Co-Pilot Transmission Controller - Fits 2003-2018 Dodge with 545-RFE, 65-RFE and 66-RFE Transmission, complete with harness. The ATS Co-Pilot for the Dodge/Ram 545-RFE, 65-RFE and 66-RFE Transmission (2003 to 2018) is a Must, it commands line pressure and internal clutch timing within the transmission to improve the reliability of the 545-RFE transmission by adding holding force of the clutch packs and converter clutch. Any truck that has over sized tires or a modified engine Needs the assistance of the Co-Pilot transmission controller to increase the line pressure of the transmission to adjust for higher power levels or oversized tires.
Engines that are heavily modified, Turbo Charged, Super Charged and Larger Displacement Motors produce much more torque than a normally aspirated engine does. These engines require a much different pressure curve to better match the engines aggressive torque curve, the Co-Pilot is specially designed for these applications. The Co-Pilot will work on any transmission stock or modified, when used in conjunction with an ATS transmission or valve body maximum line pressure is achieved providing the best in transmission performance and reliability.
The 42-RLE is plagued by small clutch packs, weak hard parts, a constant slip torque converter lock-up clutch, and inadequate line pressure. Typically, these issues can result in the failure of the stock transmission with just a mild tune or larger tires. The Co-Pilot addresses all of these concerns. The KILLER of the RFE transmissions is when its behind a modified engine and a forced down shift happens at full power.
When a forced down shift from 5th to 4th, 5th to 3rd or 5th to 2nd gear takes place the engine is at full power revving to its maximum horse power level, then the small clutch packs have to engage under full power holding all the power of the engine coupling it to the wheels! This is the point a typical RFE transmission fails and the transmission is toast! The Co-Pilot eliminates these concerns and corrects this problem.
What is the ATS 545-RFE Co-Pilot
The Co-Pilot consists of a controller, coil box and wiring harness. The harness plugs into the transmission connector located on the side of the transmission. The harness is completely plug and play for easy installation. The controller mounts in the cab and allows the driver to view critical transmission and engine inputs such as line pressure and commanded engine load. To view the different sensor inputs all you do is depress the up or down arrows. These changes can be made on-the-fly or with the vehicle stopped.
What Does the ATS 545-RFE Co-Pilot Do
The Co-Pilot controls line pressure, clutch timing and more aggressively applies the converter clutch under high torque situations. Line pressure is limited in a stock 545-RFE to 110 PSI. Unfortunately, this is not high enough to reliably prevent clutch slippage at higher power levels. The Co-Pilot senses throttle position to quickly takes control of line pressure when it is needed. However, when the vehicle is driven lightly, line pressure is near stock for comfortable shifts and lower transmission temperatures. This is all done automatically in the controller.
Line pressure is increased more dramatically and lubrication pressure is increased with the addition of an ATS Valve Body. While the ATS valve body installation isn't necessary, it will increase the performance of the Co-Pilot to its fullest potential. We recommend installing one of our modified valve bodies to fully address all of the internal hydraulic issues with the stock 545-RFE Valve body.
The Co-Pilot has a huge advantage over TCM programing on 2003 to 2018 TCMs because of the way the factory TCM is designed. We have found when aftermarket tuning for higher line pressures are done to the TCM to command higher line pressure in the transmission many if not all aftermarket TCM tuning will cause a radical pressure variation that spikes line pressure causing lots of problems. For this reason, we have found TCM tuning is not the best choice for the 545-RFE Transmission. The Co-Pilot utilizing a dynamic closed loop control addresses these issues by incorporating an averaging circuit that provides a very smooth and controllable line pressure rise up to 175PSI.
Clutch timing is programmed into the Co-Pilot to increase clutch pack life. On any 545-RFE transmission, clutch timing is optimized to reduce wear on clutch packs, efficiently transfer power and increase reliability.
The torque converter lock-up apply on a stock 545-RFE leaves a lot to be desired. The factory TCM will command lock-up at a very low apply rate when at higher throttle levels, this causes a slipping condition that damages the converter clutch especially when behind a modified engine or when running over sized tires. The ATS 545-RFE Co-Pilot will more firmly lock the converter clutch during apply, this allows the inherent torque of the engine to be used for better efficiency and performance.
Modes Available in Co-Pilot
Setting 1 (down or all the way to the right)
This mode shows you what the position of the TPS is. No Lights=0 percent and 5 lights=100 percent
Setting 2 (Two positions from the right)
This mode shows you what the actual transmission line pressure is No Lights=70 PSI line pressure and 5 lights=155 PSI Line pressure.
Features:
- 2003-2018 1500
- Cummins Dodge HEMI
