Hello all, I'm exited to be on this forum. especially with how often my durango has been in need of work. A few days ago the transmission stopped shifting out of second (i think) about 25-30 mph it wont shift and the rpms just climb until I let off the gas. It did make a whining noise in reverse only at the beginning and now its more. Anyways if I drive it now it wont go above 30 MPH so i have to drive slowly. At first it was shifting off and on but now it seems to never shift. when it did shift it went through the rest of the gears fine it seemed. Just as long as it got past that first couple of shifts. Anyhow it is cold here in montana but Ive driven in colder weather since we had it and it was fine. I'm really thinking about replacing the pressure Solenoid in the tyranny pan but I want to get some more advise before I do. this Durango has 69000 miles on it, its the 5.9 gas guzzler. Tranny fluid is clean and full. I have 4 boys who go to school and my wife. WE NEED OUR DURANGO. If its down we have no way to get anywhere. PLease help if you can, thanks everyone for reading and believe me I have learned a lot about this SUV so if i can help someone I sure will. thanks

 

The sensor next to the solenoid is more problematic than the solenoid in this year, so it would be wise to replace both while your there.....Generally its not a good idea to guess on fault of components but it is such a good guess that one of these has failed that it is worth the gamble in this case....
brian

 

Ya your right. Guessing could just get me spending more money than I need to. Ive been researching this issue for days on the computer and about 80% of the time people have had this te the Solenoid and part next to it seem to be the problem. I guess I'm just hoping it isn't the transmission itself and just a different issue. We don't have 2000 dollars and with under 70000 miles It really shouldn't go out already.
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I did the off and on thing with the keys and the only code that came up was the po442 and from what Ive read it has nothing to do with the tranny. Its a bummer because its below zero here and I have no where to work on it but outside so i have to wait until it warms up. I also noticed when I'm rolling and i slip it in neutral and give some gas the engine hesitates a bit. I don't know but I pray that I don't have to get a new tranny. especially at 70000 miles. I appreciate your reply more than words can explain. thanks so much

 

master tech is the local transmission expert, he knows these transmissions inside and out, i would get his advice on this one

 

Welcome to DF
The whinning sound in reverse,is it only for a short time and then doesn't whine anymore after the fluid warms up? Your P0442 code is for an evap.Maybe just a crack hose under the hood. I would recommend to drop the pan and ck for debris in the pan. I don't know how cold the temp is where you live, but the colder it gets the longer the fluid takes to warm up. This will cause shifting problems, when it is cold.Since the fluid looks good, I would drive the durango in 2nd gear on the shifter lever until the fluid gets warmed up and then put the shifter into D selector.And post your findings.

 

Today its 30 degrees and its beautiful out compared to recently. So i drove it in second for a few blocks and it shifted out of the first couple of gears at the very beginning of the drive, then it started doing the same and freezing up at about 30 mph and the rpms climbed until i let my foot off the gas. Then i put it into drive and it adid shift, i got to 50 mph before it started topping out again and it wouldn't shift that 3rd or 4th gear. I did notice when i let me foot off the gas and then quickly re applied my foot the gear shifted. I tried it again and again it shifted that way. So I drove it a little more and it was shifting more than it has recently but then it went back to the same old. So it can shift, i guess that's the good news. Just wont do it consistently, that's the bad. The whining in reverse use to just happen at first but we noticed it started making that noise in all gears and even after warm up. We always warm it up for our kids before we drive so its never driven real cold. Weve had this for 3 years and never had any issues in the cold so I just don't know. All i know is how much i appreciate your advise. thanks

 

any way it could have something to do with the Tv cable. I was reading the chilton manual and i went through a check like it said. One thing i noticed is at the throttle body where the TV cable goes on its stud, theres some play before the cable actually pulls. its acting like its sticky as it will open and then close slowly after i release the throttle. I pulled the plastic head off the throttle body lever to let go of it and see if it lined up with the *** it connects to and it didnt pull in all the way so they didnt line up, then when i barely touched the cable it slowly sucked back in and fell in line with the throttle body connector. If i rev the throttle with my hand under the hood it seems like the carb flaps open a quarter of the way before the TV cable starts moving. Is that normal or is there to much play? Am i overthinking this and in denial the the tranny is toast? I just dont know

 

The TV cable should be even with the stud on the side of the throttle. After reading your post, If the transmission is whinning in all gears. Thats not good. Sorry

 

well thats a bummer. I dontn know how or why but when I checked the fluid yesterday it was a 3/4 to a full quart low. Not sure if that can make it whine but the whine has quited and is only on reverse. Reverse must be going out. When I checked the fluid the other day it was on a slope. the driveway is not flat and I didnt even take that into account.
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I will say that ever since I sprayed the TV cable its shifted more often than usual. Still though not consistant. Guess Ill have to park it and save up a couple of grand. Lord help me

 

Well the good news is that it was the solenoid in the tranny pan. The great news is its not the tranny itself. Whooohoo