Ok, so I did the bad deed and had a tranny flush (my bad). I dropped the tranny pan and changed the fluid to Valv. Synth. New filter but forgot to put the magnet back in the pan. I will be doing another service to my tranny on Sat. the 22 of Oct. The Durango is still shifting like it did two years ago. I can hit an on-ramp and give it gas and it shifts down to 2nd and screams up to 4500 rpms and starts to search. If I let off it goes straight to O/D and puts along like a tired Ford. I want it to find the right gear and punch out the same as my 2000 Toyota Cam. V6. LE. I am willing to do whatever it takes to make it perform like it did when I baught it. I am also curious about the chip I saw advertised on the home page of this forum. 69.00, 60hp, and 7mpg. Is this even half true? If anyone has tried this I would like to know.

 

There is no mention of adjusting the bands or servicing in your post.
Fluid and a filter alone doesn't cut it as you are finding out.

IndyD

 

i agree with indy, sounds like you forgot to adjust the bands, which are very important for proper shifting.

and no the chip is not worth it, 60hp and 7 mpg for $69, think about it, if it seems too good to be true it probably is.

 

I would do a band adjustment when you drop the pan. Grasp the lever and pull the band down then adjust it until you have 1/4" to 1/2" space between the clutch and the band when pulling down on it. Put a new filter back in regardless and button it back up. The front band is on the outside, the reverse band is on the inside but you adjust them the same. Now you can follow the directions in the service manual, but Master stated this is the best way as the service manual has been revised so many times. I would fill with Valvoline ATF+4 Fully Synthetic, in fact you might be able to save yours by catching the fluid and run it through some cheese cloth sense you just put it in, or simply just use new and figure it to be a nice clean out to fully synthetic.

Now take it for a ride, if you are still having issues then do a TV Cable adjustment. If still issues replace the transmission output sensor on the drivers side.

 

Thanks all for the responses. I will be dropping my tranny pan again and relpacing the fluid, figuring out bands, and repalcing the filter. I have to have this machine working and fluid is cheaper than buying a new tranny. I have to buy a manual, I have no clue on band adjusting. I don't even know where they are. I have been out of the auto mechanic part of life for five years and have forgot alot. I went back to school and relied on shops to do the work. I have been finding out that shops are not that trustworthy. thanks again.

 

download the pdf of the factory service manual from the FAQ thread.(stickied near the top of the page)

 

Drop the pan using a professional for the band adjust, fluid swap and new filter. It will run about $150. Service the front and rear diffs at the same time for another $50. Use a local, trusted trans shop, not the dealer. From there, you have a baseline done properly that will work for you.

With issues already, no need to experiment and learn for your first time this time around. You already wasted the last fill and time albeit the 2nd time around pro shop fluid will really be clean now.

IndyDurango

 

Call around first. You'll be surprised to find that a lot of tranny shops won't do band adjustments. Also they will try to convince you to do a flush. Insist on ATF+4 fluid too.

 

??? Your calling the wrong places. A transmission service on a 5.9 REQUIRES a band adjustment. If your shop doesn't know that, indeed it's the wrong shop.

For "us" use Avon Transmission. Specify what you want and they will do an excellent job. I take in my own ATF+4 because shops do use their own compatible stuff otherwise.

Tell them I sent ya.

IndyDurango

 

Lol, I do use them. You referred them to me last year. I just wanted to point out what I found when looking for a shop (before I spoke to you). I called Aamco, Westgate Dodge and some other shop. None of them would do a band adjustment.