2003 Dodge Dakota 4x4 P0753, P0743 -- UPDATED! Solenoid Fault

[goodfellow]

TCC solenoid and Shift A solenoid codes --

This truck is a cream puff. It only has 32K miles on it and it was ready for a new fluid and filter. The truck has the 3.9L Magnum V6 and therefore it received the rather lame 42RE (A500 series) transmission, and not the more robust 45RE.

Drove it on a very hot day and these codes popped up. At 32K this is not a common occurrence. Hence I decided to just change the old ATF-4 and replace it with MOPAR ATF-4+ (full synthetic).

These trucks were slapped together rather quickly and the transmission oil pan doesn't even have a drain. Hence to do a "drain and fill" at 60K miles would be another pain. Luckily O'Reilly's has a replacement pan with and oil drain plug for $32. That is definitely worth it to me.

Dropped the pan and the fluid was dark and smelled bad, and a good amount of material on the magnet as well.
This large under-bed storage bin has been my go-to drain pan for transmissions for decades. No spills and no mess. Put it on a small stool and it catches everything.



Valve body looks good



old pan and gasket looked in great shape, but I replaced both with a pan that has a drain plug and a flexible gasket vs the OEM rigid gasket (which leaked a bit.





Cleared the codes and refilled with 1.3 gal. OEM ATF 4+ (which is about what came out), and ran it through the gears. No codes yet, but will have to wait 'til tomorrow to take it on a road trip.

While I'm down there, I might as well drain the radiator and fill with new coolant.

[Muddy]

My 99 had the 5.2 and the 45re. After regular 50,000 mile oil changes at 220,000 miles it lost 1st and reverse. I had my 03 2500 by then so I sold it.

[goodfellow]

You did OK with that '99 Tim. 220K is a darn good run with this transmission family. They are not the best, but were adequate enough for a budget truck back in the day. I don't tow anything very heavy, and hardly ever need 4WD, hence I can live with this transmission for a few more years.

Having a good reliable 3/4 ton 2500 would be a treat, but at this stage in my life, the Dakota will have to do. Plus I don't know enough about these new vehicles to even attempt to service them -- especially CDJR vehicles. These days you need a Secure Gateway subscription just to get access to the ECM.

[bmwrd0]

I had an '94 Dakota, 3.9V6 with a 5 speed manual. Outside of an emissions problem from bad plug wires, that engine was a beast with zero issues over the time I had it. In fact, the only issues I ever had with the truck came from outside products: wires and tires.

[goodfellow]

I had an '94 Dakota, 3.9V6 with a 5 speed manual. Outside of an emissions problem from bad plug wires, that engine was a beast with zero issues over the time I had it. In fact, the only issues I ever had with the truck came from outside products: wires and tires.

Yeah, the 3.9L was bulletproof. It was a classic 318ci with two cylinders removed, and the cam re-profiled for sixbanger operation. 42/45RE transmissions were terrible. Hard shift points and lockup was a disaster. Not their best entry into the electronic control era.

[goodfellow]

Good news for me. The solenoid are in good shape and all I had to do was give that transmission some new MOPAR ATF-4+ "mother's milk" and she shifted smooth and clean. Still jerks a bit going into reverse, but that's always been a trait.

I'll run it a few weeks and then do a "drain 'n fill" service and call it good for another 30K miles.

I'm not up to speed on clutch friction plate technology in these transmissions, but somewhere along the line over the years I recall an old-timer preaching about the importance of doing that first 30-60K mile service as being the most important one of all, since the amount of clutch friction material released into the fluid during this "break-in" period is quite heavy. Seeing what had accumulated on my magnet, I tend to agree.

When I did the wife's Traverse at 50K some years ago, I noticed a high accumulation level as well. Problem is with the Traverse you couldn't change the filter since it's internal to the tranny and considered "permanent". 

[Heiny57]

Ray, is this a new vehicle to you? That is some incredibly low miles.

[goodfellow]

Ray, is this a new vehicle to you? That is some incredibly low miles.

No Bob, I bought it new back in November of 2002. It just sat for many years in my garage without accumulating hardly any mileage.

Long story short I was going to give my old 1988 Mazda B2600 to my wife's nephew, but he got into so much trouble with the law they took his license away for quite a long time. Hence he couldn't drive it. I then restored the old B2600 and drove that truck until 2021. It served as my main truck while the Dakota sat mostly around. In twenty years it had only accumulated 8800 miles.

I finally gave the Mazda to my landscaper during the pandemic because he needed a truck and we were moving in 2021. That's when the Dakota became my main truck again. So in four years I've put about 24K miles on it.

[goodfellow]

I love my job, that's why I do it twice -- words to live by! The code came back and it turned into a hard fault, not an intermittent fault. Time to drop the pan, disconnect the shift linkages, and drop the valve body. Oh Joy!!





This is the new replacement -- commercial grade from Advance Auto and made in Taiwan. I stay away from Chinese and Mexican solenoids and electricals -- been down that road too many times.





Band and drum look like new



I'll try to get this done by Monday. I just can't move as fast as I use to. Slow and steady is my speed these days.

[Uncle Buck]

That would be way out of my depth I suspect. Fluid and filter changes and i recall once changing a vacuum modulator (I think that was the name of the part) anything more in depth than that goes to the tranny shop for me.

[goodfellow]

It's not that difficult of a job Herb -- IF the transmission is out of the vehicle and sitting on a bench, this is a cake walk.

With the transmission in the truck and the fact it's a 4x4, disconnecting all the linkages and plugs to gain access to the external shift solenoid electrical connector is a challenge. The shift solenoid harness connects to the outside of the transmission, hence the female portion of the plug pulls out with the valve body. That task really is the difficult part of this job.

I finished up an hour ago and cleaned up the garage. I'll wait for the Permatex Ultra Black transmission pan gasket sealer to cure for today to make sure the pan doesn't leak. Tomorrow I'll fill with 7-1/2 qts. of AFT-4+ and hope this issue is resolved.

 I measured all the fluid that came out, and 7-1/2 qts is a starting point (give or take)

[goodfellow]

After a few days of driving it on a regular basis, the shift/lockup solenoid replacement seems to have been successful.