So my wife's uncle gave me his '05 Dakota because it started acting up on him. Being the Dodge guy I am, he logically offered it to me for the price of nothing. I took the offer, of course. He said it wouldn't go more than 35 mph and that the 4x4 didnt work. When I went to pick it up, it hit 50 mph no problem and both 4 hi and 4 lo worked just fine. I noticed the transmission did hesitare shifting up from second to third, but it went in. So I went ahead and towed it home. I checked the fluid, it's perfect. Looks like it has a brand new pan on the bottom of the trans so somebody was in there doing something recently. I've been taking it out on short test drives and it does go up and down between 2 and third gears at about 25 mph. Sometimes it'll hang and then shift. Went ahead yesterday and recharged the battery (it was dead so I put it on my trickle charger) and swapped out the trans relay with the AC clutch relay. Took her out again and she shifted great for a mile or so. Then it started doing the same as before. Eventually, I came to a stop sign and went to take off and noticed the acceleration was crap and the transmission wasn't shifting at all (limp home mode maybe). Got to the freeway and jumped on and it definitely isn't shifting. It's starting and staying in either third or second. Getting off the freeway, I took off from stop light and it hung for a moment as if it was in neutral and the engine just revved then it slipped back into gear. The CEL is on so of course I took it up to AutoZone and had it scanned. The codes I pulled are as follows: P0440, P0452, P0700, P0733, P0452, P0700 and P0733 (yes, some came up more than once). I'm thinking and hoping that replacing my input and output sensors will resolve this issue so I can actually drive it as my daily driver and say buh bye to my XJ. So I'm looking for some suggestions, food for thought, confirmations, scoldings, etc. I keep going back to why my wife's uncle said it wouldn't go over 35 and the 4x4 wouldn't work when it does for me. What could cause all this? Totally open to any and all ideas and I'm very mechanically inclined and capable. I've rebuilt the entire engine wiring harness on my 93 Ramcharger so this should be a cake walk compared to that! Thanks for your thoughts in advance!

 

Think you might have a couple things going on. If P0700 and P0733 were displayed twice, I'm guessing they are active and causing the shift issues.

How's the trans fluid level? Only asking cuz my trans likes a hair more fluid than normal, otherwise shifts rather firmly in 2nd.

P0440 is EVAP General Fail, though the FSM has you dealing with P0452 first.
P0452 is NVLD Switch stuck closed, stands for Natural Vacuum Leak Detection.

P0700 is a general MIL light.
P0733 is Gear ratio error in 3rd, which has a whole laundry list of posibilities. Low fluid level, and Input sensor, as well as oil filter cracks/leaks. Most of the rest are valve body components.

 

That's another thing I'm interested in hearing about. The valve body components. I've read that they're relatively simple to replace if that ends up being the problem. Do you know if that's true or not? I don't have much experience with transmissions as I've never had a bad one or problem with one in any vehicle I've owned. As far as the fluid level, it was spot on at both cold (70°F) and hot (180°F). Very clean fluid as well. Truck has 173k on it and runs great otherwise. Really hoping it is a sensor. I hate dropping pans in the cold. But, we must do what we must do.

 

And by all means, hit me with that laundry list. IllI happily check out everything on it. A free truck is worth the time!

 

Personally I've never cracked my valve body open. First week of having it, I was delighted to discover it wanted to go into 2 gears at once. On the highway. Locked the wheels up and everything. Fun times.

Ended up being a pretty large hairline crack in the body itself so I just replaced the whole unit. And then bought myself new pants.

 

P0733:

Input speed sensor or wiring
low fluid level
cracked or misinstalled primary oil filter or seal
bent or broken accumulator cover on main valve body
worn solenoid switch valve or plugs
stuck or sticking main regulator valve
burned ud or od clutch
cut od or ud piston seal
broken or missing ud or od bleed orifice in main valve body
broken or missing bleed orifice in ud or od clutch piston
cut od or ud accumulator piston seal
cracked od or ud accumulator piston
cut or missing #6 check ball
transmission solenoid/trs assembly
broken weld - reverse carrier hub to carrier
broken reaction shaft support seal ring
poor machining on pump valve body face

 

I should just drop the pan and check all of that stuff out. But I'll be rational rather than eager and I'll start by looking at the input sensor. I will say that I was under it yesterday playing with the wires attached to the sensor fitting and it seemed to be shifting right until I got about a mile down the road. My biggest issue is i like to be thorough so that's what led to me posting this. Get as many ideas as possible. Keep 'em coming and thank you!

 

History here has shown that the tranny filters on these trucks NEED to be OEM, no aftermarket whatsoever. If the fluid is that clean, it may indicate that aftermarket was recently used during a fluid change/flush and may be causing problems. If it were me, I would swap with OEM and go from there.

 

Here's a small, miniscule update:

Took a week but I finally tracked down a new input speed sensor. 45 miles from my house. Just put it in and took my Dad for a test drive. Nothing has changed. It's strange because it starts out shifting beautifully until I get about 3/4 of a mile from my house. Then it has a hard time suddenly getting into third gear and gets stuck in limp mode. I will be checking the wiring next but I'm really leaning towards having to install a new valve body .It's not the work that gets to me. It's a pretty easy job .It's the cost of the part. I'm seeing them for around $300. That's nuts, in my eyes. My Cherokee transmission is completely original and has 307k on it. 😮 Amazes me how much different the longevity of this transmission and it's components are when compared to the old XJ transmission. Checking my wires next then I'll post more results. It might take a week, but I'll be back!

 

Whenever the battery in our Dakota is on the way out or been drained down - the truck starts throwing fits and tossing all kinds of random confusing codes, especially on the transmission. The electronics in these seem to be sensitive to having good steady power source or they are quick to start throwing fits.
Step 1, (if you haven't already) ... Put a good quality new battery in it, and don't cheap out on the battery. Fully charge the battery before installing it.
Step 2, verify that the alternator is working properly, producing adequate voltage and plenty of current. Perhaps just replace it at same time as battery, not an expensive part.
Step 3, as mentioned transmission service with new OEM filter and Mopar +4 transmission oil. Unless you can get records of what was done to that pan before, to have confirmation and confidence in the correct part and oil used ; then had you best just redo it. Use ONLY OEM filter and ONLY Mopar transmission oil.

My suspicions are that there is a power supply problem (battery/alternator) and that and aftermarket filter and some other universal type ATF was put in there. Correct those things. Then try a test drive. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Hope that helps!