New Transmission fluid, gasket & pan - now transmission dead

I have a 2004 Durango, 130,000 miles, Friday I had it serviced which included new transmission fluid, gasket and pan. Saturday (after driving a total since service of less than 30 miles) the engine light came on and the transmission was dead. No drive or reverse. I had it towed to the shop that worked on it, the owner told me it could be no charge, $1,500 or $4,000.

Isn't this too much of a coincidence that one day it just happens to have work done on the transmission (prior to this, there were no transmission issues), and less than 24 hours/30 miles later the transmission is dead?

I forgot to mention, just before the transmission died, there was a strong smell, which I now suspect to be burning transmission fluid.

I'm curious what they'll say..where in CA are you?

IM in CA aswell. I have heard that it is bad to change the oil in high milage transmissions because it can cause these kind of problems. I guess something to do with the worn passages of the valve body and the new oil. Something along those lines. I dont the exact details though.

yea the smell will be like burnt gun powder...

fluid change is ok...it's flushing that some are hesitant to do because of what you mentioned..

Any luck on your trans issue yet? What happened that the transmission pan had to be replaced, did you get one with a drain plug?

This morning the shop check the fluid level - it was full and clear, and, the car had no problem in drive/reverse, but, apparently it's showing lots of error codes and they suspect there's a sensor problem.

I still cannot believe Friday morning my car was fine (apart from being due for a regular service) and within 24 hours it's like this. Too much of coincidence to me.

I'm in Silicon Valley

o cool..I'm in tracy but I grew up in san jose, majority of family still there...which tranny shop di you take it to?

Have them check the fluid filter - it is tricky and if not installed properly (see the TSB) it could do this!

I hope that is all it is...

Here is my take on things... trans fluid is supposed to be changed every 50-60k miles. If it isnt then the deturgents get burnt off and you start to get varnish on the inside of the case and other parts. Kinda like the sludge you get in the crank case if oil isnt changed enough.
Now you drain the trans, install a new filter and fluid with all the deturgents that loosen up the existing crud and what happens? The fresh fluid washes that crud into the new filter. The filter does its job but gets plugged up and little to no fluid gets through. Trans overheats and BOOM! Result: you need a new tranny.
Yes, this can happen in as little as 24 hours and 30 miles.
INSIST that the shop change the filter and fluid again before you drive the truck off their lot. Since a good shop will do a test drive to confirm their work (and should have before the original work to confirm no pre-existing issues) you should be ok.
My $.02.... if you get to 90 k without a fluid change, LEAVE IT ALONE. If you do one after 90k, do another within two weeks and be sure to add new filters at each service.
Best of luck!

My take: was the fluid actually drained and filter replaced and then just filled up... or did they do a "flush"?

If they did the drain and filter replacement, most likely they didn't set the filter in there right causing it to lock up. if that is the case they are liable for any repairs, although getting them to admit this will be tough.

In case of a flush, read on:
Unless you do a flush every time every 20-30K miles then it is better to never do a flush; just drain, drop pan, replace filter and seal/fill it back up. Flushing it after no flushes for more than 30,000 miles in these Dodge transmissions helps flush out all the metal shavings. This causes the shavings now flowing loosely to get lodged in the various parts and essentially kill the transmission. Sometimes it happens quickly with larger pieces locking it up, other times it happens slowly over another 10-50k miles causing massive and excessive wear on whatever parts get the small shavings lodged in/near them.

Some transmission shops or repair shops/people dispute this, mostly because they want people to flush and come back to pay them more money for repairs.

Pull the pan and filter.

Look really really hard at the filter to trans GASKET.

If it is hurt - good chance - it will suck air around the gasket, not fluid. Sort of a common problem.

Install NEW gasket and TORQUE it properly.

Any progress on this yet?