On Tue, 17 Dec 1996, Alan Casey wrote:
> I did encounter another problem at the track, however. I seemed to have
> developed a transmisstion problem. Its not shifting to second very
> smoothly. My sincros are not lining up like they should under hard 1-2
> shift at the track. Has anyone found an aftermarket manual for Dakota? Or
> has anyone had thiers rebuilt. Mine was a piece of #$%! since the truck was
> new (mv3500). The dealer had to replace the shift fork at 10,000.
> Evidently its aluminum. I don't know if that is bad or not, but the
> shifting has never been real smooth, lots of friction in the throws. So I
> would like to upgrade what I have, or get ride of it altogether. Just a
> thought..
>
Alan,
I just recently had my NV 3500 rebuilt (last week) after I lost
reverse. The fork split, I lost a set of syncros, 2nd gear, and 2
bearings. Before then shifting got progressively worse, the gate seemed
to wander and missed shifts occured. First to second always seemed tough,
it always took a little muscle to get it home. Second to third was sloppy,
third to fourth seemed to work the best of all. Fourth to fifth was ok,
but sort of vague on where it was. Reverse was ALWAYS hard. Grinding
gears always makes me want to duck out of sight. Now shifting has
improved greatly although a little notchy. First to second is easier but
requires more arm power. All the rest have tightened up, reverse engages
readily. I don't know if the fork has been upgraded or if the
transmission had a service writeup on it, but I want to know in case this
occurs again. I want to try a synthetic lube in there, redline and
Mobil 1 had been suggested to me. I'll let the new gears wear in first.
I'd have your tranny looked at soon. Don't tell them you race!
1994 Dakota 5.2l 5 speed (R/T but no cam) 38,000 miles
Bill Countie
e-mail wgcount@husc7.harvard.edu
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