94 Dak 3.9 Magnum
I am coming at the problem from a different angle rather than blaming the tranny guy who just did a rebuild I think I should just say what the problem is.

On climbing hills, accelerating on the straight, cruising at low speeds like 35mprh to cruising at hwy speeds it will be driving normally then all of a sudden the power and RPMs drop out. I can recover power by punching it or hitting the OD button to turn it off. It also shifts 1-3 at different speeds and there is no pattern to why that I can discover. It may be occasionally starting in 2nd for all I know.

I have done a lot of work that has improved the truck and lowered the frequency of this occurrence but it is still happening. I did the Plenum, the timing chain and tensioner, all sensors in the Intake and TB as well as the cam sensor and the Crank Position sensor and new EGR, New O2 sensor new wires, cap, rotor, coil. It's done wonders for the MPG's but I cannot get rid of this loss of power issue. I recall that I did some kind of vacuum test (I was using instructions) to see if the exhaust was plugged and it passed. And as I have mentioned I had the tranny rebuilt.

I am at a loss for what it may be. I have not done a compression test yet. I also have a ticking in the drivers side head area that I think is lifters or a poorly adjusted rocker. I have never had those covers off since buying it.

 

I have done a compression test, dry then wet. The info I could find on it said the OEM compression should be 100psi. That sounds Way low to me and these results indicate it may be wrong unless I do not understand something. I did not get the same amount of oil in each cylinder and I may have used too much so??? This is the first time I did it.
Dry Test on left Wet Test on right in order down the sides.
Cyl 1- 135psi 172psi
Cyl 3- 132psi 179psi
Cyl 5- 140psi 185psi
Cyl 2- 105psi 142psi
Cyl 4- 130psi 185psi
Cyl 6- 122psi 165psi

The best I can imagine is the passenger side head gasket is leaking. Wost probably rings or a rebuild. Anyone?

 

I took it to a mechanic. He looked at those readings and told me how badly I was screwed. He had just rebuilt one for a guy 2 weeks ago $4K.
Then I asked him to listen to it. He then said “there is no way this motor has those readings.” He figured I either did it wrong or it was the Harbor Freight gauge I used. He then referred me to a guy who also said the motor was good. Truth be told they only listened to it.
Then I called him to ask if he would do a compression test and he told me it would be a waste of money "I'll take your money but I think it is a waste”. He said to change the oil and put in one quart of Risolone or Mystery Oil for one of the quarts. He also suggested I look under the valve covers. Then he gave me the name of a tranny guy “Chrysler expert” The tranny guy hooked up a computer and we took a drive and it seems that on the flats at least it is acting normally. He explained how I could do adjustments of the TV cable. We talked about the one side being weaker but he had no ideas of how to determine what was the issue. All that came up was leak down test. He did mention that while driving it felt like a cylinder was not firing right. I'm hoping it has something to do with the injector synchronization. I'll know Monday afternoon I finally found a guy that will do it..
He also thought that maybe the alt could be going off and sending a bad signal through the system which would cause all the random stuff. I told him about how the battery was swollen when I bought it and how the charger says it is overcharging and he really lit up. He told me to buy a good digital something electronic reader and find out what was running through my system saying it should not be more than 14 volts when running.
I got the oil changed (it was low@ 900 miles short of 3K since last change. The tech said 1qt but I checked earlier and it was halfway up the safe zone with the engine warm. It was hot for several hours when he saw it.) & they told me my rad cap was bad (That’s weird since it was good when I did the timing chain & plenum) and I replaced a turn signal forgetting to get the digital reader. One thing I did during the compression test was to unhook the battery and turn the key for 30 seconds to make it brain dead. Since then it seems a little better. But then it has improved each time I have done something for a little while.
So it may not be such dire news
I will get to trying a leak down or having someone do a leak down. I'd like to know if it is the head or the rings leaking. I suspect the rings may be sticking since the previous owner said it sat a lot for about 10 years.

 

Does anyone have the official OEM set shift points for the 94 Dak 42RH transmission? Every search I do leads to links of instructions for adjusting the bands or TV cable. I am just so angry right now I took it for a ride in the long low hills and it was really screwing with me above 40mph. It would go as long as I was pushing the peddle as soon as I stayed steady to hold the speed 52-55 ish it would lose RPM's and the speed would drop into the 40's and going down forcing me to punch it again. It would really only go above 50 and hold it as long as I kept punching it each time it went under. Thee is no freaking way the OD should make it drop RPM's at 49MPH especially when you have been accelerating to that point climbing a hill.

 

I've had it to the dealer. It was a strange bunch of BS. they kept it 3 days had no test results for me and claimed there was nothing at all wrong. They said they did the Injector sync but when i asked for results they had nothing the mechanic said he thought it was -2 and would only say it was within spec when i asked why he didn't set it to 0 or higher. This is the guy who was supposed to have had one of these for years. and it went downhill from there with me raising my voice. They charged me $100 and told me it was a deal. Oh yea they told me the shudder was not related to the motor or tranny. then why does it only happen when its running? I've coasted down a hill up to 35 mph in neutral with it off and there is no noise or shudder. They must have done something because the 0-40mph performance is as if it is a different truck than the one I dropped off. It is acting what I would say is normal. I suspect since it is a small world in Oregon that the dealer corrected some mistakes the tranny rebuild guy made and just didn't want to get involved in having to prove the guy did it wrong or inspire me to go legal and drag them into it. I'm still pretty pissed the hour and a half appointment lead to them keeping my truck for 3 days and it turns out they did not do any of the things I asked them to do.
Edit Oh yea I disconnected the TV cable at the TB and it was 1/2 inch too tight!! I set it correctly and it seems to have helped with whatever the dealer did.

 

Update. I was lead back to the Cat as a probable source by talking to a dealer service guy. I had done a vacuum test to see if there was a restriction in the exhaust and it passed so I moved on. I guess that was a mistake. I have found a way to test the Cat besides smacking it which seems counter intuitive but anyway a good Cat should be hotter at the back weld than it is at the front weld. Mine is 168 in front and 125 in the back. So now I have to find a new Cat. So far the quote prices $420+ installed!!!! Edit; Midas quoted $325 but tried to talk me into all sorts of diagnostics. I have discovered by breaking an exhaust manifold stud off (seems it was already partially broken) that the ticking I have been thinking was lifter related may be due to other exhaust manifold fasteners being broken. This is another 'common' issue with this motor.