My transmission shift cable broke about two weeks ago. I finally got a replacement for $70 and installed it today.

I was completely unable to manually shift the truck into park- when the cable broke the shifter was in 1. I jacked up the rear wheels and turned the key on and still couldn't get the manual shifter on the side of the tranny to budge.

So, I put the shifter into 1 and installed both ends of the new cable. Same thing happened- shifter wouldn't move out of 1 and of course, the new cable broke exactly where the old one did. Best $70 I ever spent!!!

So, now I'm thinking something inside the tranny is jacked up. I have the 7/70 powertrain warranty, so I'm thinking that it needs to go to the dealer, but I also don't want to pay through the nose and have it be something pretty stupid simple.

But, I guess I don't have any real choice. I'm pretty pissed right now.

And, I also noticed that the seal on the rear diff is leaking and is throwing fluid all over the underside. This explains the drops of oil I've been seeing on the rear bumper. I bought this truck so that I wouldn't have stupid problems like this. It's too new for this crap.

 

i know what broke in the tranny, there is a recall for the tranny, there is a metal rod that tends to slip out of place causing the tranny to fall out of park and into gear. i cant remember what it is called. you will need to get the tsb for it. it fell out and got jammed between reverse and first, i will try and find it

 

it is an actual recall from chrysler, recall# 05v460000 the cup plug that retains the park pawl anchor shaft may be improprerly installed, if the shaft moves out of position the vechicle may not be able to acheive park position, you need to call chrysler at this toll free number

1-800-853-1403 it will be covered by chrysler, noy by you

 

Okay, they are covering the tow since it seems to be a warranty issue. Really sucks that I didn't just take it there in the first place. I've been without the dang truck for close to two weeks now.

My warranty didn't say anything about rentals or loaners, so I guess I'm out of luck with that. I will ask the service guy, who it really a nice guy. Maybe he will hook me up, but I'm not expecting much.

I called that 800 number and it told me to just go to the website and find a dealer near me to enquire about the recall.

 

also print this page if you can and bring it to the dealer with the recall number

 

I let the service rep know about the recall. They don't do loaners, and I don't have a ride home, so I'm just having it towed in.

This dealer has really treated me well since I bought the truck. I had it there for groaning when I put it in reverse before and they determined it was just the brakes. Even though it wasn't a warranty issue, they didn't charge me.

Unfortunately, since the new cables are hard to come by, it will be several days before I can get the truck back.

 

I had the same issue with my rear diff. They changed out the lip seal in the front. I haven't looked to see if it has returned yet.

 

You can check any and all TSB's for any vehicle model and year (along with recalls, etc) on this link. There's a ton of them for Dakotas. :/

http://www.aboutautomobile.com/TSB