Yes....been there before, back there now. 01 4x4 DAK 5.9 quad. Tranny left me sittin' at a stop sign in Corpus Christy, Tx last May at 64k mi. No warning, no overheating no noise....just would not move after the stop. Had it towed to local shop...$1800 later, tech said the tranny was in pieces. Now..I don't know all there is to know 'bout trannies, but surely I sould have had some sign or noise if it was 'in pieces'. Claimed they replaced the solenoid and converter in th rebuild. Now I'm in South Carolina at 78K mi just out of the warranty and the torque converter will not lock up in 3rd and overdrive unless I back off the throttle. This is at average acceleration. Took it in to a local tranny shop today, teck said I had excessive 'debris' in the pan...looked like metal powder on the mag drain plug. I've been told there will be some evidence of wear collected on the drain plug under normal conditions. Anyway, they wanted to tear in to it again and nail me for another couple grand. Been diggin' all night for info to keep me out of Dakota bankruptcy. Question is... will the tcc solenoid keep the converter from locking up? Could it be dirty...magnetized and covered with mud too. Heard that was a possibility. Even so, can the tcc be accessed and replaced from the pan? Seems if the tcc controls the lockup, this would be a first shot before a complete rebuild....? Any thoughts?

mdw