destroyerbear

hey,
i'm struck on purchasing a 99 dodge dakota if i cant get it for a good deal. a girl is selling it for her dad, so i can't get much info from her, but i'm going to check it out maybe thursday if it's not sold. Anyways, as i understand, the transmission will stay in first gear and not shift, not sure if this is just in drive, or if it will shift in 3,2,or 1 or reverse. i will find that out thursday, and i will check atf. but what i was wanting to know is things that could cause it not to shift. if i get it, i'm gonna flush the trans fluid, check the valves and ****, and if that does nothing, take on a rebuild.

bremereric

In drive I know the computer shifts it. Pulling it into each individual gear should shift it manually.

78D200

Couple of things could be the problem. being a 42RE I assume that it has the 3.9L V6 motor. Is it 4x4? Reg cab or extended? Mileage?

1. Tranny needs a rebuild. - Its just worn out.
2. Computer isn't telling it to shift - The PCM/TCM may need to be flashed because it lost/forgot its parameters.
3. Low fluid - It the fluid is low, this can lead to other failures internally causing the tranny to need a rebuild.
4. Burnt/Worn fluid - While this shouldn't limit you to just first gear, the fluid has to work harder causing the tranny to work harder causing other failures.

If you can shift it into 1-2-3 (manually) and it will go into those gears and the fluid looks good, then the computer may just need to be flashed. If you pull the dip stick and the fluid is brown, smells burnt and you cannot shift it into 1-2-3 manually, then the tranny will most likely need to be rebuilt/replaced. I doubt a simple flush will take care of it.

TVLynn

Another possibility it the solenoids on the valve body Check for broken mounting bolts. A problem area - as they make a billet replacement bracket

Gorts 5th

just be pepaired to replace the trany, they are right, sounds worn out check your fluid, filter but if it has a lot of miles, just rebuild it you can put shift kits in it a number of kits and rebuild parts available, and have a new trany!

destroyerbear

its a regular cab 2wd
i was gonna check the fluid and stuff, if i can get it for 500-750 then i'm just gonna buy it no matter what's wrong with it.

78D200

The reason I asked is that the extended cad 4x4 trucks is a lot of weight for the 42re tranny to push. I went through three of them on my 2000 when I had it.

destroyerbear

the lady said it was pending a sale, which she clarified for me, a friend of the owner was thinking about buying it, so he has it right now, and she thought he acted like he might not want it, the thing i am finding on the internet is an array of problems from pcm, to valves and ****.....don't you just love computer cars?

Gorts 5th

maybe you better not get it, what else is wrong with it was the motor taken care of?
you might be buying a can of worms you never know how deep the problems run until you reach in
if the trany is so light duty what about the rear end?
how many miles are on this truck
maybe you can find something better?

78D200

Rear axle would be an Chrysler 8.25.

Gorts 5th

it's not a 71/4 but still what condition is it in?

destroyerbear

i havent seen it yet so i'm not sure what condition it's in. the body looks pretty much perfect, but i didn't see any engine pics. she said the water pump was leaking, but the guy didn't wanna fix any of it, just wanted to get rid of it in the case that he fixed something and something else tore up. he's not mechanically inclined so he has to pay mechanincs to do all the work for him. i've read that it could be the governor pressure sensor, or the pcm, or could be the valve body, so anyway it goes, i'm up for the task of rebuilding it. however, i'm not even sure if i'm going to have a chance at it or not though either, that guy might have decided he wants it