i think the (5)45rfe calls it the trs (transmission range sensor) and there is a pdf hosted on my service, and available in the FAQ on that one

 

Since I have a 5.9l, do I not have the 46RE tranny? I am a bit of a dodge n00b, but that is what I found. With the problems I have had with this, dodge is going to join my Do Not Buy Again list (joining BMW). I have always been a fan of Mopars, but I have had quite a few problems for how low of miles this has. I can't even pull an empty car trailer without the tranny overheating, that is ridiculous. I grew up hating Chevy, but our Denali is converting me over to the dark side...

 

you are correct, you do have the 46, the 45 and 545 are what dan and i have behind the 4.7l engine,

something tells me you havnt been taking care of that truck properly if it overheats pulling an empty car trailer, do you have the tow package with the extra tranny cooler? are all your fans working properly? do you change the coolant regularly?

 

I got the Durango with 23k on it and it never has had very much power or been able to pull well. Not what I would expect from a 5.9l, even an old school one. The 6.0 in our Denali XL is a beast in comparison. It is much newer technology so I would expect a difference, but it is dramatic.

The Denali is 1100 lbs heavier and supposedly has 75hp more and 40 ft/lbs than the Durango, but it makes the Durango feel like a 4 cylinder. I have raced my wife and the Denali just walks it. I think I have the death program going on for the loss of power. I'll probably be getting a superchip to see if that helps. There is a lot of good information on here, so I will see if I can get the Durango working well. I just wouldn't expect it to have so many issues with less than 60k on the clock.

Thanks for the help everyone!!

 

it sounds to me like the previous owner of your truck did not take care of it properly, and the 'death flash' is a very real possibility from what you are saying, if you have it there should be a sticker with a flash code on the pcm saying when it was done.

 

Do a transmission fluid change and adjustment. Only use ATF+4.


I towed 7,300 lbs with mine and it handled it so YES it can be done dude. I know for a fact that my D would have ripped the Denali a new ***. You got something going on dude. What gears do you have in the differential and what tires?

 

I don't know how exactly it would have caused the power loss, but I figured out the main problem. Somehow 2 of the wires to the NSS are worn, one of them was totally broke. There is nothing around there at all. The driveshaft is below there, but 3-4 inches away. When I took the NSS plug off it had some tranny fluid in it. There were probably 10 drips or so that came out of it.

So, I spliced the wire and put everything back together. The tranny feels much tighter and it feels like it gained a good 40hp. I know it is just the tranny making the difference. It is still having some issues (bounces off redline in 1st and won't shift to 2nd - only when floored, tranny buzzing) but it is getting better.

Hydrashock, the Dirty Dango has 3.55's in it and the Denali has 3.73's (they all do). Denali runs 15.9 stock and looks like the Durango runs 16.4. The powerband on the Denali is much more broad. I still have some work to do on the Durango I think, it still isn't within 1/2 sec of the Denali yet.

 

Replace the gearing to 3.92 or better yet 4.10's and you will watch that thing eat the **** out of that Denali.


Sounds like the trans is stuck outside lockup so make sure you drop the pan and filter, adjust, and button the trans back up with ATF+4 fluid ONLY!

 

Fluid and filter was my next thing to do, I'll look in to the adjusting. Thanks!