Guys, my son has a 1992 Dakota that he just put a used transmission in. During his test drive it was doing fine, and seemed strong till he got about 20 miles out. Then he said it seemed to just lose all drive. Not the gear, but lost all ability to pull the truck. He pulled over, shut it off, waited about 20 min, and tried it again, and it pulled ok. Got about 10 miles more, and it did the same thing. He finally got it to a station, and says that if he starts and places it in gear, it will drop out before he can move much. Forward or reverse. If he shuts off the engine, and restarts, then the transmission will catch, but then drop right back out. I'm not a Dodge guy so I can't say if this is a typical issue, and most definately not a transmission guy. I'm looking for some pointers to help him. Thanks and I look forward to your help.

 

First check the fluid level, if it good and it is not burnt then it sounds like it needs a compete rebuild! Sorry to say but don't ever trust used parts. At least you got a spare transmission, take the old one to get rebuilt then swap it in.