hello everybody,,been awhile since the last problem and got a new one for ya to ponder,,i've heard mechanics talk about dakota rear end problems ,,just what are the issues in the rear end that give the most problems if any in perticular and what do they do if they go bad or completly out?..i have a 93 dakota 4x4 3.9 mag with a 46rh tranny i put in about 5 months ago,,i've had a noisey rearend kinda like a you can hear the gears whinning especially on the open highway for some time now ..i did have a gasket leak that i fixed about the same time i did the tranny,,but that didn't cure the whining issue ,,the other day driving in drive about 50 mph it made a loud clunk and it felt like it jumped out drive and had restriction like something was holding it back,,and wouldn't take throttle ,,so i dropped it into 2nd and it drove good but if i shifted up to drive it was ok till it wanted to upshift to third then i seemed like something was holding it back again and wasn't taking throttle ,, manually downshift to 2nd and ok again but as soon as i upshift to drive when it hits the third shift same thing,,i tried to turn the od on and that seemed to keep it from dropping off but at a stopsign in gear it had seemed to be lurching or jumping while i had my foot on the brake ,,take the od off and was ok till the third upshift..then the restriction again ,,anything i mentiond sound like a problem anyones had ,,the reason i asked about the rear end is in my driveway today it seemed like the rear end was tight almost like the rear brake was on but it wasn't and this seems like only in drive that the problem exisits ,,i hope it isn't the dam tranny again i hate the thoughts of tearing it out again ..lol..lol.any help would be appreicated ..thanks in advance
crazy

 

There are no Dakota specific rear end problems, to my knowledge. Rear ends in general leak and squeal. That is the most common problems. If it is going bad you will hear squealing, grinding leaking lots of symptoms. If you heard a clunk most likely something bad did happen. It could have broken something. Check everything. Take off the cover check it all take off both wheels and drums and check it all. Check your U-Joints.

 

thanks for the ideas,,i'm wandering if mabey the speed sensor may be an issue also,,doesn't it work off the rear wheel speed..it moves and seems to shift untill it hits the last shift then not long afterwards it seems to die just seem to go limp,,manuley down to 2nd and it's ok till ya shift back into drive and same senerio,,got me baffeled,,,
crazy

 

No it wont be the speed sensor. And the speed sensor runs off of the transfer case. Your problem with shifting may the tranny it self or it may be the TV cable. It is the cable that goes from the tranny to the throttle body.

 

I agree with Crazy4x4RT. It sounds more like a trans problem than a rear end issue. This sounds silly but, check the trans fluid level. I have a leaky trans cooler line and whenever my transmission gets low on fluid it has some of the same symptoms you describe. Like the lurching forward at a stop, or the feeling that it's being held back when shifting into 3rd.

 

i did check the fluid and about 2 weeks ago changed the filter and fluid ,,i'll check the TV cable though ,,the problem doesn't seem to be shifting as the tranny shifts fine and will drive fine but after it shifts into drive it will go 50 yards then seem to just quit and agai n when i manually shift down to second and then back up 50 yards after the last shift point same thing ,,but keep the suggestions comming i'm open for anything short of the tranny pull out again!
crazy