I just got myself an 89 dakota le auto, v6 3.9L. I'm not mechanicaly inclined AT ALL! I bought the truck for $1 and I've sunk in $300 so far. Today was the first time I actually drove it mabye 2 kiometers lol! Anyway i noticed that when i put in gear it kinda jercks forward and makes kind of a cluncking sound. Now I don't know what kind of maintenance was done to it previously, so I've been going through the haynes manual that came with the truck to find out. So far all I can see is that it might be that the tranmisssion needs to be drained and the filter replaced. My problem with that is I need to do some other work on it first for it to pass safety. wheel cylinder and brake shoes. I'm on a very tight budget right now as I am unemployed and need the truck to get a job. It has to be safetied first to be on the road, so should i just fill the tranny and drive it till i can afford to put more money into my truck? It shifts really smooth it's just when I put it in gear.

 

As far as the "clunk" when putting into gear, they do that sometimes [:'(].
You can try changing your transmission filter, its simple to do (take the pan off, in my '96 there are 3 long bolt-like things that go thru the filter, loosen and remove those, and replace with a new filter, put the bolts back on, put the pan back on, and fill 'er up). After you replace the filter, add about 3 quarts of fluid, than check the fluid level (see the Gen 1 FAQs page on how to check fluid level) It will take more than 3 quarts, but you don't want to add too much, also, make sure that you drive the truck around before you finally get the fluid level to "FULL".

 

As far as the clunking goes. I think I would also check out the u-joints in the drive shaft or shafts if its 4wd. Possibly look at the engine mounts. Other then that I am not much af a tranny specialist and I have never owned an automatic Dakota so I couldnt really tell you much about them. I do understand completely the tight budget part. I wouldnt think three quarts of fluid and a filter would cost too terribly much though.

I hope your luck changes for ya. I now what its like to be without a job for a short time period.

 

Erock' brings up a good point. It could also be your u-joints (these are pretty reasonably priced, around $20-ish each). If its 4WD, the drive shaft(s) could also cause this, as could engine/tranny mounts. As soon as I get some extra cash (haha... like that will ever happen) I will being changing out small parts (u-joints and such) to see if that solves the "clunk." (A little advise, if you do replace your u-joints, get ones with a grease fitting, and grease them up every couple thousand miles, they will love you for that)
If your going to do the tranny service (which is not a bad idea, mind you), but about 5 quarts of ATF+3 or ATF+4. Do NOT buy a "Multi-Vehicle" blend, as Chrysler transmissions are picky. It actually takes around 4 quarts, but, add 3 to begin with, because, like I said, you do not want to overfill!

 

Just a thought......

If you do manage to overfill your tranny. Use a piece of flexible tubing (nylon,rubber,etc...), stick it down in he fill hole, put your thumb over the end of it and pull it back out with your thumb still on the end. Each time you do this it should take more fluid out. Depending on the tubing you use it could take a little bit of time or it may not. Either way in my opinion it would beat taking the pan back off the bottom of the tranny.

Maybe you already heard of this trick, but it has saved me some time before working on other cars.

 

i just had the tranny flushed and put the atf-4 in and it seems to run smoother. ive had my 89 since it was new and its got about 40k on it, it has always clunked

 

Holy crap! You're the old man that only drives his truck to church every Sunday, arn't you? I've heard about you...

 

Yeah really............either that or your like my mom and you walk to work.

She took her car to get it inspected last year. She put 143 miles on the car in a year. They made her exempt for the emissions test since the car doesnt get driven that much. It's a 95 Chrysler Sebring that she bougt brand new. I think it still had around 20,000 miles on it that last time I changed the oil in it for her a couple months ago.

 

Thanx guys for all the help! I changed the tranny filter and oil yesterday. Man what a mess.... It seems smoother now though as for the clunk it also seems to be a little better. Not so noticable now. but when i put it in drive it seems to wanna go right away without me even on the gas. could this be due to the gearing? Like i said i'm a newb at all of this but i'm bound and determined to do the bulk of the work myself and learn the essentials.

 

I would have to say, yes.