Hello all,

I have a conundrum that I can't find an answer to and I have searched the net for it but came up with nothing.

I have a 97 dodge dakota with a 5.2L and it had a 44re trans that went bad. I installed a 46re because it's a direct bolt in that is heavier duty than the 44re and I have run into an issue during the "test drive." I have reverse but no forward gears. As I go down the gear selection and get to 1st it engages but when I give it gas it goes backward. WTF mate!!??

I'm thinking that the bands need to be adjusted and that might be my fix for it. The reverse and first gear are the same drum inside the trans iirc. So going off of that it kinda makes sense that if it is slipping it will still go backward. When 1st gear is selected it wants to go backward about half as fast as it would if I had reverse selected.

am I thinking correctly with my assumptions or am I in left field??
local trans shop quoted me 2500 for a rebuild......I paid 1500 for the truck so that's not worth it to me.

any suggestions are welcome. Thanks guys!

 

Band adjustment would be a good place to start...... Where did you get the trans from? Any warranty on it? That is NOT an electronic problem....... That's an internal issue of some sort. If adjusting the bands doesn't solve it.... it's rebuild, or new trans time.

 

I talked to a transmission guy today and he said that since the reverse is working the the low reverse band is good and doing what it's supposed to. I agree it's not electric. I think its toast on the inside but the fluid is good.

 

Time to drop the pan, and see if you find anything interesting......