1997 Dodge Dakota Sport 5-speed manual transmission hard to shift

[lukeairig]

Hello,

I have a recently acquired 1997 Dodge Dakota Sport, 2WD, 3.9L V6,
5-speed AX15 manual transmission, with 160,000 miles on the odometer;
not sure how many miles on the transmission.

Here is a summary of the symptoms that it is manifesting:

The majority of the time it is hard to shift into 1st, 2nd and 3rd
gears, although occasionally shifting into all 3 gears is perfectly
smooth (what I would consider normal). I would estimate that it shifts
normally around 10% of the time.

When it does shift normally, ALL 3 gears engage normally (after
shifting into 3rd normally).

When it does not shift normally, ALL 3 gears are hard to engage, but
each has a different
relative level of difficulty, with 1st being extremely hard to engage,
2nd moderately hard
and 3rd the easiest (but still not normal)

Once 1st gear has been successfully engaged 2nd and 3rd engage normally
when up shifting.

At a dead stop, all 3 gears are hard to engage as described above.

Since 1st is basically impossible to engage the majority of the time
when I try to shift
directly from neutral or any other gear, here is my workaround when
coming to a stop (with each gear engaging with the level of difficulty
summarized above):

1. Shift into 3rd
2. Shift into 2nd
3. Shift into 1st

On the rare occasion when it slips smoothly into 3rd it also slides
like butter into
2nd and/or 1st.

Double clutching does not appear to have any effect.

Does anyone have an idea what the problem might be given these
symptoms?

TIA

Luke

--
lukeairig
Message origin: TRAVEL.com

[PeterD]

On Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:40:58 -0600, lukeairig
<lukeairi...@no-mx.forums.travel.com> wrote:

>
>Hello,
>
>I have a recently acquired 1997 Dodge Dakota Sport, 2WD, 3.9L V6,
>5-speed AX15 manual transmission, with 160,000 miles on the odometer;
>not sure how many miles on the transmission.
>
>Here is a summary of the symptoms that it is manifesting:
>
>The majority of the time it is hard to shift into 1st, 2nd and 3rd
>gears, although occasionally shifting into all 3 gears is perfectly
>smooth (what I would consider normal). I would estimate that it shifts
>normally around 10% of the time.

How much clutch 'free play' is there? I suspect either clutch
adjustment is way out, or more likely the clutch is just plain worn
out.

[crunch2]

i had an 89 Dakota 4x4 started doing the same thing.
ended up broke down on the freeway because the main
baring had sezed and spun in the case. drilled a hole thorugh the case at 70
miles an hour on the freeway befor it had popped out of gear.

you might want to opened up and replace the bearings soon. cost me 3k to
get a new trans at the time
and wasn't all that happy.

at the time it was a supply and demand market for the trans. they had the
supply i had the demand and the 3k.

"PeterD" <pet...@hipson.net> wrote in message
news:1ptkl6tpjtaklt035...@4ax.com...

[jaka...@gmail.com]

I also have a Dodge Dakota 5 speed. I had the same issues with it being hard to go into first, 2nd, and 3rd. Took it in to get the clutch/ Flywheel replaced. Shifted and Ran fine for less than 24 hours after i got the keys back 12/10/2018. Brought it in Monday morning 2/12/2018 since they arent open sunday. it didnt shift properly. Meaning it seemed like a gear off. 1st only let me go 7mpg, 2nd 13mph, 3rd 25, 4th 35, 5th top speed was 43mph... starts fine, idles fine. everything runs fine except its not letting me shift like normal. seems like it wants another gear which i obviously dont have. I looked around and called around. it all seems to come back to the flywheel not being alligned properly. Its currently at the shop i took it to that replaced the clutch, pressure plate, pilot bearing, flywheel etc... The check engine light reads bad camshaft. well. i dont have syptoms of a bad cam shaft. a improperly aligned flywheel will mess up the cam shaft. the shop is doing whatever its doing right now. but if i get it fixed i will let you know what the issue is and how they fixed it.

if anyone can give me advice on this issue please email me at Dmors...@yahoo.com with the subject line dakota issues....