So i recently purchase a 2003 dodge durango, has a 4.7l V8 in it. It has 65000 miles on it.
Well heres the problem, when i bought it i was driving it, and it was all good, i stop'ed some place and was just testing all the stuff ya know, hit the o/d off button at the end of the shifter and nothing happend, no o/d off light or nothing, so im like hmm, maybe there has to be some other circumstance for it to be on or used. Like if proper conditions not met wont let you override the overdrive. Drove it home witch was like a 60mile trip. So had it parked for a day, was the weekend had to transfer title insure it and get new plates (wife wanted the pretty plate with habitat stuff on it) So she gets in it on monday and im in the passanger seat, and i look over and the o/d off light is on, and im like wtf, and hit it to see if it would come off and nothing happend (maybe it cant be engaged or disengaged while its in motion or in gear?).
So my wife parked cause i told her to put it in parked turned the truck off, turned it back on, light was still on, hit the o/d off button and it turned off and on our merry way we went. Than about 15 min i looked over at the dash and bam, light was on again.

And i noticed, that it would be on, and then if we parked for a while got in, the light would be off and after driving it for alittle bit the light would turn back on, you wouldnt feel the car shift or nothing, it shifts normally and everything but ive been reading that you can feel it or hear it or somthing shift out of overdrive, when the light is on nothing happens that isnt normal, shifts very smooth still, everything seems to work fine. Also been reading that its usually followed by the tranny temp light and check engine light, but this doesnt happen, granted we have only been driving it a day or two and only put on like 120miles since we bought it.

Now my questions are possible fixes, should i flush the tranny and go from there? should it be ok to keep driving it? how can i get the temp of it without the fancy equipment like obd readers.

sorry about the run ons and errors but im at work trying to type this up quick.

 

NEVER FLUSH. Drop pan, replace filter, re-fill ONLY.

Have it looked at by a trans shop. OD units can fail and then come apart and ruin a trans. $250 now or $2500 later.

IndyDurango

 

Agreed with Indy. Usually when it comes to a transmission gettin it fixed at the first sign is always better and less money.

Never do a flush and as he states always replace the filter when replacing fluid. Purge is ok, flush is not.

 

Yeah i was going to drop the pan and change the filter this weekend.

Its been 24hrs and about 90 miles with no light, my wife says it was because i was screwing with the button trying to figure it out.

but the other thing, when i push the button nothing happens, no down shift, no light, no raise in rpms nothing. So this is what doesnt make sense, should i be able to turn the o/d off anytime i want even on the fly going 60mph? or only in park when i first start the engine?

 

the OD button SHOULD work whenever you push it, on my truck it doesnt matter if its in PNDR21 or what speed i am doing, or anything else, it works, something weird is going on but im not sure what, almost sounds like there is a loose set of wires shorting and turning it on and off when you hit a bump or something along those lines, keep your eye on it and see if its got any correlation to hitting bumps or anything else

 

the light hasnt turned on since the last time i put it in park and drove it home from work last night, and then back to work today and still hasnt turned on. I havnt tried pushing the button either.

Im not sure if i should try changing the solenoid or not just to be on the safe side, but i dont wanna end up trying to find some wiring problem either that already is giving me a headache just thihnking about it. lol

 

I'd not touch that button for now unless you really want the O/D gear off. For now, I'd say just let it be but take it in ASAP.

 

little update.

So i only had the light come on 2 times since Monday, there seems to be no rhyme to the reason. It does shift out of o/d but you don't feel it, the transmission shifts so smooth you don't really ever feel it. But the rpms do change from about 1800 - 2500 and that's going about 70mph.

Also if you put the vehicle in park (after the o/d off light comes on) and turn the truck off then turn it back on, the o/d off light isn't on any more and it didn't turn back on at all, you'd figure that if its something like overheating it would not just be off if you turned the truck off for a quick second and back on. But the button doesn't do anything lol.

Im going to change the fluid and filter this weekend, is there anything else i can do to help the tranny while doing this maintenance?

 

I have to press and hold my OD button for about 3 seconds for it to work.


It is normal for it to reset back to normal position when you turn the ignition off. Look in the glove box and read the owners manual.


When you shift between OD and no OD you should feel the torque converter lock up (with OD off) and the RPM's drop about 300-400 RPM's in the same gear (this is lock up). You should also see that Overdrive locks out and the transmission will only shift into the pre-gearing.

 

So everytime we hit a big enough bump the light comes come o/d off, than hit another bump light goes away.