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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.
 
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?
Thanks for the update.
 
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?

Hey, swpify, if you are still here, here is a thread from another Dakota Forum where that topic becomes part of the discussion.


But to summarize: it was suggested that if the tranny maintenance history was unknown, it would be best to do a filter/fluid change and then after a relatively short period of time (like around 100 miles) to do another fluid/filter change. The logic being that the tranny would build up a varnish coating on internal parts and, as Arrow typed, ATF being highly detergent would break that varnish down and as it circulated it would obstruct the filter and potential tranny damage/failure risk would exist.

I won't offer an opinion on this as I do not have enough experience with this subject.

I will, however, relate my most recent experience. Not horribly long ago I checked the fluid on my Dak & noted it was pretty dark on the dipstick. I had done the fluid/filter within around 25k and I dropped the pan to do another one (this was when I put on that aftermarket pan with a drain plug that Arrow & I were discussing). There was some pretty ugly stuff in the bottom of the pan, so I did some soul searching and decided the lesser of two evils was to get as much of the fluid that must be completely full of crap out of there. I put a 5/8" ID hose on the pressure (out) fitting on the tranny case and dumped in 10 quarts and pressed purge. Then I serviced the tranny to the proper limit and drove it until I had around 100 miles on it & did another filter/fluid change and that's what I am driving it on today.

Two or three things to quickly point out:
1) I believe the mess in my fluid was due to my front band either going out or being misadjusted because of how much adjustment it took me to get the torque right this time around, and NOT due to clutches or ancient fluid.

2) At the time my tranny shifted great and was strong in all four gears (including second) and it STILL is.

3) I am not offering any of this as a recommendation because I simply do not know. I have three pickups and I am at a point in my life where I don't drive any of them an ungodly amount, so if my 46RE is going south, it may be a while until it happens.

4) I think I may have brought this to your attention previously in this thread, but just in case you are not familiar with Dodge trannys yet, I'll remind you again (in case you do mess around with a fluid/filter change). The 46RE takes ATF+4, NOT Dex/Merc. Unlike other automatic trannys I have owned, you have to check the 46RE while it is in N (NOT in Park) (and obviously when it is hot and running).
 
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