Around!

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34 GEARS October/November 2013

So how does a separator plate cause a clank when shifting from drive to neutral? The 68RFE fi rst appeared in the 2006 model year. Early models, from 2006 to 2008, used both an overdrive and a multi-select solenoid to control the overdrive clutch. In 4th and 5th gears, the overdrive solenoid and multi-select solenoid feed oil to the overdrive clutch (fi g-ure 1). In 6th gear, the over-drive solenoid alone controls the oil to the overdrive clutch (fi gure 2).

In mid-2009 to 2010, the overdrive clutch solenoid was eliminated; the over-drive clutch was controlled exclusively by the multi-se-lect solenoid. This required a new style solenoid body and separator plate, for obvious reasons. You can identify the updated solenoid block by

the gray connector (fi gure 3). At the same time they removed the manual 2 and 1 de-tent hydraulic circuits and added “autos-tick mode (sport shift).”

The multi-select solenoid uses a new circuit through the manual valve to pro-vide control oil to the overdrive clutch in 4th, 5th, and 6th gears (fi gure 4).

Stop Clanking Around!

34 GEARS October/November 2013Figure 3

Figure 2

GEARS October/November 2013 GEARS October/November 2013Figure 4

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36 GEARS October/November 2013

There were also some checkball changes. Checkballs 6 and 7 were eliminated in the 2009 model year (fi gure 5). The checkball functions are explained in the chart (fi g-ure 6).

The 2006-to-2008 valve body separa-tor plate (part number 54563016AB) is shown in fi gure 7. The 2009-and-later separator plate (part number 52120004A; fi g-ure 8) identifi es the feed holes that were eliminated over checkball 6 and 7 lo-cations.

Checkball 6 was re-moved to allow the multi select solenoid to control overdrive clutch apply instead of the overdrive solenoid. This eliminated the need for the overdrive solenoid. Checkball 7 was removed to allow the 2C solenoid to control the 2C clutch apply in the manual 2 range instead of the multi select solenoid.

The slot was changed to an or-ifi ce to slow the release of the un-derdrive clutch when shifting from drive to neutral or park (part number 52120004AB; fi gure 9).

So here’s what happens: The underdrive and low/re-verse clutch are applied in drive. When the shifter goes from drive to neutral, the underdrive clutch releases so quickly that it creates a rollover effect. This causes the clank.

Simply update the separator plate to get rid of the clank when shifting from drive to neutral. But this only affects model years with the new solenoid confi guration.

There are a couple other items to look at: There may be a time when a 2009-or-later 68RFE arrives at your shop with these two checkballs missing. Never assume that they’ve deteriorated or were lost during teardown. Always place the separator plate over the valve body: If there’s only one hole over the bathtub, you can assume there shouldn’t

Figure 5solenoid to control the

CHECK BALL FUNCTION

Ball #1 Used in 2nd through 6th gear

Ball #2 Used in 5th and 6th gear

Ball #3 Used in Reverse

Ball #4 Used in 1st through 4th gear

Ball #5 Used in 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th gear

Ball #6 Used in 4th, 5th and 6th gear

Ball #7 Used in 2nd and 6th gearFigure 6

Figure 7

Stop Clanking Around!

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GEARS October/November 2013 37

be checkball in that location.Don’t make the mistake of install-

ing checkballs 6 or 7 with the updated spacer plate on any RFE transmission. Here are some of the complaints caused when checkballs 6 or 7 were added to the valve body using the later separator plate:

• Installing the number 6 checkball

with the updated spacer plate will restrict oil to the overdrive clutch. This may set code P0871 (over-drive pressure switch rationality), and cause premature overdrive clutch failure.

• If you install the number 7 check-ball with the updated plate, it will restrict oil to the 2C clutch. This

may set code P0846 (2C pressure switch rationality) and cause pre-mature 2C clutch failure.

I hope this additional information helps prevent your shop from making a mistake while rebuilding a later model 68RFE transmission.

be checkball in that location. with the updated spacer plate will with the updated spacer plate will may set code P0846 (2C pressure with the updated spacer plate will

Figure 9Figure 8

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