re: auto. trans. problems 1992 4-wd Dakota

From: Stephen Pchajek (swpc@gwl.ca)
Date: Fri Jul 19 1996 - 09:13:16 EDT


>Every so often, the truck sounds
>as though it isn't shifting properly. It's like it
>won't transfer into overdrive, or as though
>(if it were a manual shift tranny) the clutch is
>slipping. The engine seems to be racing and taching
>higher than the related speed of the truck.

First post from new list member... I thought I had that exact problem in my
'93 Dakota (v8 - AT - 4wd) but in my case the dealer proved it was something
else entirely. Does it only happen on hot days? On my truck the viscous fan
locks up solid and pulls tremendous ammounts of air through the rad when
it's get's hot out. The roar it made made me think of the same symptoms you
describe. The dealer of course couldn't find the problem until I took it in
on a real hot (85+) day. He took me for a test drive and when it happened he
pulled over, slipped it into park and held the engine roaring away at around
1500 rpm. In a couple of minutes the engine cooled enough to unlock the fan
and poof all was quiet and we drove off. Another symptom you don't mention
is how down on power it seems when the fan's locked up. If I hadn't seen it
I wouldn't have believed it could be something so minor. There is a TSB on
the problem.

--
Steve



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