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2001 Dakota shifting way too early.

4K views 24 replies 3 participants last post by  immattj 
Do the sim[ple things first. Change out your TPS along with your governor pressure sensor. Next would be your TV cable. This line going from the tranny to TB is very sensitive to the slightest adjustment. Be sure a spring in this area has not popped off.
After that its about draining tranny fluid and inspecting the shift spring mechanism in your valve body. It could have broken but its super easy to get to once you expose the valve body.
If you go this route, get yourself a tranny pan with a drain plug.
I'm not a fan of lying on my back and balancing a tranny pan full of oil. I drill the pan with a 3/8th bit and let the fluid all drain out. Then I remove the pan. They also have drain valve kits if you didn't want to get a new pan w a drain.
 
Quite recently, I bought a pan with a drain plug from Rockauto for mine. Here is the one I bought.


OP, if you are interested in some more reading, here is a thread in which the instructions for checking & adjusting the TV cable are included. The OP on that thread was actually asking about a late shift, not early shift(s), but if you want to check your TV cable, that subjct is addressed here. I don't know how the OP made out with his; he never bothered with a follow up.

I think that's the one I have. Won't seal worth a darn at 156 in lbs. That's with a moly $35 gasket that is reusable. Have tried 3 different gaskets w it.
Next step is aluminum pan for me.
It is fun just draining the fluid out as many times as I want with no fuss, no muss.
 
I just now got out from underneath my Dak to check and firstly I will say: that there were no spots on the garage floor and nothing wet where the pan mates with the tranny (that typed, I put that new pan on only about two to three weeks ago) but I am afraid that my results will probably not help you as I was surprised to find that mine were considerably under-torqued (after reading your post, I thought that I had probably over-torqued). My digital ft. lb. torque wrench was showing the pan bolts breaking loose to turn in the tightening direction at anywhere between only 6.8 (or so) to 7.7 (or so) ft. lb.s. Which I realize is not a lot more than half the torque that is called for.

But to tell you how I got there, I used a 1/4 " dr ratchet to initially snug everything down in a continuing cross-wise sequence/pattern and then I switched to a 3/8" dr ratchet & made numerous more incremental passes until "I liked the feel" of all the bolts. (I will note that the bolts which were on the tighter side were the aft bolts, meaning the bolts that had the cross-over pipe of my nearly stock exhaust going over & across them--they were the hardest for me to "feel".)

I know that this method is hardly scientific or professional, & I guess that I will only say in my defense is that I like being able to "feel" those particular bolts torquing into the aluminum, and with any of my larger ft. lb. torque wrenches, I lose the ability for that "feel" (and of my inch lb. torque wrenches, the only one that I trust only goes up to 100 " lb.).

So while I was under there just now, I did go ahead and torque all of them to a uniform 9 ft. lb.s which I realize is still officially under torqued.

I am wondering if the pan you bought may have been warped on delivery? I imagine they are all manufactured in China, & if quality control on them was inconsistent it would not surprise me even a little bit. From reading your posts you are conscientious, so I am thinking you made sure that your gasket didn't roll up or anything in one of the corners (I had that happen to me once, many many moons ago). Did you get your pan from Rock like I did, & if so, was it recent enough ago (I am thinking that it probably wasn't) that they will still warranty it? My experience with Rock is that they have always been good with that if within the time window.
Thanks anyway Mat
Put mine on about a year and .5 ago. First thing I did was to put a straight edge on it and it was true.
That yours is holding at 9 ft lbs means it isn't the bolt pressure as much as the seal and mine with a $35 gasket yet. Sumpin is screwy.
You are apparently better at sealing this pan than I.
 
Update: First of all let me apologize, I have not been able to get on here much lately. I appreciate all the tips and suggestions. I changed the TPS and viola the problem has gone away. When I took the old one off, I noticed it looked brand spanking new and sure enough I had changed it about 2 years ago. I usually get my parts from Oreilly's but I think I am going to get them somewhere else. That is about the 3rd or fourth part that has failed. I have put 3 of those blower motor resistors on and the last one lasted about a month and when it went out this time it fried all the wires going into the connector. But as for the shifting problem, that is fixed for now. I wonder if I should change the trans fluid and filter. I really am afraid to change it, everytime I have done this on previous vehicles the transmission would go out after a day or two. I doubt it has ever been changed. It has 220,000 on it now. What do you guys think?
That's an urban legend. Your tranny would fail eventually whether you changed it or not. New Tranny fluid is a pretty strong solvent so it will loosen all the gunk that's in there already and clog up your valve body. Of course, that gunk will eventually clog things up anyway.
If you want to avoid that, see if anyone in your area "hot flushes" your system so all that debris gets whisked out of there.
 
Thanks for the reply, but I don't have the funds to pay anyone, wife got hurt at work and we are down to one income. I will just have to try it myself and hope for the best. Appreciate the help!
First check your tranny fluid. If its black, then just change it yourself. If it's black, avoid a flush as that will clog up your valve body w/o doing a hot flush.
Your clutches are probably worn. New tranny fluid will act a a lubricant to worn clutches and friction can be reduced causing slippage.
A "change" will only take care of about 40% of fluid so some new stuff in there could be beneficial w/o a complete flush.
Your remaining fluid will have the grit sufficient for the clutches to grip.
 
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