for everyone that is having a problem with the Durangos not shifting properly like getting stuck in one gear which is usually 3/4 and it doesn't accelerate worth a crap the reason it does this is because its a fail safe for when your solenoid gos out which is actually a pretty easy fix and only takes about an hour to fix just replace the governor pressure transducer and pressure solenoid and solenoid overdrive/lockup. altogether these parts should cost about 150-190 dollars this will normally fix your problem if not check your PCM before going for the tranny rebuild most dealerships will tell you its your tranny because they are just trying to rip you off i would definitely try to replace the solenoids before anything else its typically the most common part to go out related to the shifting problems.

I have had the Durango for about a year, had the "Check Engine" light go on about 3 months ago....Speed sensor was the code. Well CRAP! Smog test coming up this year on registration....more money! Get in 3 days ago and WILL NOT SHIFT OUT OF FIRST. Used to just slip for a couple minutes in first when cold, now locked in first solid. Got on line to look for schematic before I go to trans shop- found this site. I see a lot of this same damn problem from '03 and nothing from Dodge except bankruptcy. Oh GREAT...bad temper and get to go to trans shop.....God I hate Mondays!

Let you know what happens.

Update from Oct 10, 2009: O K, kids....It was the output shaft speed sensor. Any trans shop that wants to charge you $800 should be shot! Go to your Dodge dealer, get your speed sensor, and crawl under your Durango, and do it yourself. Took me about 10 min. to do this and you dont have to be a mechanical genius to do it. Next, you have to go and get the truck hooked up to clear the "Check Engine" from the computer. Problem solved...........for now.

Mick

When hot(temp gauge half way 210 degrees) it shifted crazy, rpm going way past shift point and letting off gas some time it would shift. Took it back to AAMCO(734-528-2800) to check for code, None found. They tried to duplicate the issue by heating up the engine with A/C (they got it to go almost to 260), They said this should not happen even to 9 year old car. They convinced me this may be part of my problem. I did notice that if i did not run the A/C it seemed to shift ok. 9 year old car I expected to not be able to run the a/c. They ran several test and replaced the Therostat and said the coolant needed to be exactly 50/50 mix. and replaced it. Now 2 weeks later and car has not even approached halfway on the temperature gauge 210 and I have idled for 15 minutes or longer with 85 degree weather and the transmitting has not acted up at all. These people really impressed me. It was not cheep but it runs and i have A/C also.. Thank You AAMCO

for starters i like my dodge Durango overall but the damn transmission seems like it is completely missing 2nd gear it runs like sh*t up until the engine and transmission gets warmed up it really pisses me off i almost have it paid of but i don't have money to fix the transmission if it goes bad so im looking at probably getting another loan, dodge needs to do something about these sh*tty transmissions because the vehicles themselves are great its the performance that kills everyone im not a fan of ford but it almost seems like i would have better luck with those transmissions

-- NEXT PROBLEM #4 --

-- BACK TO PROBLEM #1 -- 1999 DURANGO ENGINE GOES DEAD - PCM - it is the same problem, summer approaching, warm weather, the PCM gets hot, and the engine goes dead. It is incredibly inconvenient, under the sweltering sun. I learned about the solution from reading all the posts. I feel sorry for people, and I, being under the Dodge dealership's mercy, or rather, financial torture. #1 The problem is the faulty PCM design and/or soldering and/or inferior circuit board component. I found the best price on a re manufactured PCM at a website before or during the winter months, but I misplaced it. Now that the heat is here, I have to find it. The cost is about $250, with you mailing back the core PCM. When I find the website, I will post again, with it's web address. Until then, or to find out what I have found out, for the site's address for getting the Durango's PCM, I will post to http://www.jumpsquid.com/durango-pcm or this might look better, http://www.jumpsquid.com/durango-pcm The other problem with the Durango is the a/c cooling, and in concert with that, the engine cooling. The exterior a/c radiator is rather large, completely covering and in front of the engine's radiator. When the a/c radiator gets clogged with junk, bugs, dirt, etc. and with it completely covering the area of the engine's coolant radiator, the air flow, hence cooling is always comprimised; bad design, in my opinion. I have heard of, read of, Durango owners burning up their engine's oil with the constant hot temperatures, then the engine freeze. That is bad. As one AutoZone long-time employee, advised me against buying a thermostat with too low of a temperature rating, 160 F, I think,,, he said, '... those V-8s like to run hot, ... if you keep it too cool, it will mess with your fuel efficiency, ...' . I don't think so, with the huge potential disaster of possible burning-up and freezing an oil eating hot engine, I prefer and recommend to go cool. There are obvious heating design flaws with this engine and I think that no engine should be fooling around with coolant temperatures near 200F. Any engine causing the coolant to boil in the cooling system, is headed for disaster. As it is, right now, out in my driveway, I cannot let the Durango sit there and idle, with or without the a/c, on. It will eventually burn off all the coolant, then the oil, and then freeze. #2 So, I guess it is sort of good that the Durango does stall from the faulty PCM. Maybe this is telling me that I need to conquer the engine coolant problem first. ....la la la, this is getting long,,, so, back then, last year, I removed/disabled the engine thermostat. I cut-out the center of the thermostat, and replaced the clear-for-coolant-flow metal thermostat mounting ring. A high speed electric cooling fan should be put in front of the sandwiched? radiators. A meticulous cleaning of the radiators, would be very important to do (taking care not to damage the a/c or engine radiator fins (leakage-then disaster)). I plan to do this, cleaning. #3 The third main problem that I can think of is: the weak a/c performance. I read somewhere that there is or might be a valve to stop the coolant flow to the heating coil/a/c air-cooling radiator,,, aka-evaporator, area. Supposedly the coolant flow to this compartment is not really blocked when you want it cool in the cabin. I haven't researched this yet; I don't know if a simple turn valve exists. I do think that halting the flow of coolant to the heater core would be a great help with cooling the cabin.

I have a 1999 Dodge Durango with ~113K miles on it. I bought it in 2002 when it had ~75K on it.

Initial indications of this problem was a check engine light and low idle. That was two months ago. The car would start and then stall unless gas was applied. Took it to shop and check engine light code was for "Governor Pressure low". The shop noted the transmission fluid was pretty low (1/2 appropriate volume) so they topped it off, turned off the light and charged me $120. Was annoying, but not too bad.

Two months later, now the car is inappropriately shifting...specifically, it wont shift until 3500-4000rpm from 1st to 2nd, and from 2nd to 3rd wont shift until above redline (5500rpm). Forget about 3rd to 4th. Let me tell you, driving along at 70mph at 6000prm gets you 4mpg! However, there is a little "work around" trick I mistakenly discovered involved shifting myself! I surmised that it could be a steering column problem (that the indicator had slipped and I was in fact in 2L vice in Drive) so I attempted to move the car up to drive and mistakenly put it in Neutral! Well I put it back in drive, and low and behold, the car stepped down into 3rd and then 4th and I hummed right along. NOTE to readers, I do not know if/how this will work for you. DONT drop your transmission by accident, I dont necessarily recommend this action. Im just illustrating my own folly.

Well I did that for two weeks and then the light comes back. Nervousness going up. This time I get it checked and it says "Governor pressure HIGH" and the guy recommends I go to a transmission place. Well, I take it to AAMCO. I dont tell the techs about the previous lights, just about the indications of shifting to see if they get it right. Well they do, and here is the good new part of this bit...the AAMCO guy did a nice job telling me whats REALLY wrong...however, the bad news part at the end is his price tag.

Apparently there is metal built up on the electrical components, of which there are two: the Governor Pressure Sensor of the Solenoid. Since they are magnetic, they'll attract any stray metal in the transmission. Great, Im thinking we just replace the sensor and solenoid and we are good to go. The bit the AAMCO guy was concerned about was where the metal was coming FROM. He said it was the Torque Inverter which was almost failed. So now, Im thinking 3 parts to replace, alright, this is getting pricier Im sure.

And that's where he said what every, single, freaking repairman I have ever dealt with says whether its cars, computers, whatever: "You need to replace the entire ." In this case, he means the transmission. Just like, "You need to format your hard drive and reinstall the operating system." It would be like bringing your kid into a doctor with a cold and having them recommend an entire pulmonary lung-transplant. (Oh, he also explained to me how he would reroute my auxiliary cooler so it by passes the radiator—this sounds like a pretty good deal, but to me, using my previous analogy, its like the doctor saying “After Im done transplanting those lungs, I’ll put in a stoma so you don’t have to breath through that stuffy nose anymore.”

What is with these people?! He refused to replace the sensor or the solenoid or the inverter. He said that every part downstream of the inverter is suspect and he has to remove or replace everything. I guess can understand why: if he wants to warrant the system he doesnt want me coming back with more work for an unrelated part.

I guess I have to go find some fly by night dude who will just get me back on the road for another 5K miles. I dont want the 60K mile solution here. This is pretty lose-lose in my book.

Any one else have this problem, or a recommendation?

same sh*t, different 99 dodge Durango 5.9 4x4. can't afford to fix as the gas consumption keeps me broke. any cheap fixes would be appreciated as i WILL NOT put any substantial amount of money into this pig. can't sell it, trade in value sucks. one is for sale down the street and has been sitting there for about six months. i will drive it into the ground and never buy another dodge product EVER! anyone interested in a dodge Durango demolition derby? that would be the most satisfying thing i could think of to do with it.

When on the highway cruising, usually between 2000 and 2500 Rpm and when there is a slight up-hill, enough to put added resistance or load... or when going up any hill... the car feels like it is consistently stuttering, like something is definitely slipping. Maybe even a bit like it is shifting but not going into a new gear. It just has the hesitation like it is going to shift.. only it doesn't nor does it need to. I Still use it as a workhorse truck, still unfixed but had to get a new car because definitely can't driver customers around in it and don't want to dump 2+ grand into a domestic truck with 117,000 miles on it! It's really a shame because the truck is in very good shape and clean otherwise, and the engine has been taken very good care of and just purrs! Very annoying!!!

When this problem first occurred, It was just after the vehicle had been sitting for more than a few hours. When put into drive it would not shift properly felt like it was in a low gear. Now it is anytime, it winds out, can't accelerate and is a pain in the but !!! It really ticks me off hearing many other owners of the same make and year complain about the same thing and yet there is no recall on this!! A lot of people I have talked to say their trani needed to be replaced which is thousands of $$$ !!!

The dodge dealer told me it was my trans and would need a possible rebuild for $2600. I explained the car had no previous shifting problems, but did have electrical problems ie: abs light, parking brake light, would stay on. Also the speedometer sometimes would not work. I told them do not touch the transmission and I would have the car towed elsewhere. I left three msgs with the dealer to call me back. 1 1/2 hours latter they called with good news and bad. Good news is its not the transmission after all, bad news its the speed sensor. $408 later it should be fixed.

i have a 99 durango SLT 5.2L automatic transmission that will not shift past 20 mph, no matter what i do. i was told to let go of accelerator slowly and give it gas again that some times it will kick in, but i try it and nothing. i had a mechanic look at it but since the check engine light doesnt light up, diagnostic reads no problems. he said from what i explained it sounded like the speed sensor, or the other sensor thats on the rear axle. and i had both replaced, and still doesnt work. so i had trans rebuilt thinking that might be problem and still nothing. and the other day it shifted nice all of a sudden, and in a hour itdidnt shift past 20 mph again this time it died out on me in middle of road and odometer said no bus. i popped ther hood and rested my arm above the ecu computer and burned my arm. it didnt start till 1 hour later when computer cooled down, but it still doesnt go past 20. i asked mechnic if computer could be the cause of this, and he said no computers rarely go out. i think it might be the computer but i dont have enough money to keep buying parts. if anyone knows what might be the problem im all ears, any info on this is greatly appreciated.