My little v6 Dakota started acting up this morning. My girlfriend went out and started it, let it warm up, hopped in and as soon as she put it in reverse, it died. She put it in park, started it, put it in reverse and it did it again. I went out and tried it, it stayed running just fine, but its making a funny noise from up front. It wont do it in neutral or park, only in gear. I backed it up and drove it forward a few times and noticed it started leaking tranny fluid from the bellhousing area.... Any ideas on whats going on? Its a rebuilt 42re in a 97 v6 2wd dakota. It only has 23k miles or so on the rebuild.

Torque converter. Probably took out the bushing in the pump as well.

probably split the converter hub. Id say its pump and converter time.

'96-up has the milled flat pump drive, they don't crack as often as the slot drive but.......

So I took it in to the shop and had them look at it. They thought it was the IAC causing it to die. After cleaning the TB and replacing the IAC, replacing the serpentine belt and tensioner, and doing a carbon clean-out,it seems to run ok. No more noise while in gear but it still stalls in reverse sometimes, more when it is warmed up. As far as leaking, it only leaks a few drips every now and again. Mechanic said it may be coming out of the vent in the pump. Does this sound right?