hey guys, i have a 91 V8 4X4 318 dakota automatic.It seems lately since i havent driven it in a while,that when i start her up,i cant just take off.I have to rev it up to like 2grand for a couple seconds in 1st gear to get the truck to actually move.Then it will drive okay.Ithink maybe its the torque converter but im an idiot when it comes to trannys.Any help would be appreciated.and MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE.

 

Just let it idle in netural for 30 sec or so and you should be good to go. Mine(90) does it it's just tired tranny.

 

sounds like it's time for trany service. Dodge runs fluids in reverse to clean the tranny and the filterout. Just draining and refilling won't help much since fluids get trapped untill you put it into gear. then fluids begins to flow. The service writer says they run quite a bit of tranny fluid to flush it. I think he said something like35 gallons. Then they "plug" it and fill it. I will have mine done in the spring. about 140 bucks.

 

Tranny service won't help you now. It's getting ready to retire. Usually it's because of seals that are getting old and drying out when the truck sits for extended periods of time.

 

does the V8's have the sme check valves on the trans lines that my 3.9l does? I know that there is a TSB for a delayed shift on mine. originally they didn't have one. Maybe the check valve is sticking open allowing fluid in the cooler to drain back into the pan. absence of fluid to the pump and torque converter at the start. just an idea