1st Gen Cummins 47RE Swap

I 47RE swapped my 1st Gen and bought an Anteater to control it. Originally was planning a FMVB but decided this might help driveability.

Anyway, I've had it in there for a few days and I keep getting this flashing red light for "Tune" which at that point I can no longer shift the transmission except to 2 and 1 with the column shift. This situation has led to me lugging the drivetrain half a dozen times before I catch it and get it into 2nd.

I have an email chain going with Andy at FPD, and he said that flashing light means a loss of communication and suggested my power and ground could be causing it. I have checked all connections and completely rewired the power and ground so that they are essentially connected directly to the battery. I even cleaned up those connections on my battery/body.

At this point and with nearing the weekend... I am growing evermore anxious about this. I did the entire rebuild of both the 47RE and NP205 t case myself meticulously and to be constantly concerned about this is making driving my truck a nightmare.

The anteater is a good unit. My connection to my remote or the display whatever you want to call it was finicky sometimes and this would cause the anteater to fault which puts the trans in 3rd gear. I know issues like this can be a real hair puller but the anteater is well worth it once you have it up and going. If you can try and pinpoint a pattern to when it does it or is it totally sporadic? Does it always happen in such a gear, mph, while stopped etc etc

Thanks for the reply.

Totally sporadic. Its happened in O/D + lockup, 3rd, 1st. Its done this at 85 MPH and 0 MPH.

I will check the harness connections again.

My issue was the connector that plugged into the remote itself was flakey. You'd never see the remote flicker or power off, it'd just lose communication

That is exactly what was happening with mine... why that connection is such a small and flimsy POS... is a mystery to me.

For 1600 bucks I'm not too impressed with certain aspects of the Anteater... and considering the alternative is a FMVB... I think I would have rather just NV5600 swapped it.

Oh well... hindsight...

Thanks for your replies.

So it happened again. This time multiple times on the highway. It appears that connection from the harness to the remote module is not reliable. I think the bumpy ol 1st gen suspension is enough to rattle these things.

Unbelievably frustrating for such a thing after everything I had to go through rebuilding this trans (supply issues) and spending so much time and money.

Firepunk said they wouldn't take a return, but would help me sell it used. Or I can send it back and they can test it... yes let me put my truck in paperweight mode for two weeks after I specifically told you guys I needed a reliable solution. I'm moving a thousand miles and after spending God knows how much money I have a truck I need to stop on the side of the highway to reset. Awesome...

Its no wonder the reputation they've obtained exists. I feel like a fool for not heeding the warning signs.

CRT is sending me a FMVB... I will go that route until this thing breaks... then its manual swap. I should have listened to the mass of people telling me not to waste my time with dodge automatics... how so many people deal with these poorly designed transmissions that seem to have so many problems is beyond me.

Big time yikes ��

A sucky but simple work around is putting the power wire on a switch so you can just cycle power with the switch instead of pulling over to shut the truck off.

So your tinkering and swapping and use of aftermarket parts isn't working how you wanted but it's the fault of Dodge automatics? I can't follow that line of reasoning at all.

You should have just built a 47rh with a good shift kit, then lock and od on toggle switches.

CBNeff said:

I think I would have rather just NV5600 swapped it.

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Yup, definitely a foolish move choosing that garbage slush box over the finest Dodge trans to ever exist!

I’m curious about the reputation of Firepunk. Never heard bad or had bad experiences with them.

Never mind. I see that you were warned about dodge autos too. Sounds like I wouldn’t listen to much of anything from the crowd you have in your ear.

Like Jason said, RH with a shift kit is pretty cheap and mine has been perfectly reliable. I’m sure with some patience you can figure out and correct what you have. Lots of people running the same without issue.

fatty said:

So your tinkering and swapping and use of aftermarket parts isn't working how you wanted but it's the fault of Dodge automatics? I can't follow that line of reasoning at all.

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Exactly. Welcome to aftermarket world. It's not a one size fits all.

jasonc said:

You should have just built a 47rh with a good shift kit, then lock and od on toggle switches.

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Yes. But that would be too practical.
Instead, a NV5600 should have been used. Good luck to the OP on the FMVB upgrade. Jason's idea sure seems inexpensive and reliable.

@thatguy69
Yeah thats what im probably gonna do. Just to keep me moving during this big haul until I FMVB it.

@fatty
The Anteater issues are obviously not Dodges problem... but the plethora of issues with shift overlap and bands burning out, combined with controlling a RE... definitely not the best. I should have specified that RHs are a reliable way to go. And knowing what I know now a 47RE/RH hybrid might have been my ideal route.

Oh well... bla bla hindsight... It was nice rebuilding a automatic... id never done that before and now I know a hell of a lot about Dodges most common truck transmission. Not sure where that'll come in handy... lol but hey now I know.