Dodge - Dakota :: 1991 - Slight Lack Of Acceleration
Sep 7, 2012
I have a 1991 DODGE Dakota V6 3.9L FI with a TorqueFlite TF-6 A-500 4 speed RWD Automatic Transmission. Now, this truck is amazing and so is this transmission. It's been going for 22 years and about 400,000 miles and the bands in the tranny have never been replaced...EVER. The fluid filter has been replaced, once. Anyway...it's amazing, I mean the thing is still going strong after all this time and such low maintenance.
Anyway, I noticed a slight lack of acceleration, so as usual for an old automatic, I figured the bands might be slipping a bit. So I dug up the torque specs for it and performed the adjustments. Now, this is the funny part and I was not at all surprised to discover this. In fact, I'd had the hunch the entire time. I discovered that the bands are so old that they no longer respond properly to the recommended torque specs, so I had to guess work them. I did a bit of careful fiddling as I know just about everything there is to know about automatics and I understand perfectly the damage that can be caused when under/overtightening bands.
Anyway, I did some fiddling and got some interesting results that actually made me laugh to be honest, but I knew at first I wasn't quite doing it right. First gear was all right, but second kicked in a little late, and I felt a slip when third came around. So, I decided it was time for a moment of truth. What I ultimately ended up doing was tightening the bands to the recommended torque (in this case 72 inch lbs) and then slowly backing them off until I felt them let go, Then I put the proper torque on the locknuts (in this case 30 ft lbs).
Now, this tranny has two bands and a clutch pack, it has the low-reverse (rear) band, and the Kickdown(forward) band, and I believe the clutch pack is used to engage 3rd gear, because the rear band gives you 1st and rev, and the kickdown band gives you 2nd. After my ultimate adjustments, the kickdown band DID drag just a little for about a minute, but she quickly worked herself into a state where she's shifting better and accelerating better than she ever has before.
I'm amazed by this thing. I'm wondering if the kickdown band lets off when you hit 3rd gear? I know that when I feel the first kick, it's the KD band grabbing the front drum, which gives me second, but I'm wondering if it pulls simultaneously as third gear kicks in, or whether it stays tight against the drum?
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I am getting a code 36 which tells me it is "air switch solenoid switch". I am not sure what that is indicating or what it means. Is this something I can fix?
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The truck will go into reverse, but will not go into drive or any of the other gears. When shifted into one of those gears, it just idles as though in neutral. This started as I was driving down the highway at approximate 70mph. The speedometer jumped up then fell to zero as the car slowed to a stop. There was no noise except the sound of rapid fuel intake and then it went to idling. I have been told it may be a speed sensor, but I was wondering if there was anyway to confirm that before I have the truck towed down to a mechanic and find out its more than I want to pay to fix it.
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I have an 87 Dakota with a two-piece driveshaft, bought it new. A couple months ago at 140,000 miles there came a chirping noise from the rear at acceleration from a stop. I changed the u-joints with new Moogs and had a new center support bearing pressed on at a driveline shop. Reinstall driveshaft same as it came out. The u-joint at the diff was shot, the other two not far behind. The chirping vanished as expected, but was replaced with a slight vibration felt in the seat starting at 50-55 mph. I dropped the truck off at the driveline shop to get the driveshaft balanced. They put it on the balancer and called to say they couldn't balance it, the indicator kept jumping around and wouldn't stabilize. I asked them to reinstall it and came to pick get the truck. The guy who worked on it said that this was usually a u-joint problem. I asked what brand they used and pulled he out a Neapco u-joint box and said they use them exclusively and have never had any problems. I ordered Neapcos from RockAuto. Will replace the Moogs and see what happens. After they reinstalled the shaft I drove in the freeway and it acted exactly the same.
I was very careful when pressing out the old joints not to stress any of the yokes, applying pressure to the u-joint members at right angles to the cap being pressed out and not to the cap 180 degrees opposite. When installing the new joints, after inserting the clips (interior) I pressed all clips snug against the yoke. The joints all moved freely in all directions. Again, the shaft was replaced exactly as it came out.
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I have an 87 longbed Dakota that I bought new. It's my work truck. Lately it has developed a chirping noise that I hear best with the rear slider window open. I think it is safe to say that it is not coming from under the hood. When I accelerate from a stop the chirping noise increases in pitch and frequency. The frequency does not change when the auto trans up shifts. There has been no noticeable out-of-the-ordinary vibrations, even at freeway speeds.
I have stopped driving on the freeway since the chirping became impossible to ignore. The chirping becomes less and less audible the faster I go as the pitch and frequency increases. When just starting from a dead stop, it sounds like a metallic scraping noise. Whenever I take my foot off the gas the chirping stops, even when still coasting, so it only occurs under load. It does not occur when the truck is stopped and the engine is revved.
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I bought a 1991 Dodge Shadow from a private owner and he told me it needed a trans mount but upon inspection the mount seems to be fine the car will shudder upon first acceleration and a louder shudder shifting from 1st to 2nd. So I was leaning more towards a cv axle rather than the transmission mount still not sure. Only have this problem under a load 60-65 mph seems to drive fine and no viberations!!!!
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2002 Santa Fe 2.7L AWD automatic
She was on the highway this afternoon and was accelerating to merge in with traffic. Apparently the car just reved up without actually accelerating. She said it felt like she was in neutral. I've driven the car a few times over the last week and it has been running perfectly - No hesitation anywhere at any speed. There are no CELs (yet). It is probably worth mentioning that it has been raining HEAVILY here for the last 24-hours and I would not be the least bit surprised if she hit a few puddles on the way. I can just about guarantee the CPS has never been changed and am suspecting it may be a short in causing her problem.
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97 Dodge Dakota Sport V8. Has spark, turns over, won't fire.
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My dad has a 2001 Dodge Dakota extended cab with a 3.9L v6 (standard transmission). It will start and run for a while and it will die, if you turn the key it will start up again but will eventually die. He has changed the spark plugs & wires, the distributor cap & rotor, the MAP sensor, and the throttle valve sensor. It still does the same thing.
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So, my oil light comes on after startup like usual then shuts off. Anywhere from 2-5 minutes of the vehicle running light comes back on and does not shut off unless I restart the vehicle. Have changed oil pressure switch and oil pressure is reading in the normal range..
05 dakota with 175000 kilometres
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I have a 2010 with about 166k miles. I am getting a slight hesitation at slight acceleration or constant speed. It does not matter if it's on highway or freeway speeds. Now I am not sure if this in junction with me changing the PCV valve, cleaning the EGR pipe, or cleaning the TB for carbon recently. It started happening a week after it though.
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I have a 2009 Toyota Corolla with under 90,000 mi. Sometimes while driving, the car will refuse to accelerate and slow down to about 10 mi an hour. The only way to fix it, is to pull over and turn the car off and restart it. It immediately responds and it doesn't happen again. This lack of acceleration usually occurs in the first 5 mi of driving. I have a new battery...
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1999 Dodge Dakota
3.6 liter w/air conditioning
I'm pretty sure I made a mess of things. My Serpentine belt was all cracked and making noises while idling and driving. It was time to replace it. It's a long story, but my auto mechanic told me to drive my truck for a week and then give him a call. Well.... I didn't do that. My battery went dead and I charged it up and it lasted a month. Yesterday, it wouldn't start so I bought a Serpentine belt and installed it. As far as I know, I didn't damage anything while I was working on it.
The battery was still dead and I charged it, however, the key was turned on while I was charging it. I don't know how I did that, but I did.
The problem I'm having is that the engine is now idling at 2000 RPM. I scanned it and there are no codes or pending codes.
Today, I went out and drew a diagram of how the belt is routed and it's the same as the diagram under the hood. I had a friend take a look at it and he agrees that I put it on correctly.
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I have had this truck in 3 different shops and none of them could figure it out. The codes say misfire in cyl 2 and 5 bank 1 too lean and primary and secondary circuits malfunctioning for ignition coil. I've replaced the ign coil cap, plugs,plug wires, rotor, pcv, fuel pump, pick up coil, cat, o2 sensors and all sensors under the hood. Switched out all vacuum lines, cleaned the IAC and checked the pulse ring. The truck loses all power and either dies or backfires and regains power randomly. If I drive at night, it will stall and keep cranking when trying to restart. Usually have to let it sit for ten minutes for it to turn back over. Last night it backfired and stalled every 50 ft for over a mile. During the day, it revs up and down at idle by about 100 rpms.
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Have a 2002 Dodge Dakota automatic. This winter when temps. dropped into lows 10s and zero degree weather, the Dodge truck would start,but would not come out of park gear. Have replaced interlock solenoid and brake light switch. Still have same problem when Temperature drops into low 10s &below. Otherwise,everything ok. (not using ER brake).
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I have a 2003 Dodge Dakota. A couple of years ago I was driving along and the radio just cut out, with no problems prior. I didn't go over train tracks or anything that would jar it, etc. It continued to not work for the next 6-8 months or so, but would occasionally cut in and out. After a period of time the radio suddenly began working again. The radio continued to work for a year or more. A month ago, I'm driving down the road and it again, cuts out. But now I can somewhat hear the radio amid the static. The best way to describe it is what happens to the reception when traveling under high voltage wires. Antenna is secure.
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I have a 2002 Dakota 5.9l r/t. Always started and ran fine. It sat most of the winter approx 2 months. Now will not start but cranks/turns. Has new battery, newer full tune up and tried starting fluid.
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The parking lights come on, the turn signal lights work, the interior lights and high beams work. Could it just be a fuse or two? Dodge Dakota 4WD 2002 ...
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Every time it rains and I forget and leave the truck outside instead of inside the garage, it will not start. It is a 2001 Dodge Dakota pickup truck. It tries to start but will not fire. I have to sit around and wait for a few dry days and full sun - which is hard to find around here other than August and September. I have had it towed to several different mechanics for review. They have all done the same thing - can't find anything wrong so they leave it sit around the lot for two or three weeks until the sun shines then charge me a hundred bucks or so for their diagnostic time and a jump start. Every once in a while out of shear frustration, I have it towed to a new mechanic or one of the previous ones but still get the same results. Does fine in the winter with snow, but it has even done it on occasion when going through a car wash - which I know longer do as I am too old to be pushing a pickup out of a car wash.
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So my 96 Dodge Dakota's instrument lights went out a couple days ago, I thought it was just a fuse, so naturally I check all the fuses. Come to find out they're all fine, I replaced a few to see if maybe it was just an old fuse. Still nothing. Then last night I noticed that the instrument lights came on between off and on for the lights. So I assume its a wiring problem. Then as I drove down the road I hit a bump and all the lights went off then kicked back on. Needless to say I can't drive around with lights that won't stay on. Where should I check for the cause of this problem?
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Only started happening within the last month. 1994 V8 Dakota. When its warmer out, half the time I turn the key and nothing happens, doesn't even crank over, but if I tap the gas then turn the key, it starts right up. What this could be?
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