I just purchased a 1995 Dodge Dakota V8 SLT a few days ago. Had it checked out by a mechanic who gave it a clean bill of health. So after driving it to and from work the past few days I was heading down the highway and got behind a slow driver on the highway. I started to pass and gave the throttle a good amount of gas in order to pass. As soon as I was passing the slower vehicle I lost all acceleration and had enough clearance to continue passing the car and quickly get off to road. I'm sure the person I passed thought I was the biggest idiot.


After I got the Dakota parked, it wouldn't accelerate. I tried changing this into 4-wheel drive, back and forth, back and forth to no avail.


Moving on...the guy I bought this from did stated he did these things to the Dakota within the last 10,000 miles:


New within the last 10,000 miles: Bosch battery,MSD CDI ignition, plugs, wires, MSD coil, Mopar Performance ECU, radiator,thermostat, ported and polished intake manifold, Cooper Discoverer tires, KYBshock absorbers, lifetime air filter, fan clutch, Dynomax muffler, catalyticconverter, shocks


Got the Dakota towed to a shop (Sunday)...just have to wait to see what my mechanic has to say. Can anyone with some mechanical knowledge tell me what the problem is?

 

So it starts and runs, but lacks power? Could be a bad fuel pump or filter screen, but the more info you could provide on the performance the better. Did it accelerate OK before the passing incident, or was that the first time you pushed it that hard? Does it miss/stumble when trying to accelerate, or is it that it just doesn't take the gas (it "bogs" or hesitates)? Any backfiring?

 

Runs and starts, will not engage into drive. The acceleration was fine until I heard a thud and I lost acceleration when I was passing the car. This was the first time I have ever accelerated this hard.


I am running super unleaded.


Any ideas?

 

Well, if it's not going into drive, it won't accelerate very well.

First guess based on information given is that the transmission has decided to lunch itself.

RwP