ok so anyone that has seen my post know i have a 1988 ram 50 sport 2.6l with automatic transmission with 125 k miles on it. last evening me and the wife decided to take a little run over to some friends *lives about 6 miles one way* about 2 miles from home we are cruising along around 35 miles an hour when all of a sudden my truck down shifted and then back to cruising gear and back again and then back to cruising gear.
so i quickly pressed the od *aka overdrive* button on my shiftier knob.
which took it out of overdrive and everything seemed to be ok we went ahead and went over to friends and when i got there leaving the truck running and in park checked the fluid level and sure enough it was real low.
now on my transmission stick it has two readings check when cold and check when hot.
the fluid level was hardly showing on the bottom of the dip stick.
so i have my friend take me down and pick up a couple of quarts of atf tranny fluid go back pour a quart in fire the truck up gave it 5 mins or so check the fluid level it showed to be @ the cold mark.
so i,m thinking i will run it back home 6 miles or close to it and check it when i get home. now keep in mind where we live it,s rolling hills not mountains but hills some steep grades but nothing terrible bad.
on the way back home it shifted the same way like it did before so just for safety sake i turned the overdrive off again.
when we got home i checked the fluid level with the truck running and in park and this time it was just a bit under the hot mark so i added more fluid till it was back to full.
i haven't ran it today yet i kind of wanted input before i take it out and about.
*on a side note when i checked the fluid @ my friends house i smelled what fluid there was on the dip stick and it didn't smell burnt in any way.*
do you think it would be a good ideal to drop the pan and change the filter?
does it even have a filter?
i read somewhere i can't remembered where that if a transmission pan has a drain plug then it doesn't have a filter .
how hard of a job is this going to be keep in mind i,m 51 yrs old with a bad heart i can still get around and do a few things just takes me longer lol.
bottom line here can i do this myself or would it be advisable to have a mechanic do it?
thxs for any help.