2002 dakota inspection plate.
Thread Starter
|
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
2002 dakota inspection plate.
Hi, sorry about this being a 1st post with out introducing myself but its been a really long 36 hours, working midnights and now this little issue. And I apologize for this being a bit long winded up front.
I recently acquired a 2002 Dakota crew cab 3.9 liter V6 5 speed 4X4 from my girlfriend when she replaced it with a new truck. The truck was for my son who just got his DL, and yes I'm a little selfish knowing how boys are he will not be driving my truck with out me in it. Overall the trucks in really good shape (I have been its primary care taker for the last 4 years) but coming up on 178K. It has had for about a year now a periodic harmonic whine at about 2300 RPM which I'm fairly certain was the throw out bearing. Last night the boy came home from his girlfriends and all was good, this morning it will not move. It just kinda of wants to try at about 4K. A little testing and I'm about 99% certain it is in need of a clutch. So we moved it over to a heated shop and started into it.
Just to be clear I am fairly mechanically inclined. I am rebuilding a 68 Camaro from the ground up including replacing about 95% of the sheet metal, I weld, do body work, paint and pull wrenches both on everyday vehicles and a pile of heavy duty equipment. That aside a ran into a bit of a stumbling block. There is a mount between the front diff and the transmission it had two bolts through the diff into the mount and what would look like two more through the mount through the inspection plate into the transmission. the bottom one is not a problem. the top one is where I'm looking for a bit of help. Being as I can not get a line of sight on it and by feel it feels like the front side is cast into the mount and the back side I can see a threaded hole. I thought just maybe it might be a threaded dowel pin but the mount does not want to move. The possibility that it may have been a bolt from the back side that someone has busted off crossed my mind but does not feel right either. So I am guessing what I have is a blot from the front with some really tightly packed crud around it making it feel like there is no bolt head there. This is what I'm hoping someone here might be able to confirm for me or point me in the right direction.
I did spend about 4 hours tonight searching through the forum and downloaded a PDF version of the service manual but drew a blank, if I missed what I'm looking for, again I sorry but I am pretty much wore out and and needing to pass out for about 8 hours. I am however trying to catch tomorrows cut off for ordering the parts being as no one has stock on them so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Kevin.
I recently acquired a 2002 Dakota crew cab 3.9 liter V6 5 speed 4X4 from my girlfriend when she replaced it with a new truck. The truck was for my son who just got his DL, and yes I'm a little selfish knowing how boys are he will not be driving my truck with out me in it. Overall the trucks in really good shape (I have been its primary care taker for the last 4 years) but coming up on 178K. It has had for about a year now a periodic harmonic whine at about 2300 RPM which I'm fairly certain was the throw out bearing. Last night the boy came home from his girlfriends and all was good, this morning it will not move. It just kinda of wants to try at about 4K. A little testing and I'm about 99% certain it is in need of a clutch. So we moved it over to a heated shop and started into it.
Just to be clear I am fairly mechanically inclined. I am rebuilding a 68 Camaro from the ground up including replacing about 95% of the sheet metal, I weld, do body work, paint and pull wrenches both on everyday vehicles and a pile of heavy duty equipment. That aside a ran into a bit of a stumbling block. There is a mount between the front diff and the transmission it had two bolts through the diff into the mount and what would look like two more through the mount through the inspection plate into the transmission. the bottom one is not a problem. the top one is where I'm looking for a bit of help. Being as I can not get a line of sight on it and by feel it feels like the front side is cast into the mount and the back side I can see a threaded hole. I thought just maybe it might be a threaded dowel pin but the mount does not want to move. The possibility that it may have been a bolt from the back side that someone has busted off crossed my mind but does not feel right either. So I am guessing what I have is a blot from the front with some really tightly packed crud around it making it feel like there is no bolt head there. This is what I'm hoping someone here might be able to confirm for me or point me in the right direction.
I did spend about 4 hours tonight searching through the forum and downloaded a PDF version of the service manual but drew a blank, if I missed what I'm looking for, again I sorry but I am pretty much wore out and and needing to pass out for about 8 hours. I am however trying to catch tomorrows cut off for ordering the parts being as no one has stock on them so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Kevin.
Just want to say hi, and welcome to the Forum!
Sorry I can't give any help, as you are already over my head. Maybe my comment will place you higher on the post threads for someone to notice.
Good luck!
Sorry I can't give any help, as you are already over my head. Maybe my comment will place you higher on the post threads for someone to notice.
Good luck!
Legend
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 8,058
Likes: 183
From: Fort Worth, TX
wow, talk about falling through the cracks. Not sure how I missed this post. Like Robba, I have no idea. But I have heard of a similar bracket on automatics, and yes it just bolt's on. I would assume manual would be same.
Is this the mount you are referring to?
Sep7_zpse3e69d57.jpg
If so - this was an absolute @*^#! to do when I swapped engines.
There are 2 bolts going to the bell housing which I've already removed in the pic above, and 2 more which go through the dif into the mount - 18 or 19mm I believe.
I had to stick my breaker bar through the engine bay, and put a pipe over it to get those suckers to move.
Sep7_zpse3e69d57.jpg
If so - this was an absolute @*^#! to do when I swapped engines.
There are 2 bolts going to the bell housing which I've already removed in the pic above, and 2 more which go through the dif into the mount - 18 or 19mm I believe.
I had to stick my breaker bar through the engine bay, and put a pipe over it to get those suckers to move.
Thread Starter
|
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Thanks guys.
And yes that was the bracket. My sleep deprived brain worked it out about the time I posted. The top bolt going through the bracket into the belhousing was completely encased in a hardened mix of road grim and power steering fluid from when the pressure hose let loose. When I was laying under the truck and feeling around blind it felt like it was cast that way with no room for a bolt up there. I went back the next day and dug it out with a screwdriver and got it out of there.
I managed to get his ride done and back on the road two days later which makes him happy and allowed me to catch up on some much needed sleep. If I had not been so burnt out from working midnights and pulling wrenches all day I would have gotten back on here to post that. Did check the morning after hoping to verify what I suspected but its all good we got it done. There were several bolts that felt as if someone tightened them up with a 6 foot snipe and were a royal pita to get loose but it all good now.
There was one other small stumbling block and so far no one I have asked has been able to answer it and I would not mind knowing the answer just for its own sake. I had bought and downloaded a electronic copy of a shop manual for the truck. In the clutch section it referenced marking the pressure plate to the flywheel if it was to be reused which I get. Further to that it makes mention of a new pressure plate having a alignment mark and the flywheel having one as well. Either a L or a circle with a X in it. The new NAPA pressure plate did have a L in fact three of them. The flywheel however either did not or it was removed when I had it machined. Back in the late eighties I worked for a Dodge dealership and talked to the shop forman who I worked with and is still there and he checked with the guys none of them could remember running into this and the local dealer had no answers either. I did check with the manufacturer of the clutch kit (NAPA gave me the phone number and they did confirm the pressure plate and disk are zero balanced) its all working good and the boy swears it shifting better as a side bonus. The figure in the manual looks as if the mark on the flywheel is about even with the bolt holes for the pressure plate and about one third of the way between two of the bolts right where there would be a bit of relief in the pressure plate exposing some additional flywheel surface. Does anyone know what the marks are about? I assume its a balance thing but for peace of mind would like to verify that.
Kevin
BTW it has been a little bit due to family health issues etc but the Camaro I'm building is covered in a thread on Team Camaro called repeating history. I use the same user name over there.
And yes that was the bracket. My sleep deprived brain worked it out about the time I posted. The top bolt going through the bracket into the belhousing was completely encased in a hardened mix of road grim and power steering fluid from when the pressure hose let loose. When I was laying under the truck and feeling around blind it felt like it was cast that way with no room for a bolt up there. I went back the next day and dug it out with a screwdriver and got it out of there.
I managed to get his ride done and back on the road two days later which makes him happy and allowed me to catch up on some much needed sleep. If I had not been so burnt out from working midnights and pulling wrenches all day I would have gotten back on here to post that. Did check the morning after hoping to verify what I suspected but its all good we got it done. There were several bolts that felt as if someone tightened them up with a 6 foot snipe and were a royal pita to get loose but it all good now.
There was one other small stumbling block and so far no one I have asked has been able to answer it and I would not mind knowing the answer just for its own sake. I had bought and downloaded a electronic copy of a shop manual for the truck. In the clutch section it referenced marking the pressure plate to the flywheel if it was to be reused which I get. Further to that it makes mention of a new pressure plate having a alignment mark and the flywheel having one as well. Either a L or a circle with a X in it. The new NAPA pressure plate did have a L in fact three of them. The flywheel however either did not or it was removed when I had it machined. Back in the late eighties I worked for a Dodge dealership and talked to the shop forman who I worked with and is still there and he checked with the guys none of them could remember running into this and the local dealer had no answers either. I did check with the manufacturer of the clutch kit (NAPA gave me the phone number and they did confirm the pressure plate and disk are zero balanced) its all working good and the boy swears it shifting better as a side bonus. The figure in the manual looks as if the mark on the flywheel is about even with the bolt holes for the pressure plate and about one third of the way between two of the bolts right where there would be a bit of relief in the pressure plate exposing some additional flywheel surface. Does anyone know what the marks are about? I assume its a balance thing but for peace of mind would like to verify that.
Kevin
BTW it has been a little bit due to family health issues etc but the Camaro I'm building is covered in a thread on Team Camaro called repeating history. I use the same user name over there.