2004 Dakota transmission problem

From : lee

Q: lee wrote my 2004 dakota 4x4 with automatic acts like it is in neutral occasionally when you first start it up and put it into d or r. if you shift back into p and wait a minute it goes into gear when you try it again. the fluid level in the transmission shows full. is this a shifter or transmission problem also mileage sucks at 16mpg on the highway at 70mph. anyone else have this problem thanks lee you have checked the fluid with it running and warmed up i assume. the hiway milage depends on how you drive the tires it has if it is lifted our not the terrain you drive in engine size and overall gearing of truck too. lots of varibles here as you can see ----------------- www.thesnoman.com .

Replies:

From : nosey

truck holds a long time in first gear. if you manually shift into 2nd it appears not to have 2nd. if it shifts on its own it takes 2nd. but when in a pull and it tries to shift into 2nd it comes out of gear. any ideas on what is wrong .

From : thesnoman

excuse my ignorance but what is an intercooler nieve question. i appears ive got 4 rads on my 97 dodge ctd. other than the normal rad. what are the rest for presumably one is a transmission cooler. you also have an intercooler and an a/c condenser up front. .

From : clay

tom lawrence wrote i just moved from the northeast to the southeast desert where it hasnt snowed since the ice age. you make 2 mpg sound petty but thats another 70 miles per tank of range. at $3/gallon and 20000 miles per year thats a significant amount of savings every year. assuming 18mpg before and 20mpg after 20k per year and $3/gal youll save $330 a year or less than a dollar per day. i was assuming you wanted to remove the front axles for a while then put them back in when you thought youd need them then take them out again etc. if you want to do a semi-permanent 2wd conversion then it starts making a little more sense. i still dont think youre going to get a solid 2mpg increase especially since you wont experience any of the cold-weather operation that thickens up the gear oil. by the way - wheres the desert in the south-east i am a old timer so to speak and i can rememebr when trucks had lockout hubs optional and when i drove my 4x4s back then i could tell if i forgot to unlock the front hubs because you could feel it and see it in the fuel range. it can make a lot more difference than you think at times. there is not excuse to make a 4x truck without the abilty to completely diengage the front axle when in 2wd. how many 1000s or barrels of fuel a day is wasted across the country from dragging the front axle around in 2wd on a lot of the 4x4s out there. also remember that the ujoints in a solid front axle are not constant velocity in a turn so when ever you turn the are straining to speed up and slow down the axle shafts as they go thru each 360 degree revolution and the sharper you turn the more they strain even without drive applied to the axle it is worse with drive applied ----------------- www.thesnoman.com .