For one thing I wouldn't pay anyone $150 bocks to service a tranny. The
local dealer only wants $50 bucks to do it and I know they are usually
higher but at least most of the time you know they will put the correct
fluid in (very important on dodge trucks) and they will go ahead and adjust
what needs adjusting which most mechanics and lube places that sevice the
tranny won't do. If you have a local dealer have them change the fluid. How
long has it been since the fluid may have been changed. If you don't know,
the truck has more than 50k on it, and the fluid is not even remotely red
but a grayish color you need to check with a really good transmission person
before even thinking about changing the fluid. Used to have a guy who was
really honest and owned a shop do this for me and he told me if that is the
case he will not change the fluid. What happens is that the new fluids
detergents go and clean out all the varnish that built up form the old fluid
and the tranny all of teh sudden has alot of problems. If you leave it alone
you can go for a long time and just have it rebuilt. Never been there but
that's what I was told and have witnessed to seem to work. Sounds like an
adjustment but it also depends on the sound. The tranny is weird, some
noises could be serious while others end up not being much and they both
sound alike. I never liked messing with the tranny on cars due to this. Too
much for my luck to come into play and totally screw up.
Jeff Durling
'01 4x2 QC SLT+ 4.7
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jon" <jonsdak@midmaine.com>
To: <dakota-truck-moderator@bent.twistedbits.net>
Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 8:18 PM
Subject: DML: 42RE tranny trouble?
>
> Hey all,
> I'm wondering if my truck is about to die.
> I've had a slight ticking at idle since I've had the truck, sounds almost
> like lifter noise, but it's there all the time, not just at startup in the
> morning.
> I would think timing chain, if a) it hadn't been replaced when I bought
the
> truck, and b) it had been getting worse. The noise has always been there,
> and has not changed a whit, whether in noise or severity. Now, a friend,
> (who also happens to manage an auto parts store - one of the precious few
> parts guys I trust) says it may be my TC, but not to worry too much about
it
> unless the noise gets worse, but that changing the ATF is a very good
idea,
> if I find chunks of metal, I can start worrying. Now, I've been wanting
to
> change the tranny fluid since I got the truck, but my dad thinks it'd be
too
> messy to do in the yard, and his mechanic wants to rape me ($150!) to do
it.
> Now, here's the thing: I live partway up a mountain, lots of hills and
> curves, and my truck likes to go into OD when I let off the gas to make it
> around some of these corners, or as I come to the crest of one of these
> hills, but when I start up a hill, it'll downshift twice, OD-3rd, then
> 3rd-2nd, and tach about 3, 3.3k at 35-40mph. Now, I've started locking
out
> overdrive once I come onto these roads, which helped a lot, but now, if I
> let the truck slow to around 30mph, the tranny likes to shift into 1st!
5.5k
> RPM!
> I'm on the verge of letting the mechanic pillage and plunder me, just for
> peace of mind - or to know the bad news. There's two things that stop me:
> 1) I need my truck for work, and the guy always has our vehicles for 2-3x
> the time he estimates, (if he says 2 days, it's a week, four days, it's
two
> weeks, a week, it won't be in the yard for three weeks), and Dad's Stratus
> is broken down, so he's using the Voyager, meaning that if my truck goes
> into the shop, I have zero transportation, and
> 2) the guy tends to say more work is necessary than really is. Dad's
> Stratus blew a rear main seal, (see reason #1), and the guy is going to
> charge him $650 to change it because, and I quote, "the entire clutch
> assembly also needs replacement because it is directly behind the rear
main
> seal, and in the path of oil spray, so it's _probably_ been oil
> contaminated"
> Now, in my experience, a clutch that's been oil-contaminated does one of
two
> things. It either slips horribly or is really grabby. Dad's clutch is
> neither. I had to move the car last week to mow the lawn, and the clutch
> behaves like the car is new. The friction point is in the same spot, the
> car pulls the same from there out..
> I'm going off on a tangent, but I'd like some ideas. I really can't
afford
> to be truckless, or to have to pay big bucks to get it fixed at the
moment.
> Thanks.
>
>
> --
> Later,
> Jon
> jonsdak@midmaine.com
> http://jonsdakota.tripod.com
> 1996 Dodge Dakota Sport 4X4, 3.9L V6, 42RE, 3.92:1 8.75 axle, "BackRack"
> Headache Rack, Dodge Motorsports decals, steering wheel cover, and front
> license plate, diamond-plate bedrail covers, Lund VentVisors, Lund
> BugShield, Jensen MP-3310 CD/MP3 Receiver
>
>
>
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