5 or 6 speed auto on a 360??

dgc333 said
I talked to a guy that owns the local tranny shop at a cruise night last year and he said that based on what he sees coming through his shop current mopar trannies are no better or worse than anything from Ford, GM or Toyota.

Anyhow I have had two Dakotas the first one an 89 had an A500 and the only issue I had in 256,000 miles was a shudder when I put Dextron in it instead of ATF 3 and the rubber hose connecting to the radiator cooler started leaking around the crimp to the hard line.

The current Dakota is a 99 with 165,000 miles has a 44RE. I have had to replace the output sensor ($11.00) and the govenor control solenoid ($35.00), neither of these issues left me stranded they just caused the tranny to act pecular until I changed them out. I do get a little flare on the 2 to 3rd shift on hard acceleration when the outside temp is around <=20 and the tranny is cold. I just have let it warm up before getting on it.

My first trans in my dakota was my fault. I never adjusted the band like I should have and when they show the signs it's already too late.

Second time was a constant nagging 17xx code for the governor circuit.
Tried everything. Wiring was tested fine, PCM swapped, sensor and solenoid replaced, same thing.

Had it rebuilt again with all good billet servos, solid bands, good struts and levers, etc etc....damned gov circuit acted up again. Soon as it did I parked it until I can have the tfod3 kit installed. That removes the electronics and is fully manual shifted. No kickdown needed anymore either. And overdrive is controlled with the button like normal. I'm not sure how the lockup works, but I'll figure that out. I already know of one good way to control it automatically on the PATC site.

Mechanically, i love the TF trannies. But I have not had good experience with the electronics.