'01 Dakota 4x4 downshifting?

From : rene lopez

Q: my 2001 dakota 4.7l 4x4 seems to want to downshift at odd times. its an automatic transmission. it almost feels like the brakes are being applied. the braking lasts less than a second. seems to occur when i am coasting downhill and im moving around 40-45 mph. but theres no full downshift. the rpms sometimes jump up a little as would happen with an automatic downshift at low speeds. theres enough fluid in the tranny and it looks clean. i had a full service on the truck about 15k miles ago. ive got about 105k on it. any ideas before i take it in to the shop .

Replies:

From : richard

my 97 was acting odd like that when it had a bare shorted wire in the shift stalk od lockout. i replaced it and problem disapeared. rene lopez my 2001 dakota 4.7l 4x4 seems to want to downshift at odd times. its an automatic transmission. it almost feels like the brakes are being applied. the braking lasts less than a second. seems to occur when i am coasting downhill and im moving around 40-45 mph. but theres no full downshift. the rpms sometimes jump up a little as would happen with an automatic downshift at low speeds. theres enough fluid in the tranny and it looks clean. i had a full service on the truck about 15k miles ago. ive got about 105k on it. any ideas before i take it in to the shop .