1999 Durango 5.2L : Owner’s manual says to have fluid changed and have mechanic adjust the “bands”. I didn’t think modern transmissions had bands. Since I’m 65, I remember older automatics had them. My mechanic says there are none in the '99 automatic. What gives? Why would the owner’s manual say to have them adjusted periodically?
The bands are adjustable on your transmission. And it my require a special band adjusting adapter tool C-3705 to make the adjustments.
Tester
Yes the A46RE, the A518, and the A44RE have two bands. The single wrap intermediate band and the double wrap low/reverse band. The low/reverse band probably does not need to be adjusted that often as it is used rarely for Reverse and as a backup for manual Low. The intermediate band is used everytime a 1-2 shift occurs and on a 3-2 kickdown shift so it wears faster. The anchor for the intermediate band comes outside the transmission so the pan does not need to be removed to adjust that. Check with a authoritative service manual for the procedure. The pan has to be removed to access the low/reverse band adjuster. You might hold off on doing this until you need to do a pan drop for fluid renewal, debris cleaning, and filter change.
Thanks so much for your input. I’ll look it up and take it to a transmission shop to have it looked at. There’s no problem at the moment, but I pull a 4000 lb travel trailer up hills and the car has 100,000 miles on it so I figure its about time for it.
It has them…Most if not all Garden variety Auto transmissions have them…I believe they are just part of the normal auto trans. Are you having symptoms of needing band adjustment? If not just leave it alone.
Blackbird
I remember in the day when the A727 ran behind engines from 318 to 426 Hemi there was quite a range of adjustments of the intermediate/kickdown band. The procedure was to back off the lock nut; tighten the screw to 10-25 ft-lbs; back off the screw 2.5 to 4.5 turns depending on the application; and hold the screw while tightening the lock nut. This could be modified to help the 2-3 shift under the appropriate driving condition i.e. to adjust shift feel, shift bind, or engine flare/runaway.
I remember a Dodge service writer opining that driving in 2nd would wear out the intermediate band. His experience derived from servicing CHP patrol cars. Well hello, you don’t think doing kickdowns with a 440 magnum engine and full size four door sedan on a regular basis would wear out the intermediate/kickdown band.