Hi, I have what might be an issue with my 05 Dakota transmission that I hope someone on here can help with. If I have to back up a hill, the truck surges and is a bit jumpy....it's not smooth. There's no grinding or anything like that, but it's jumpy. My mechanic (not a transmission expert) tells me it seems like a serious transmission problem. Another friend tells me this is normal with 4 wheel drive vehicles, that it has to do with the differential, and the truck should be put into 4 wheel drive when reversing up a hill. Who's right?
Thanks in advance for reading/responding to this post! -brian

 

How fast are you driving backwards up these hills? Is that an automatic transmission or stick?

 

It's an automatic, and it happens on an incline as soon as I start to move....under 10 mph....

 

My truck acts funny in reverse, especially up a hill. You can feel the truck "shake" or "vibrate" when starting to reverse. Once going 5mph, it goes away, but at first I can feel it.

On a side note, when ever I launch the truck (stand on the brake and feather the gas slightly before a full throttle acceleration) the next time I throw it in reverse and I am on the brake at the same time, the truck will have a "shake" .... I have tried to pinpoint where it comes from, but if I put it in reverse while on the brake and the shaking starts, when I put the E-brake on to get out of the truck the shake goes away. So Im not sure what it is but it bothers me sometimes.

 

Thanks for the responses........Rengnath, the "shake and vibrate" sounds like what my truck does.....I'm not sure I've ever gone over 5mph uphill in reverse to know if it stops or not.....I dont often have to back up a hill. I'm no expert, but it doesn't seem to me to be a tranny problem.....it's not that it's slipping gears, just the "shaking" on reverse incline....

 

I agree. I have tried searching forums and have even tried starting threads about it and nothing has come up. The reason I think its fine is it doesnt do it ever in 1st gear (drive when going slow) .... your transmission shares the same gear for 1st gear and reverse, so if it was a major problem you would feel it in first.
The only other wierd thing my tranny does is it will clunk in to first every once in a while pretty hard, but I cant get it to do it continuously, and sometimes when its shifting in to overdrive you will be able to feel it. Ive got the fluid changed and it still does it sometimes.
My first truck was stick, so I was used to shifting always being smooth unless it was my fault. An automatic is a compeltly different animal. The problem with an automatic is it is so complicated that it is hard to find a problem because a small factor could be causing the problem, and there are certain things that are acceptable in an automatic transmission. For now, I will just keep driving it until the problem becomes apparently worse. My truck has 107k on it, and still going strong.

 

cybrian i would call a local dealer and see if they have ever updated the pcm on your truck. i had the same issue about 6months ago and was in a position that the truck wouldnt back up a hill almost seemed like the tires were spinning and the more gas i gave the less it did mine ended up just being a pcm update that needed to be done now the thing will crawl over anything in reverse

 

Silverdak, what is the "pcm"? What did it cost to update?

 

PCM is Power train control module and will run ya about 75 to 100 bucks.

 

cybrian my pcm update did not cost me anything. It was covered under the powertrain warranty so i would do some checking before you take the truck in and see if you are still under waranty. if you are wont cost a dime.