Stumped in Richmond. Dakota 2004 w/ Sudden driveshaft stoppage
 

I have an '04 Dakota 4.7L V8 automatic with 86K.

Recently the truck responded as if the brakes had been tapped hard while going 65mph. Needless to say it was alarming. when it happened again and again without any use of the brakes, i knew i had a serious problem.

When it happens the rear tires are locking up for a second and you and feel the decelleration and hear the tires squeal.

I Took it to a shop where i get routine maintenance and the diagnosis was a hard part failure of the transmission after the sensors were hooked up. (the sensors where normal with no codes but the signal would not pass through the transmission case.)

I authorized the shop to order a rebuilt Jaspar tranny because they would do the job for $3200 in trade and i didn't have time for a second opinion given the way it was stuttering on the road.

Turns out they subbed the job to a tranny shop and gave me a 4 year, 100K warranty. (The original shop is a muffler and brake shop, yeah I know). But I was back in the road and thought all was good to sell the truck. ( the rear end failed at 60K and despite that being covered by warranty, I was done with Dodge.

I wasn't long before it started locking up again, this time only worse than before.

So now after returning the truck to the transmission shop 2x it is still not fixed and the mechanics are stumped because they cannot reproduce the problem with a computer hooked up on a test drive.

I think it is a computer error because it's always so sudden and self corrects after a few minutes, plus the lockup hasn't reoccured in over 100 miles of driving.

I'm hoping there is someone who has experienced this problem and can offer a solution.

thanks,

Blair :confused: