I recently traded with my neighbor for a 1999 Dodge Durango 5.2L 4x4 with 168,000 miles it has been setting up in his garage for 2 years due to the clutch plates were welded together. I trailered it to a reputable transmission shop and they said my clutch plates were welded together and quoted me $1,350.00 I said go ahead and 2 months later I pick it up and by the time I get home, the check engine light came on. This truck drove horrible! But it needed maintenance so I did a tune up ,oil change, performance additives such as Lucas fuel system cleaner, new Duralast Gold battery and new brake calipers and pads.

This Durango is running good now and is road ready.......yeah right. The engine runs great! I take my first real road test, and I drive it for about 30 minutes and the check engine light comes on right before it shifts into O/D and it sticks in that gear will not shift up or down. If I'm stopped it takes about 15 solid seconds to get to speed witch is about 30 mph at 1500 rpms and if that light is on that's about as fast as I can go. I called the transmission shop and he said just disconnect the battery, we'll I keep doing that..... Not the solution but if I disconnect it when the vehicle is cold it'll drive right for about 30 mins until the tranny gets up to a normal operating temperature then Boom! Check engine light comes on and stuck in the same gear


I got a code read and it said it was a shift control solenoid, so I drop the trans pan clean all the shavings of the magnet and pan replace the filter and gasket and also replaced the shift control solenoid above the filter. I test drive it for about 20 mins and it runs great! The next day I go to work about 45 mins away and about the 30 minute mark I'm in cruise control at double nickel and check engine light again. I am at a loss here I really like this truck, and my wife is beginning to get pissed. Could it be another solenoid or a power failure somewhere? I'm going to take it back to the transmission shop I was just looking for anything that might cut out the guess work seems to only be doing this once the engine/ tranny gets to the optimal operating temperature.

Any help greatly appreciated, BigZ

 

There are four sensors in that area that could have gone bad... 3-4 shift solenoid, TCC lockup solenoid (these are both one unit so it you replaced the shift solenoid, then you replaced the TCC solenoid) the govenor pressure solenoid and the govenor pressure transducer. The gov. pressure sensor and transducer are very common to fail, most have replaced them with a borg warner set to solve the issue.

Now you say it wont go into O/D? being that you just had a overhaul i would say it has to be electrical. I could be because of the above sensors or there are a few sensors on the outside that could cause it as well.. The Coolent sensor, MAP sensor, TPS, and both speed sensors all give input to the PCM to tell it to go into O/D.

Let me ask you this, being that your clutches where welded together that would indicate a major transmission failure, did the shop also replace the Torque Converter as part of the rebuild?