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Dodge Dakota Transmission Problems

1024 messages,  Last post on May 07, 2013 at 9:14 AM

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Messages Page 54 of 103

#528 of 1024 2001 Dodge Dakota 4.7L with the 545RFE transmission by rresa

Feb 16, 2009 (5:43 pm)

I have a 2001 Dodge Dakota (4.7L 4x4 w/ 545RFE) with 70K miles that I've owned since it was new. I routinely drive short distances to work (11 miles each way). On my last few "long" trips, I have encountered a recurring issue. After driving approximately 60 to 65 miles at freeway speeds, the transmission began to shift from overdrive to drive then back to overdrive, repeating continuously back and forth. This continues and the shifts get harder (larger fluctuations in the RPM gauge) as you continue. I stopped, let the vehicle rest for 20 minutes and started again. After another 20 minutes, the same thing happened again.
 
Could this a simple TPS issue or could this be a more serious mechanical issue, such as a torque converter or solenoid. Also, when the vehicle is started in cold weather (less than 30 degrees), it won't shift into OD until the engine is warm. Don't know if the two issues are related or not. The fluid is full and clean, with no "burnt" smell.

#529 of 1024 Re: HELP [cragan] by dustyk

Feb 17, 2009 (8:01 pm)

Replying to: cragan (Feb 11, 2009 5:07 pm)
I would recommend a rebuild by a qualified and Mopar friendly technician. Off the shelf rebuilds often have an initial mortality if it's not a quality product. A rebuilder must make it right before they deliver the vehicle to you. If you buy one out-of-the-box and there's something wrong, you'll be the one saddled with taking back out and dealing with a delay.
 
Another advantage of having a good rebuilder recondition your existing transmission, is you can do a number of upgrades to enhance durability and long term reliability. Dodge truck trannies are easy to work on and upgrade to stronger planetary gear sets that use more pinions, more and stronger clutch and steel sets, and even high performance valve body revisions, among other enhancements. These are very easy to upgrade this way. You can go as far as making a 46RE equivalent to a 48RE in terms of strength and durability if you want to.
 
Regards,
Dusty

#530 of 1024 Re: 2001 Dodge Dakota 4.7L with the 545RFE transmission [rresa] by dustyk

Feb 17, 2009 (8:13 pm)

Replying to: rresa (Feb 16, 2009 5:43 pm)
On a 545RFE, shifts to fifth gear are prevented until the automatic transmission fluid reaches 36 degrees F. Torque converter lock-up will not occur until the ATF reaches 80 degrees F.
 
Have you replaced the battery recently? If this is the original battery it may be causing intermittent loss of PCM or TCM memory keep alive. You might need to reflash the PCM. In fact, since your 2001 was manufacturered, there have a few transmission flash updates issued.
 
An open IOD fuse in the fuse panel (on the instrument panel) will cause irratic shifting problems.
 
And, yes, a defective Throttle Position Sensor can and will cause irratic shifting issues as well. In fact, this is a fairly common problem on older Daks.
 
Lastly, if you haven't done so yet, I would recommend that the transmission filters be changed. A partially clogged Cooler Return Filter may cause pressure loss after being driven for a while.
 
Regards,
Dusty

#531 of 1024 93 dakota transmission issues by bigcfi

Feb 18, 2009 (9:58 am)

hello all,,after reading thru all the dakota posts i'm going on a checkout mission before i tackle a change,,i have a 93 dakota extenda cab 4x4 withe a 3.9 auto,,it's been what seem like a slip shifting from2-3,,this started about 2 months ago and seems to be getting worse,,so i just took another trans outa a 93 dakota that had a 5.2 lt motor and have been told that it will work..but after reading all the post on problems i'm reluctant to get started,,alot of issues on these boards seem to deal with tps sensor and the throttle lever and spring and cableso now i'm gonna do some checking and see if one of these may have been causing my problems all along,,i do remember that early this summer my idle adjustment seemed to go down to the point that it would not idle and keep running at a stop sighn,,and i'm wandering if this might have been a sign of the tps going bad?well being a do it your selfer and having 30 yrs of tinkering with vehicles under my belt i adjusted the idle screw up a little and that cured the low idle at stop problem,,i bought this truck about a year ago and it runs like a top,,and the guy i got it from said he had changed the tranny fluid before i bought it,,well around october while driving it it started to feel like it was slipping,,when i got it to my driveway it quit completly,,had to push it in the driveway,,well i thought that was it for mr tranny but deceided to drop the pan and check it out,,the filter was sooo dirty it couldn't be blown thru with compressed air ,,so i changed it and replaced the fluid with atf4 it drove great after that for about a month and started to slip again while driving it will speed up and seem to slip between the 2-3 shifts if i manually shift to 2nd then to drive it will work but not if you apply alot of pedel in drive,,but if you drive it slow it seems to shift right on it's own,,so for the last couple months i've been driving it slow and staying close to home..out my way the cost of another transmission used is about 800 bucks and just cant afford that or the price of a rebuild job,,i found the transmission i got at a good friends yard in a truck that was wrecked and got it very cheap,,so i was about to undertake the change but after reading the posts i'm wandering if it's really whats wrong? so today i'll be checking the other issues,,any more pointers to look for??thanks for all the ideas ,,and i have my fingers crossed that it may be something i just overlooked
thanks
bigcfi

#532 of 1024 Re: 2001 Dodge Dakota 4.7L with the 545RFE transmission [dustyk] by rresa

Feb 18, 2009 (5:03 pm)

Replying to: dustyk (Feb 17, 2009 8:13 pm)
Thank-you for the replay.
 
The battery was replaced (2) years ago, so that should be fine. However, it is due for a tranmission fluid change so that may be a good place to start.
 
With respect to the IOD fuse, I don't see one labeled as such.
 
When I checked with Autozone, they said a defective TPS would only affect the idle and would not affect the transmission in any way. However, this is contrary to what you and many others have said, so I will give that a try.
 
Thank-you for the input.
 
Regards

#533 of 1024 Re: 2001 Dodge Dakota 4.7L with the 545RFE transmission [rresa] by dustyk

Feb 18, 2009 (6:28 pm)

Replying to: rresa (Feb 18, 2009 5:03 pm)
Battery issues will cause some pretty quirky problems in Dakotas, everything from losing the time on the clock or presets in the radio, random chimes, rough idle, and irratic transmission problems.
 
The IOD fuse probably isn't labeled. It isn't on my 2003, either. It is a ten ampere fuse, usually, and on later Daks it's found in cavity 18. But check all of the fuses just to be sure.
 
A defective TPS can most certainly cause irratic shifts on Mopars. The person at AutoZone obviously does not know how things work.
 
Good Luck and best regards,
Dusty

#534 of 1024 Re: 93 dakota transmission issues [bigcfi] by dustyk

Feb 18, 2009 (6:44 pm)

Replying to: bigcfi (Feb 18, 2009 9:58 am)
A number of things can cause a 2-3 flair on a 42RE, burnt clutches, sticky servo, bands out-of-adjustment, clogged valve body, or sticking shift solenoids, just to name a few. One thing that will certainly cause this problem is the throttle linkage being out of adjustment or sticking Throttle Valve Cable or Throttle Valve Shaft (pivot on the left side of the transmission case). The operation and adjustment of this valve is critical to correct shifts. If the cable adjustment is too loose the transmission will try to shift into the next higher gear too soon causing low hydraulic pressure and subsequent slipping (flair).
 
If I read your message correctly, you are contemplating replacing the transmission in your 3.9 Dakota (a 42RR or RH) with one from a 318 equiped truck. The V8 is either a A518, 44RE/RH or a 46RE/RH. I know it will bolt up, but I'm not sure about the transmission length. I advise taking a length measurement before you yank the tranny out of your truck.
 
Regards,
Dusty

#535 of 1024 Re: 93 dakota transmission issues [dustyk] by bigcfi

Feb 18, 2009 (8:50 pm)

Replying to: dustyk (Feb 18, 2009 6:44 pm)
thanks dusty,,i've read your replys on all 53 pages and know you know what your talking about,,any good way to tell which tranny i got from the 318,,it came outa a 93 dakota extendta cab 4x4 just like mine...the only numbers on the case are 067-1 in 2 places... big looks like a welded on number and a number stamped by the chrysler logo on top thats 17904 other than those number thats all i can find ,,do any of those numbers sound right?
  also the dip stick is marked use dextron II on it ,,i know i should use mopar 4 fluid right?? but did they originally use dextron 2 in these years??
  i looked at the throttle cable today and it appeared to be a couple mm out of alignment ,,also when i first checked the movement of both throttle and cable it appeared the lever on the tranny was hanging up at first mabey at 1/3 of the travel ,,after i readjusted the cable i tried it again and it didn't seem to stick anymore but still seems sluggish between 2-3 shifts unless i let of the throttle ,,the spring is in place and seems ok ,,it will manually shift 1-2-and 3 with 3 being the most sluggish,,i have changed the filter twice now and there was sludge in the pans both times but no major chunks or peices,,tommorow i'll check the tps for voltage and let ya know what i find ,,thanks for your ideas ,,i really don't want to rip this one out if it could be solved with the trans in ,,\thanks again
bigcfi

#536 of 1024 Re: 93 dakota transmission issues [bigcfi] by bigcfi

Feb 19, 2009 (10:08 am)

Replying to: bigcfi (Feb 18, 2009 9:58 am)
hello again,,well did some more checks today,,tps voltage from computer with key in on position is 4.8,,resistance with tps off vehicle read .4closed to1.9 wide open on 2k scale..readings increased and decreased evenly thru all positions,, so i beleive the tps is working ,,i'm not sure if the numbers are within tolerances i can't find any references to spec's in my haynes manual,,
    you mentioned there may be a lenght issue in changing the 6 tranny with the 5.2 ..i measured both ... the 5.2 i can say definatly is 32"L while the one still in the truck as best i can tell is 32+1/2"L but thats an estimate and kinda tuff to get exact measurements,,the 5.2 tranny part number is PK52118311-1742-2666 and i beleive thats a 46RH part number ,,the tork converter has a sticker on it marked high stall and i've been told to do the change over i need to use my 6cyl flexplate,,correct?,,thanks in advance
bigcfi

#537 of 1024 tranny issues and questions (more) by bigcfi

Feb 20, 2009 (7:36 am)

,,well did some more checks today,,tps voltage from computer with key in on position is 4.8,,resistance with tps off vehicle read .4closed to1.9 wide open on 2k scale..readings increased and decreased evenly thru all positions,, so i beleive the tps is working ,,i'm not sure if the numbers are within tolerances i can't find any references to spec's in my haynes manual,,
    you mentioned there may be a lenght issue in changing the 6 tranny with the 5.2 ..i measured both ... the 5.2 i can say definatly is 32"L while the one still in the truck as best i can tell is 32+1/2"L but thats an estimate and kinda tuff to get exact measurements,,the 5.2 tranny part number is PK52118311-1742-2666 and i beleive thats a 46RH part number ,,the tork converter has a sticker on it marked high stall and i've been told to do the change over i need to use my 6cyl flexplate,,correct?,, also i checked the codes stored in the computer,,i had 5 codes but never had the check engine light come on,,the codes were 12,,32,,24,,15,,17,,i cleared them and drove it to see if they came back and the only 2 that came back were 12 and 32 and the slipping seemd to stop but seems to have less power and i think that could be comming from the egr code ,,will replace that before i continue with the tranny issues ,, are the tps check readings ok and within limits?
 thanks in advance
bigcfi

Messages Page 54 of 103

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