7.4
pretty bad- Typical Repair Cost:
- $840
- Average Mileage:
- 121,550 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 67 complaints
Most common solutions:
- not sure (39 reports)
- had the solenoids inside the trans fixed (8 reports)
- had the speed sensor replaced (7 reports)
- aamco says replace / rebuild entire trans (2 reports)
- replace governor sensor & solenoid, rerouted spark plug wire (2 reports)
- replace oil & filter with ATF 4 Plus every 37000 miles (2 reports)
« Read the previous 20 complaints
It all started 2 months ago that gave symptoms of fuel problems. would shut down at any time once the temp got to a certain degree. replaced many parts to include fuel pump(which that whole strap recall is true!). with no luck to any of that, took my chances of replacing the pcm with a rebuilt one. that problem is now SOLVED!, only to be replaced with the new problem of the piece of crap not shifting. started with an extreme high idle in first, then after time, slip into 3rd, now it doesnt even get out of second. have to pull over and pray. tranny fluid fine.. heard there were major problems with the modulator for durangos. the car will get repo'd before i replace a tranny.
- Michelle B., Columbus, OH, US
Will not shift out of first. When it does shift okay the speedometer needle bounces to zero and everywhere in between. A rebuilt transmission was put in, to no avail; and taken out.
All electronics replaced, by a Dodge dealership, to no avail. cost $880.
No one one can fix this car, and how do we get rid of it?
- hairwire, Salt Lake City, UT, US
DOES NOT SHIFT PROPERLY, SLIPS IN 3RD GEAR. TO ALL U PEOPLE OUT THERE, I KNOW HOW YA FEEL THE DODGE TRANSMISSION IS A PIECE OF SH*T, I THINK DODGE NEEDS TO RECALL THE DURANGO`S AN FIX THEM MAYBE WE ALL NEED TO GET TOGETHER AN GET A LAWSUIT ON THEM I WOULD NOT TELL ANYONE TO EVER BUY A DODGE PRODUCT, THEY ARE NO GOOD....................
- Michael R., Caraway, AR, US
A lot of Service techs at Mama Papa auto Shops, do not know you must use ATF 4 Plus From MOPAR on these transmissions. Also servicing must be done religiously every 37000 miles. By servicing I mean drop oil pan, replace oil filter clean pan and magnet, re-install and adding new oil (the right kind of oil). Do not let anyone else tell you that ATF III is OK or DEXRON / MERCON. Only ATF 4 Plus. This fluid is only sold by MOPAR, Havoline and believe it or not Wal-Mart has their own brand Super tech ATF 4 Plus.
- Elvin P., Martinez, CA, US
Every month it is something new that has gone wrong with my '99 Dodge Durango. This month the transmission is not shifting right, makes a strange noise when I shift to reverse, also the rpms get really high when I'm driving down the road and it's trying to shift. If it's something little and the price is not too high I won't down talk Dodge too much, if I have to get a new transmission, well, I'll never own a Dodge again.
- Kenny H., Webb City, MO, US
my car keep shutting off. then my speed odometer wouldn't come on till about 15 mph. then it quit working and naturally then my cruise control didn't work. then my transmission wouldn't shift out of first gear. have 8 kids didn't have the money to fix the problem or even to have it checked. a friend helped me and i found if you got under the hood and pulled the shift relay fuse then it would work till it died or you shut it off. drove it like that for about 6 months then i finally took it to nations towing and they ran a diagnostics on it and changed the speed sensor. cost me $125. and i can't believe i waited so long to fix it.
- Cheryl B., Moab, UT, US
You can drive in traffic for about 15 min sometimes more, you stop and it will not shift out of first gear... Stomp on the gas it may change it may not... most of the time it will. If it does not change you have to pull over and sit until it decides to correct itself... this is a real problem that dodge needs to address... people lets get this problem dealt with by dodge before someone get hurt or killed trying to drive a dodge Durango.
- chrisj1759, Columbia, SC, US
WENT TO A DODGE DEALER AND HE SAID IT THE WAY I DRIVE IT, BUT IT SHOULD BE OK. YEA RIGHT IT'S A BIG PAIN IN THE ASS AND VERY EXPENSIVE ON GAS AND REPAIR WHEN I AM ON A FIXED INCOME. HAD THE DURANGO FOR ONLY 5 MONTHS AND THE DEALER WON'T DO A THING. THIS IS A MAJOR PROBLEM. I GO TO THE V.A. HOSPITAL EVERY FEW DAYS, AND THE TRANSMISSION DOES NOT SHIFT RIGHT. IT GOES UP TO 3500 RPM BEFORE IT TRIES TO SHIFT AND THE OVERDRIVE LIGHT GOES ON AND OFF. WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO?
- James B., Rockford, IL, US
I have a '99 durango that was not shifting at all. I replaced all the componets that dealers and other shops told me to replaced plus another transmission. In the end it turned out to be the Powertrain Control Module (PCM). I spent about $1200 to $1500 in parts and it turned out to a $200 part used from a junk yard.
I ordered one and the PCM is part of the Electronic Control Unit (ECU). It corrected the shifting problem and the Check Engine light went off. So all you people out there having problems with the shifting might want to check out the ECU. It is located on the passenger side of the engine compartment and has 3 plugs going to it. The middle plug is all of your transmission wires.
GOOD LUCK ALL!!!!
- theslyfox, Hillsboro, OH, US
It started by dropping out of gear occasionally. I took it in for maintainence at the dealership at the first sign of trouble, but it only helped for about a week before it became a problem again. It grew to the point where the car would often get stuck in third or fourth gear while trying to accelerate. It occasionally dropped from fifth to third gear while flying down the interstate... definitely scary with a child in the car.
- Chris H., Tampa, FL, US
im a little frightened by the fact that i have come across people with these same problems this is ridiculous considering the fact that durangos are supposed to be reliable. how reliable is it when you have two small children and your not sure if your car is going to run properly from day to day..
- sarahpa, Uniondale, PA, US
I am really afraid with this problem... we just put a rebuilt engine in our 99 Durango and thought we'd be free for awhile, but, alas, it was not to be!
We have been experiencing problems with it shifting, seems that when you are slowing down, then accelerating again (like in traffic) or going from one freeway to another, it seems to be slipping, RPMs go up, the tranny thumps then, you get power again.
I am so glad to have found others who have posted having the same problems and hope that anyone else will write and tell me what fixed their tranny.
My shop is telling me to start with a tranny flush.
- Cindy E., Denver, CO, US
Bought this vehicle used and immediately started noticing "bumping" while in the lowest gear. Soon this bumping started to happen in higher gears, though less noticeable as the car was moving at a higher rate of speed. After about 1,000 miles like this, it stopped shifting correctly into 2nd and 3rd gears, sporadically (occurred more frequently after driving about 15 minutes). It would get up to 4,000 RPMs before shifting, if it would shift at all. I would have to completely pull over and then start again to get it shifting, I'd have to accellerate slowly - letting the RPMs stay at no higher than 2,000 until I felt it shift.
I paid $70 (after 50/50 warranty) for a guy to change out the fluid and clean out the pan, etc. Didn't work at all. Then one guy quoted me $1,800 for rebuilding the tranny. I then took it somewhere else, paid $364.95 to replace the governor pressure sensor and governor solenoid, and they also rerouted a spark plug wire as they had a technical bulletin saying that may help.
Worked for about 2 weeks, almost perfectly, then one day it shifted late (at 3,500+ RPMs) into 3rd. Now it's back to the same exact problems as before. I'm not sure what else to do. If the sensors went bad again, I can't afford to replace them every two weeks.
Drove around to every place in town trying to trade it in, my best offer for a trade was $2,000. No one wants a Durango due to the horrible gas mileage, and if that doesn't get them, the first mention of a tranny problem drops my trade-in worth by at least $1,000.
Never buying a Dodge again.
- Phil C., Gerrardstown, WV, US
I have to shift manually from 1st to 2nd then drive, otherwise the transmission seems to be slipping and it seems to run better with o. d. disengaged, also no passing gear, what could be the problem, major or minor. All fluids are good.
- Don Z., Mahanoy City, PA, US
I bought this vehicle about 2 months ago from Button Dodge in Kokomo, IN. Did not start with shifting issues until it got cold outside. Now, the truck will ramp up to 4000rpms before shifting out of 2nd gear. I took it to a transmission shop, no codes. Took it to a self employed transmission tech, no codes / no mishaps. Finally took it into our local Dodge dealer and they found about 2400 in issues. Bad ball joints, bad intake gasket (causes pinging in the engine on heavy acceleration), needs new plugs/wires (just replaced platinum plugs about a month ago) etc. etc. The only suggestion they had for me with regards to the transmission issue was to have a transmission service done. Transmission fluid is pink, but tech sd it smells burnt. Taking it in to have a transmission service with ATF4 fluids and maybe a little Lucas transmission additive. I pray this will fix the problem as the truck only has 64k miles.
- sugar kitty, Plymouth, IN, US
my wife and i bought this vehicle a little over a year ago and it been nothing but problems. First we replaced the intake manifold gasket, and now this we could tell from frequent oil changes that it already had some problems because of the blue silicone around the transmission pan gasket but thought the previous owners had the problem fixed or who knows they may patch it up at the car lot we got it from.
- Atoy W., Fort Wayne, IN, US
I bought this truck about 5 years ago. Last winter it would not shift when supposed too. It would go up in to 3000 + RPMs before shifting. Ws changed the transmission fluid and it seemed to help. Never had problems with it this past summer. Now that it is cold again. The problem has come back. Friend told me it might be the linkage??? Does anyone have an idea about this?
- mikev, Zeelan, MI, US
I DONT KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS YET IT JUST TAKES A LONG TIME TO SHIFT
- ledfot22, Dinuba, CA, US
THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTS OUT OF SECOND INTO DRIVE AT 3,700 RPMS OR YOU HAVE TO FLOOR IT TO SHIFT INTO DRIVE MAKING THE GAS MILES ONLY 4 MILES PER GAL. 6-27-06 THEY CHANGED THE SOLENOID TRANS GOV, TRANS PRESSURE SENSOR, TORQUE CONVERTER LOCK
THEN NOV-03-06 I BOUGHT IT BACK TRUCK HAVE BANGING NOISES WHEN I WOULD STOP AND WAS VERY SLUGGISH PASSING GEAR WOULDN'T WORK..... THEY SUPPOSEDLY REBUILT THE WHOLE TRANSMISSION.......
- Anthony R., Rockville Centre, NY, US
Took the truck on a drive after being parked all weekend only to discover a tranny problem! Truck is stuck in 2nd gear, no overdrive. Took it to my bro and he scanned it with a SnapOn scanner to discover I have a bad Evap Purge Selenoid and bad Selenoid A. Took it to my local dealer (Country Chevy in Plymouth, IN) and the front desk lady, Pat Snodgrass, insulted my verbage during the first few minutes of conversation by belittling my use of "limp mode" to describe the fact that the Dodge Durango would not shift out of 2nd gear. After they had it for a day & half ($100 later and no transportation) the tranny tech (Jeff) could not find any tranny codes and their only resolution was to pull the tranny pan and check for clutch chunks or tear apart the transmission. I paid my bill after another demeaning conversation with Pat and then took the Durango to Precision Transmission in South Bend, IN. They pulled the following codes: P0753 P0443 P0743 P1765, checked wiring and after bipassing the computer component, the tranny shifted fine. It was their conclusion that the PCM is bad as it is not sending any power to the tranny. In May '07, truck was giving NO BUS error and I had the PCM replaced at that time by the dealership ($816 with parts & labor). Now, the dealership wants to bring the truck back in, check the PCM to see if power & ground is coming out for the tranny, if it is working properly, then I will be stuck with another $80+ diagnostic charge. Precision Transmission is going to provide me with the details of their diagnostic along with wiring charts; however, the dealership I return to will NOT be Country Chevy due to the lack of customer service their deparment provides. Wish me LUCK ~
- sugar kitty, Plymouth, IN, US