Perhaps that stuck valve problem rearing its ugly head. Thats what was wrong with my 1995 Dodge Dakota, only it wasn't completely stuck, it would kick into 4th if you let off the gas suddenly.

 

stuck valve problem?

 

On my 1995 Dodge Dakota (w/ the 5.2), it had this nasty habit of doing exactly what kowboydmac describes, with the exception that if you let off the gas suddenly once it hit about 3000 or so RPMs, it would kick into 4th finally. If you kept on the gas and didn't let off, it wouldn't shift, even after it went past 4000.

I had a transmission guy I knew at the time take a look at it. He said it was a sticky valve in the transmission. He poured some cleaner crap into it, and that fixed it... for a week. Then it came back, even before I had the fluid (with the crap in it) drained and refilled. And that cleaner stuff ruins your transmission fluid filter as well, BTW, so that was replaced.

I learned to live with it until I traded it in on my current pickup. Obviously if the tranny won't shift at all, though, you can't "live with it" unless you want to live without an overdrive gear. My advice is to take to an experienced Dodge transmission mechanic, tell them about the problem, and see what they say. It might be something completely different, but it sure sounds a heck of a lot like the problem I had.

 

When i got my ram i knew it would be a fixer upper (so use to my nova it feels weird being in a car that is new) and i knew the trannys were crap because my dad has a dakota with the 3.9 and had to replace his trans and rear axle. luckily he knows a mom and pop shop so the total of all that was 700 trans and 500 rear axle, which wasn't too bad, though he didn't use brand new parts. My dad doesn't do anything but drive to work and drive to the store anyway, so it's all fine now. But my Ram, geez. With all the problems, it's hard to tell that when you driving around town, it runs just fine. Couldn't tell anything was wrong. Then you start pokin around and this and that is wrong. It's nuts.