I have a 1995 Dodge Dakota 318 4x4 with 122xxx. Bought the truck in October and since ive owned it, the over drive has not worked. Ive replaced the 2-wire ECT about 3 weeks ago with no sucess, and just kindof gave up on it since I dont need it that much. But when I was driving it the other day it randomly shifted into OD for the first time ever. I arrived and shut the truck off, when I left the OD didnt work. Its worked once more since then. But now that ive had it I want to figure out whats going on.

The speedo works fine so im assuming the VSS is fine, and ive checked all fuses and ground cont. and they both look good.

I should also mention the truck has a random mis-fire, and the check engine light pulses with the miss. So most of the codes might be due to that. Plus I have an external voltage regulator in the alternator. So some codes might be from that too.

I pulled a few codes:
12,41,53,27,42,13,31,23,12

It seems like alot of codes to me but i double checked it and thats what it came up as again. I just counted the flashes of the CE light.

Heres what a site gave me for codes:
41-Generator field not switching properly.

53-Internal Control failure

27-Injector control circuit

42-Fuel level incorrect; No ASD output voltage

31- Evap purge failure

23- Intake air temp sensor out of range

13-No change in MAP

If anyone could point me in the right direction with these codes id really appreciate it

 

I would say reset the PCM and see what codes come back up. Sounds like the OD problem might be a wiring problem. Test each wire for continuity.

 

ive reset the PCM before but ill try it again, and ill double check my grounds. I was starting to think thats what it was. How many volts should the TPS have?

 

So I was driving today, and the over drive randomly worked again, so I decided to take it on the highway. (Btw, i replaced the VSS last week with no change).

When I got on the highway I started messin with the o/d button, and when I would press it, the RPMs would jump alittle but it wouldnt downshift it would stay in o/d. And the over drive would work even if the switch was off. So would that mean the switch is the cullprit? Maybe its grounding out or something.

And when the Check Engine light flashes when it misfires, the o/d light also blinks so maybe its that, not really sure.

 

It sure sounds like the switch or the wires near the switch.

 

Yeah I was thinking the same thing, ill check it out tomorrow.

Would it be a bad idea to replace it with a standard toggle switch, or should i get a stock replacement?

 

I had the same problem you're having, minus the codes. Replaced the OD and lockup switches with toggles and still have the problem, so I'm assuming it's gotta be the valve body.

It wouldn't hurt to wire in a toggle switch if only for testing purposes, in my case I sunk $200+ into solenoids and computer and much time into testing and inspecting sensors before deciding to wire my switch in and discovering that it wasn't anything electronic at all.

If you decide to wire in a toggle switch, I'll post pics of which wires I spliced into for the OD and lockup.

 

I dont think its the switch, when it worked the past few times(randomly like always) the switch seemed to be operating fine. Im thinkin a bad sensor or ground somewhere. And since I do 90 percent of my driving in town Ive been waiting for it to warm up alittle so I can put in some time to do some testing.

Ive been looking at alot of posts that have similar problems but no one seems to ever post a solution. So ill definatly let you know what the problem was. One thing I think is im loosing my PCM, and thats why its mis-firing and throwing so many codes.

 

some of those codes relate to having bypassed the regulator within the computer, which is what wiould have to be the case with an external regulator