Well men i took on the task of rebuilding a 44re 4x4 1998 dodge dakota automatic. After much painstaking work and trips to auto parts stores and transmission specialty shops i finally rebuilt and reinstalled the transmission. But as i start it amd attempt to get underway with a test drive it wont move.
It has 10 quarts brand new fluid no leaks.
The shifter on the steering wheel is set to park.
My thottle and shifter cables seems to be in the correct detents.
The shift rod to the transfer case is connected but might be incorrect. Transfer case shift was not moving to proper location. Now grinds if i try to shift into 4 wheel drive.
No noise from engine or transmission sounds smooths. Torque converter is spinning.
Driveshafts not spinning.
Check engine light came on but cant get a code. Dont have a reader. When i shift from the cab it sounds like it is going into each gear.

I feel like this is linkage issue. And transfer case may be in neutral but i dont have enough experience with linkage or transmissions to be sure.

Ready for this project to wrap up need my truck and need to get out of friends garage they have been extremely patient. So need some help and ideas folk.

Thanks again to all replies and good advice.

 

I will move this to the 2nd generation Dakota sub-forum.

 

I'd definitely say to check the transfer case. Going from park to reverse and reverse to drive, should be 3 different RPM's from different cogsets loading the convertor.

 

Try shifting the T case range with the engine off you may be in t case neutral. Restart the engine and try the transmission ranges again. Beware you may be in a gear and the truck may try to move if you are off on the adjustment of the trans shift linkage as well. Be sure you are on the brakes when you restart the truck. If nothing else you can see if the trans is giveing an output. The codes are a big help if you can get them, otherwise we are shooting in the dark. Recheck all your sensor hookups and linkage adjustments you can on the linkages the best you can before start up.

Good luck

 

i agree with the last poster. the transfer case IS in Neutral... SHUT MOTOR DOWN.CHOCK THE WHEELS AND SET PARKING BRAKE. DRY SHIFT TRANS INTO NEUTRAL.. get under truck(i know, safety.. but thats why you chock the wheels..) disconnect t-case linkage, manually shift the tcase. from the position its in, it should go 1 click in one direction and 2 clicks in the other.. you want to hear 2 clicks.. when you hear that, your in 2 wheel drive. set the shift **** to 2wd in the cab, then reconnect linkage, put trans in park, then try to test drive again..

let me know how it turns out..

 

I am getting 3 different rpms ranges when i shift from park reverse and drive. I did notice what looks like air bubbles in the trans fluid. I had the engine running for a while after i first added fluid trying to get it circulated. Wondering if i picked up some air then. Manual says transfer case lever should be in 4h detent when connecting shift rod. Transfer case lever doesnt want to move up or down in drive neutral or park sometimes.

 

does your dak have a trans cooler (posibly built in to radiator) if so, the air could be coming from there. i would suggest reading the FSM and see if theres a way to bleed the air out of the trans.

 

Thanks for the info about shifting to neutral on the transmission, the transfer case lever did not want to move to 2h while in park or drive. Tried starting and still engine still cranks, when i run through the gears they sound like they engage, but truck still doesnt move. Just to check i turned the front drive shaft and went through transfer case and rotated rear drive shaft and i could make the truck go forward and backwards.

Im starting to think it has to do with pressure. I disassembled the valve body during rebuild and cleaned it including checkballs and then transgeled them back in place. Governor switch and sensor are new. Filter with rebuild kit new. Took my time with all springs and valves feel they are correct. Really nees to see what check engine light says before i drop the pan again. Any other thoughts?

 

Yes it does have a transcooler and was the only thing i did not flush out or clean. I will try bleeding and see if this helps.

 

Ok went and bought a osd code reader and its telling me P1757... this was one od the original codes it gave before transmission stopped going into any gears and burned up. I replaced the governor switch and solenoid. This was before i took it to ammco and they did their "diagnostic" on it. Could my new governor gone out so quickly?