I bought a used 91 dodge dakota (RWD) a few weeks ago. 100k miles. Been having some inconsistent shifting and had a few questions. For record, I am 99% sure I have the a500 42rh transmission

1. Really rough going from Reverse to Drive. The whole truck shifts and groans. I heard it's common on hydraulic RWD vehicles but it just does not feel good. Any way to lessen this or is it normal?

2. Shifts really early. I barely hit the gas and it goes from 1->2 at 10-15 mph, then 2->3 at 20mph directly afterwards. Then hits 4th at around 40mph. It's really obnoxious because when I am stuck in traffic if I don't take it to 1 gear it just shifts in and out of second gear every time I inch up.

3. Occasional bucking when shifting. I'd say this happens 30-40% of the time. The truck speeds up a bit as the gear gets ready to shift, then truck will barely slow, and then it engages the next gear with a slight buck. This all happens in less than a second. It almost never happens if I baby the gas petal, I can't even feel the shift then. It can happen in any gear and it can not happen at all, but it seems to happen less when warmed up.

I checked the transmission dipstick today just to make sure. Fluid is very clean, no burns or particles or any sludge. It is slightly above the full line, so that might cause the issue. Anyone else have these issues? Thanks

 

I spent a lot of money on mine with similar issues. The best result in how it shifted and the motor ran was putting in a new crank sensor. You can adjust the Throttle cable too. There are a lot of motor processes that can make the tranny run bad. Do the usual wires, coil, cap, rotor, check ecm connections, it may possibly be the I can't think of the name. TPS throttle position sensor. Its cheap and easy. You can put it in upside down. I eliminated all I could then had it inspected and had the tranny rebuilt. It still improved a lot when I did the crank sensor after. I'd make really sure it can't be some engine process affecting the tranny before paying for tranny work.

 

Cool, thanks for the reply. I am also not thinking it's a transmission issue, call it a feeling. I've started getting some PCM error codes so this weekend I'm replacing a few cheap sensors and the PCM and cleaning the **** out of everything, as well as doing the haynes manual throttle cable adjustment so hopefully when I get all of that done it will solve the issue. I'll look into the crank sensor too. I am not opposed to getting a new transmission down the road as this truck is a project truck for me, but I can't afford it yet so I'm just trying to minimize the damage I can do to this one until a year or so down the road.