NHTSA Complaint #702014 — 1998 DODGE DAKOTA

THIS CONCERN REGARDING THE POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION ALSO INCLUDES THE OPERATION OF THE CRUISE CONTROL! THE ORIGINAL DEFECT MANIFESTED ITSELF BY EXTREME "POWER-DOWNSHIFTS" ON MODERATE UPGRADES, WHILE RUNNING ON CRUISE CONTROL (ALL FURTHER MENTION OF "POWER-DOWNSHIFTS" ARE WHILE THE CRUISE IS ENGAGED). THEY WERE EXTREMELY ROUGH, TO THE POINT THAT I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT NOT ONLY THE DAMAGE TO THE POWERTRAIN, BUT TO ALSO LOSING CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE IF IT WOULD HAPPEN TO OCCUR AT THE "WRONG TIME." THEY EVEN OCCURED WHILE RUNNING "AT SPEED" ON THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY. THE EXTREME OF THESE DOWNSHIFTS IS INDICATED BY THE FACT THAT AT 65 MPH THE TRANSMISSION WOULD BE FORCED DOWN TO 2ND GEAR, THEREBY "RED-LINING" THE ENGINE ON THE TACH. FIRST VISIT BROUGHT LITTLE IF ANY IMPROVEMENT, AND ONLY AFTER AN ADJUSTMENT WAS MADE AT THE LAST MINUTE FROM "UNDER THE HOOD." AFTER THIS ADJUSTMENT (OR BECAUSE OF PROBLEMS SURFACING FROM THE "POWER-DOWNSHIFTS") THE TRANSMISSION BEGAN TO HAVE INTERMITTANT "ROUGH SHIFTS" AROUND 30MPH. A 2ND VISIT BROUGHT ADJUSTMENT TO THE "TRANMISSION THROTTLE PRESSURE" WHICH HAS ALMOST ENTIRELY ELIMINATED THE "POWER-DOWNSHIFTS" (THEY HAVE ONLY OCCURED TWICE IN THE PAST 2000+ MILES. HOWEVER, THE TRANSMISSION IS NOW SUFFERING MUCH GREATER PROBLEMS IN SHIFTING. NOT ONLY DOES IT GIVE THE OCCASIONAL "HERKY-JERKY" SHIFT, BUT IT NOW ALSO SEEMS TO OCCASIONALLY "SLIP" ON SHIFTS. THE VEHICLE IS SCHEDULED TO RETURN TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR "PRESSURE TESTING" AT A LATER DATE.