Hello everyone, I am the proud owner of a new to me '92 Dakota LE 4x4 with the 5.2 and an auto trans. The truck is absolutely immaculate except for the all too common peeling paint on the hood and roof. Aside from that, everything is like new. My only concern is that sometimes when starting the truck(and 100% of the time when starting overnight) the engine seems louder and revs pretty high(2,200-2,500 rpm) before the trans decides to shift. After being driven for a couple minutes, this goes away and everything is normal-engine quiets down and trans shifts normally. As a new owner, one of the first things I did was have all the fluids serviced including the transmission. It was doing this before and still does it after the service(although the trans shifts smoother now). Is this common to these trucks or is it a common problem?

 

how long you warm it up in the morning before driving off ?

dont know anything about dodge trannys but i had a chevy once and there was a filter in there. changed it along with the fluid. i have a hunch most quick lube places only dump the fluid. might call and ask what they did

 

did you just change fluid and filter or do a full flush? just changing the fluid by dumping whats in the pan still leaves about 6 quarts in the tranny. a full flush will replace all the fluid. when you start it in the am let it idle in N for a minute before driving. tranny fluid is not being pumped thru the tranny when in park

 

I usually let it warm up for three to five minutes before driving off in the morning. I had the trans flushed and a new filter was installed at a reputable shop that only does transmission work. The guy that did my service has been at the same place working on transmissions for about 15 years now so I'm pretty confident in their work. If no fluid circulates while in park then letting it warm up seems like it's been a moot point. I'll try the neutral thing tomorrow morning. If that works and fixes the problem, what would that be indicating is wrong?

 

tranny is just old and tired my 90 does the same thing. might ask your tranny guy maybe some type of additive could help. update after you warm up in N....

 

I let it warm up this morning in neutral for about 10 minutes. It did it again, but it was slightly better this time. It stopped doing it before I left my apartment complex, when normally it stops about 1/8-1/4 mile down the road. So maybe in addition to the neutral warmup I'll let it sit in D for a minute or two with the brakes on and see if that helps any. I saw in one post when I was searching that a guy that owned a transmission shop had recommended using something called lubegard to help unstick any valves in the trans that might be hanging up. Anybody ever try stuff like that here?

 

i would go to Napa and ask them for input...........a tranny shop will na-say additives they want a rebuild job. Napa turned me on to STP additive for my 92 jeep leaky rear main engine seal and it did the job, no leak now. can't hurt to try something. just make sure you go to Napa.
If you try an additive do not expect results overnight can take a week or more before improvement.