My 2001 Dodge Dakota is not going in reverse. It has 100,000, is a year from being paid, and I can‘t afford a new car! Is it the transmission? I have a book about Dodges and a friend that is a mechanic (I‘m waiting for him to call back), but i‘d like to go ahead and start reading the manual to get idea of what is going on.
No reverse,internal failure in the transmission. so in answer to your question,yes,its the transmission.
what engine you have matters very much. if it is a 4.7 it has a 545rfe. the low/reverse clutch is slipping. it could be the clutch, accumulator, or clutch feed tower seal. ( i rebuilt a 545rfe with this problem on thursday in a durango that had a cut tower seal) it could also be a planetary geartrain failure. if it is a 3.9, 5.2, or 5.9 engine you have a 42re, 44re, or 46re torqueflite trans. there is a band dedicated to reverse and manual first gear. it could be the band, servo, or geartrain failure. you could pull the pan and visually inspect the servo and band. i will tell you before anyone suggests it that it cannot be a tcm or solenoid problem. in either of these transmissions reverse is controlled directly off the manual valve in the valve body. it is not controlled electrically. there is not much you are going to be able to do on this yourself. ]no matter what is wrong the trans is going to have to come out and be taken apart to see what is wrong.
if you have all the forward gears and just no reverse,you have to take it to a shop,and the transmission will have to come out,its more than likely gone out and will have to be rebuilt,there's no easy fix on that one and those was plagued with transmission problems,dakota,s and durango,s both have had numerous problems with transmissions,i send mine out to be redone when i get one like this,it doesn't have to be a dealer to rebuild it though,any good transmission shop can repair it at about half the cost of a dealer,good luck on it.
