The A518 Tranny

Hello everybody. I thought it would be of benefit to all if I mentioned the recent rebuild of my '90 Ramcharger's A518 Transmission. We have owned this truck since new, and its the most durable vehicle we have ever owned. Haven't had a single complaint with it, except for the tranny. The original trans dropped reverse gear at 30,000, and was replaced under the old 7 year/70,000 powertrain warranty. Then, at around 75,000, the new transmission began to howl loudly, lessening when the OD was turned off. It turned out to be a lack of lubrication to the OD unit, which has been corrected in later to modern 518 trannies. At 90,000, we could finally budget for the rebuild of the the trans. We took it to Gaynor transmissions here in Montclair, NJ. He not only rebuilt the tranny, he modified it by modernizing lubrication pathways back to the OD unit, making it essentially a modern 518. He didn't want to see it back for another repair. When we got it back, the performance it gave was flawless. The total tab on the rebuilt was $2500, tax included, and it was well worth it. Heres a pic of the '90:

Any questions, don't hesitate to give me an email.


Carson
'76 Warlock 2wd, '89 Ramcharger 2wd, '90 Ramcharger 2wd

Hey Carson! Your RC is awesome, even nicer than mine. I too have the A518. I bought the truck with 78,500 miles on it from our local Lawrence, KS Dodge dealer. Fortunately, the previous owner has all of the maintenance records. He rebuilt the tranny at 68,000 miles. It shifts fine with the exception of 1st to 2nd gear it seems that the engine is ahead of the tranny so it clunks. It make no noises though. It sometimes does it 2nd to 3rd also. I am no expert, but it would almost seem like a vacuum problem. I have replaced the 4th gear solenoid and have had two filter and fluid changes. The fluid has remained good color.

I like this truck and am sure if I could afford to pay cash for all of my repairs rather than credit card them, I would not complain. I have never been a Dodge truck fan mostly due to their design, but I have always loved the Ramcharger. This is my first.

Thanks for your input. ANY input you could provide as to my clunking I would appreciate. Thanks.