Hey guys, just got a 97 dakota 4x4 ext cab sport short box last week. its an auto with the 3.9 and i have a couple questions for you guys...

The previous owner replaced both sensors that are supposed to fix the faulty odometer and speedometer. I know he did this as they look brand new. Remind me where both these are? one is in the transfer case right? Where is the other?

Another thing I think is the TC has a tick constantly when you are driving but it does work (in 4 wheel drive) and does not make the constant clicking noise while driving in 4wd. The transfer case was replaced once already he told me, which I believe because of a reciept he has for a used one in a junk yard. My question is could the constant clicking be because the gears in the transfercase be broken and causing the new speed sensor to not read correctly? Any other ideas if thats not the case? Also the air bag light is on, but has a clear title and the airbag appears to be origional.

Anyone have a used passanger side manual mirror for sale too?

I plan on getting some mud tires for it also because is has some lame *** doughnut 215's on it now, haha. 31's fit without rubbing while hitting bumps and turning right? What about if I added a 3 inch body lift, 33's would probably bog down the 3.9 I suppose. Anyone run 33's with a 3.9?

Thanks for all your help and I'll post pics soon!
Jeff

 

You have 1 Vehicle speed sensor on the transfer case.You also have 1 wheel speed sensor on the rear differential and 1 on each front hub.I think thats all of them.You should be able to clear 31's.My friend has 31's on his Dakota and they clear fine.

 

The rear diff is the other one that was replaced. So I'm kinda stumped. You mean to tell me that one or both speed sensors in the hub could be bad causing the speedo and odometer to not work?

 

Im not exactly for sure that the sensors at the hubs works with the speedo.I know that they work with the ABS system.If there is a fault with either of them it should light up an anti-lock light in you instrument panel.If you have a volt meter you can do a resistance test on them.They should have 1000-2500 ohms of resistance.If your light is on you can have it scanned at auto zone and they will tell you what the codes are or if your truck has the digital odometer you can turn your key on-of-on-off-on and it will show the code number on the odo.if there is no codes it will say P DONE.By the way its nice to see a fellow 3S owner on here.I have a 91 3kgt.

 

Alright, thanks for the help so far. Funny thing is I went to orileys yesterday and got the code, don't remember which one it was, haha. Then I cleared the code and it hasen't come back yet so I guess I'll wait until it does the report.

Anyone else have any ideas?

 

Nobody has any other ideas?

 

the sensor in the rear diff does the speedo, what does your Tcase fluid look like. just because its a "new" tcase doesnt mean it was good from a junkyard. the NP231 is the case i believe you have, if so it is chain drive and could be loose, take a look at the fluid and see if there are alot of shavings. as far as i know there are no sensors in the front hubs, but take a look under and see if you see wires going to them

 

If I take another cluster from another dakota and switch it out to see if mine works, will it affect anything from either mine or the donors cluster. I ask because I don't want anything to happen to my buddies cluster.

I'm asking about the cluster because the sensor in the rear diff has been replaced.

 

you can try, not sure that it would be worth it.

The front hub sensors are ABS, differential one is Speed/Odo. Just because the sensor was replaced, the tone ring in the diff could have been damaged, the wires could have been damaged somewhere/somehow.

 

So basicly weve narrowed it down to the rear diff sensor is bad or there is gears in the rear diff that are bad. Anyone have any idea how bad of a deal this is, as in am I going to have to rebuild the whole rear diff to get the speedo working or is this something i can fix for relatively cheap? And yes the odo and speedo dont work, but all other guages do.