I had a severe engine knock. Was told the engine was bad. So I checked it for myself and found the timing chain tensioners were not pumping up due to oil sludge. The timing chains were slapping inside the engine creating the knocking sound. I removed the oil pan, tappet covers and timing chain cover. I replaced the timing chains, tensioners and guides. While in there I cleaned as much of the sludge from the top of the heads, timing chain area, crankcase and oil pump. I blew out the oil passages as much as I could with diesel fuel. Put it all back together. Filled with oil and ran it for 100 miles then switched over to a synthetic oil. I was told the synthetic would hold up better to the heat of that engine. It sounds and runs great and only cost me around $500.00 for parts. Now I am going to trade this sucker in as soon as possible before something else goes bad.

Experiencing similar problem as others. The oil gauge suddenly drops to 0. I can shut the engine down for a minute or so and give the sludge time to drain away from the oil pump and when I restart the engine the pressure is normal. A few miles down the road and here we go again. There has to be a solution short of engine rebuild or replacement. Dealership service departments are useless. Everyone works off commission and the prices are outrageous. They have turned into parts replacement professionals. Mechanics are suppose to troubleshoot and repair problems not replace parts until they find the real problem. I challenge the mechanics out there to come up with a reasonable solution.

WE JUST GOT BACK FROM VACATION, THANK THE BIG GUY WE MADE IT HOME, STARTED VEHICLE AND CHECK GAUGES LIGHT CAME ON, CHECK OIL PRESS, I SHUT OFF ENGINE POPPED THE HOOD AND CHECKED OIL, ALL LOOKED GOOD BUT WITH SOME VEHICLES IF YOU DONT HAVE GAS CAP ON RIGHT YOU GET WARNING LIGHTS, STARTED AGAIN STILL NO OIL PRESS, CALLED MY MECHANIC HE TOWED TO HIS GARAGE AND SPENT MANY HOURS TO GET OIL PUMP OUT,AFTER HE MADE NUMEROUS CALLS TO OTHER GUYS, THEY COME UP WITH PRESS REGULATOR IN OIL PUMP? MAYBE BUT WONT KNOW TILL TRY THIS WILL RUN ABOUT 2500 PLUS TO REPAIR OR NEW ENGINE APPROX 6000

INSTALLED, I THINK I AM GOING TO PUT THE OLD GIRL DOWN, WHAT A SHAME THO, MAY EVEN CONSIDER BUYING ANOTHER ONE IN SPRING, BUT GOING TO DO MY HOMEWORK AND CHECK INTO 5.7 OR HEMI.

My gas gauge was on the fritz - jumping up & down like a VU meter for about 6 months. My oil pressure gauge started to do the same thing for a week just before we left on vacation. I parked the car at airport valet lot. When we returned a week later, the car broke down as the parking attendant was driving it to us at the airport. I won't go into all the aggravation in getting it towed, getting a rental a car, etc. while we had been up for 28 hours straight. When I called the dealer where we had it towed on Monday to get the diagnosis ($140) they said I would need an engine replacement for $8000 due to no crank signal and excessive engine sludge. Car isn't worth $8000 - or even $5000 if I could find a cheaper repair. I liked the Durango, but am now going Acura or Subaru.

While driving myself, my 2 teenagers, my dog, and a flying squirrel (yes, flying squirrel) 5 hours to a funeral.... oh, wait.... while my husband was serving in Iraq........ my truck started making an awful sound...... I took it in, and was told I need an entire new engine, I was 1 1/2 hours from home 3 1/2 hours from the funeral, and had to call a friend to rescue me, and my zoo..... it is great that I am out the $4600, I wouldn't want to have wasted it on anything frivolous..... like FOOD or ELECTRICITY!!! I will NOT get another Dodge.....

2000 Dodge Durango, well maintained engine. At 47,000 the oil pressure gauge went to 0. Had vehicle towed to dealer. Sludge build up was diagnosed; I had just had the oil changed 1 week ago. Dealer charged $2200.00 for parts and labor to repair.

Vehicle now has 57,000 and did the same thing. I had it towed to Dodge dealer; this time, 10,000 miles later, the vehicle needs a new $6,000.00 engine. Sludge in the motor. Warranty on the work performed only covered 12 months / 12,000 miles and it has been approximately 18 months since the first incident; NO WARRANTY.

After reading all of the complaints on "SLUDGE Problem" with the Dodge Durangos, I figured I had better send in my complaint.Hopefully Dodge will learn from these problems, as this is definitely my LAST DODGE VEHICLE!!!

Wade Artigue

Lafayette, LA

I have the same issue many of your other readers seem to have with the Durango. Oil gauge jumping followed with in 24 hours with a dead engine. Really nice of Chrysler to support their loyal customer base. I was going to look into getting a new Dodge or Chrysler model... not now.... NEVER! I thought my problems were over with the ball joints, brakes, power steering and suspension replacements... now this!!! The industry wonders why we do not buy American made vehicles,,, does this give ANYONE a CLUE? Going to the Subaru or Toyota dealer next week...

I saw the oil light bounce a couple times even though the oil level was fine and recently changed. It started with a light tapping noise that got louder and louder inside of 24 hours. I took it to a mechanic and he thinks it's a problem down low in the engine that will ultimately throw something through it and lock it up. Recommendation: complete engine replacement. WTF?!?!??!

It's bad enough to replace the engine but it looks like I'd just be replacing it with the same problem. Does anyone have any info on compensation, action, coverage. Let me know please. Thanks.

I purchased this used truck in June of 2006. It had only 67000 miles on it. At the time I needed a car to travel back and forth from Petersburg, Virginia. To Baltimore, Maryland. On a good day 3 hours. I only made this trip about 8 times before the motor began to knock. The oil had just been changed and I hadn't had the truck but 43 days. This was a mess. I parked the truck as soon as it started knocking in July. It is now January 2007 and I still dont have my truck fixed. I paid half of it off when I purchase the truck. I then paid 4 months up with intent to pay it off after that 4 months. The dealer said that I had to pay 2100.00 for the motor, 400.00 for towing, and the months of December and January. That would be paying the truck off if it I didn't have this problem. I took the dealer to court now the lawyers are working out something that I just pay for the motor and pick up my payments. I think that Dodge should be responsible for there actions. Will this happen again? Will I be buying another motor in a month? Someone needs to do something about this. We can pull together and make someone pay.

Well I bought this piece of crap that I thought was going to be a great family vehicle 2 1/2 months ago and put 3400 miles on it. While away this weekend the engine started knocking. I was 200 miles away from home with a vehicle full of girlscouts. Needless to say, I was in trouble. I thought though, when I finaly made it home that the dealer, Hampton's Dodge Chrylser Jeep, would be willing to fix the vehicle since I have barely even used it yet. Well the jerks said that the cost was going to be 5300 dollars and they may give me a 10% discount. Now I am screwed. I owe 12000 dollars on a lawn ornament. I dont know what I can do.

After reading the other complaints I almost feel lucky to have gotten 86,000 miles from my 2000 Durango 4.7L 4X4. The typical 45-psi to 0-psi oil pressure drop several times before pressure never returned. Oil level was full, and maintenance records complete. 180 miles from home with boat in tow I incurred complete engine failure. Two Dodge dealers quoted engine replacement with a Jasper engine for $6857.00 and 6897.00. The installer in my area that the Jasper representative suggested quoted $5561.21. Guess where I�ll be going. I purchased this pre-owned Durango from my local Dodge dealer (the one with the higher quote) and still owe the equivalent of the engine replacement on it. Neither dealer told me about this sludge problem. I discovered this myself on the Internet. As of this writing the lousy thing is in my driveway while I save a few more dollars for the replacement. I did discover that with patience, lots of flushing and a .22 caliber pistol cleaning brush, you can clean enough of the sump screen to regain oil flow throughout the engine. At least you can on the 4.7L engine. In my case it is too late. Others may want to go this route to avoid the experience. Or just dump it now!

I'm sorry.. but this excuse that Chrysler has come up with saying the engine failure due to lack of oil changes is really lame. I have never heard of an engine failing from not enough oil changes. If it would have been completely OUT of oil, yes then I would have to admit.. that is our fault, but it had plenty of oil and always ran fine. It makes more sense that this is a structural problem where the oil doesn't flow properly, that just makes more sense. Would they have us believe that ALL Chevy, Ford, Cadillac, Nissan etc. etc. etc... owners Always maitanance their vehicles exactly as they should... I think not, people just tend to procrastinate a little. If this were true, we would see vehicles stranded everywhere from this problem.. millions of them. I think it is more likely that it is just a really STUPID excuse they came up with to avoid their responsibilities. We had to trade this 34,000.00 vehicle for a new truck. The loan was upside down, we still owed $14,000 on it and would have had to add another $5,800.00 or so to it for a new engine. No bank want to loan that for a 5 year old vehicle. At least with the new one we get a decent warranty of 7 yr. or 70,000, but our payments went up 200.00/mo. then there is sales tax etc. This really was a catch 22 situation, it was hard to know what to do. When we bought the Durango in 2000, we intended to drive it till it dropped (we are very low milage drivers, too busy to go anywhere) but who would have thought it would drop at 36,380 miles. This should not have happened, and I've got to tell you, I am boiling mad at Chrysler. I wish we could have traded for a Chevy truck, but was hard to do with a blown engine. They gave is 11,000 for our Durango. We had to endure a trade deficite of $3,100.00.