I have a 2001 dodge Dakota sport 4x4. I recently replace the output shaft speed sensor due to the check engine code. The sensor that I removed was broken with chunks missing from the tip. Does this point to a more serious transmission problem?

 

That is certainly the conclusion i would have......I would remove the rear cooling line at transmission..With line removed i would see if at last a quart of oil will flow to the transmission in the neutral position......it is common to have OD planet failure, that is assured to have if there is little to no oil lube flow to rear of transmission.....If you do have good flow, then at least you know that failure in that area was not due to lube problems.....There is a snap ring in that housing that does break from time to time ... You also could fish around through that sensor hole with a magnet and get a piece of what the could have caused this...What bothers me about this problem is that the speed sensor sits just below the parking lugs, meaning if the parking pawl has broken a piece off and tore the sensor, PARK could fail and a safety issue could develop....


Brian

 

Thanks for the Info. I will take your advice and do some inspecting. Its funny that you mention "parking failure" because My truck does have a hard time getting into park. meaning that when I switch the colum shifter into park the dashbord will sometimes be in R or nothing at all "in-between" park and Reverse. Yesterday I parked on a hill and set the shfter to park and the dash board was in "P". I got out of the truck while it was still running and the truck proceeded to roll back down the hill backwards. Not good. Ive been seting the E-brake ever since. Being that there does seem to be a problem with the transmission. Anybody have any ideas on what this is going to cost me?

 

It sounds like the parking pawl/sprag failed. You'll have to drop the pan to repair. Probably not a bad idea given you've found chunks. I think about $90 for the part and a couple hours labor.

Not to be a smart*ss, but it's not an emergency brake, it's a parking brake. Using it will keep all the rolling weight off the sprag.

 

One thing i forgot to add on the cooler flow check is that it should have a minimum of 1 quart in a 20 second time frame...

Brian