2001 Dodge Dakota Initial hesitation and engine flutter

Tiny
JOE HAMAND
  • MEMBER
  • 2001 DODGE DAKOTA
  • V8
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 75,000 MILES
Backing out of my garage in the morning I get a pretty good thud when the tranmission engages. It feels as tough there is slack that is being taken up before the transmission engages and moves the vehicle. All u-joints and shafts feel tight. Is there any way to test this through diagnostics, i.E, is there a code saved to the on board computer? If so, how do I read it?

Also, the RPM of the engine seems to flutter at road speed. It seems to happen more before the vehicle has reached full operating temperture and / or closed loop operation. The RPMs will jump 500 - 1000 without warning. I have replaced the cam position sensor with little to no improvement. Again, is there any way to test this through diagnostics, i.E, is there a code saved to the on board computer? If so, how do I read it?

Thanks a lot
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Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 AT 12:57 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
MERLIN2021
  • MECHANIC
  • 17,250 POSTS
Is your check engine light on? If yes turn the key from off to on three times, on the fourth one leave it in the on position, the codes will display on the odometer, write em down and post em.
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Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 AT 4:00 PM
Tiny
JOE HAMAND
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
The check engine light is not on
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Thursday, June 26th, 2008 AT 6:22 AM
Tiny
MERLIN2021
  • MECHANIC
  • 17,250 POSTS
The TPS(Throttle Possition sensor) May have a bad spot. But not so bad as to store a code.
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Thursday, June 26th, 2008 AT 1:48 PM

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