Occasional Tranny Growl

1999 Dodge Durango 5.9L 4x4 Automatic 70K mi. When traveling up an incline in 2WD at approx 35mph the speed and rpms obviously drop…waiting for the tranny to engage to a lower gear. Right before the gear change there is a growl…as the truck is struggling to move up the hill at low rpms. If I depress the gas pedal the truck drops in to the lower gear, the rpms rise and the truck runs great. Any ideas what causes this? Tranny fluid has been replaced every 30K mi and is a nice cherry red color. Thanks.



Bill

I’m not much of an expert on transmissions, but I wonder if the clutch is just starting to go.

It’s an automatic so maybe the torque converter?