03 Dakota not shifting

[fullthrottle52]

I purchased my 03 Dakota 4.7 liter automatic new in 03. It has been a great truck. It has 63,000 miles. This winter when it is cold (10 deg. to 50 deg) the torque converter will not kick in first thing in the morning. I first thougt it was not shifting in to overdrive, but when this is occuring I can tap on the overdrive button (to disengage the overdrive) and it downshifts and the rpm's go up. When this problem occurs, it runs at about 2,200 rpm at 60 mph. Normal should be under 2,000 at this speed. If I drive it for a few miles it all of a sudden shifts down and goes to it's normal rpm level. It is as if it needs to be warmed up to a certain temperature before the conveter will kick in.

Any help diagnosing this problem would be a help. I would like to know opinions before I take it to the dealer and the try to sell me a new transmission.

Thanks,

[markqc]

The newer Dakotas (I have a 2007) will not shift out of 4th gear to the transmission lock (i"m not sure what it is called) until the transmission is upto a certain temperature. On really cold mornings it takes upto 5 Minutes of driving for this to happen. Have you changed your transmission fluid?

Mark