In cold weather, the tranny in a '97 2500 diesel is sluggish getting started. A dealer told the owner something like the problem is a valve that is draining down the fluid when turned off and it has to pump the fluid up.
Any idea what this is about? How much would this cost to fix??
Yep - it's called a converter drain-back valve, or anti-drainback valve. It's located on the transmission cooler line, near the radiator (passenger side - look for the tranny cooler lines). It should be fairly inexpensive to change out, as it's just a one-way check valve.
Your friend could also just idle for a few seconds in neutral, which is also a pretty good idea for the engine, too (12V engines should be allowed a short warm-up cycle before driving off). This will fill the converter up, and eliminate the sluggishness.
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