Anyone want to buy a boat anchor, cheap!!! What the %&ll is going on with Dodge Durango's engine sludge problem.It seems like no matter how much you change the oil , it never stay's clean.One day after changing ,i check the oil and its black as if it was never changed. And the oil pressure would sometimes drop to 10 lbs. when driving uphill. Now that the engine is blown, its just a cheap boat anchor ,because I don't have the $5000 dollars its going to cost for a replacement. WHATS DODGE GOING TO DO, continue selling time bombs.

I have a 2000 Dodge Durango that I have taken excellent care of. In early June as I turned the corner to enter my driveway my oil pressure went to zero. I had a mechanic friend from Dodge come by and he knew what it was right away. Engine oil sludge build up. He then told me this is a serious issue with 1999-2003 Dodge engines and to try to just change out the oil again, (this I do religiously anyway) and add in an enhancer. I did this to no avail. This is a problem according to this mechanic friend that Dodge has known about for some time now and tells their dealerships to tell it's customers that it is "because of their fault it occurred." This issue needs to be addressed by Dodge and it's customers made whole in the form of repairs.

I was bringing this piece back home from a body shop when it first experienced 0 oil pressure. I pulled over and had it towed to a Dodge dealer. I was told it was engine sludge due to not changing the oil. Sorry oil was changed every 3000 miles. I spent 2700.00 on this fix. at 96000 miles. Then at 130000 miles it happened again. I sold it and wont buy another. In the time I owned this piece I replaced crank sensor, front bearing hub, abs sensor, engine fan clutch, many sets of rotors, lock actuators, and the list goes on. One of the most expensive rig I have ever owned..

will never buy another dodge crap box ever again i know dodge is fully aware of this prob with all the posts i find on line and all i have talked to who own the same type crapper they all have the same prob among other issues this should be recalled as this is unsafe and not a good way to sell cars especially when this gets out that the dodge Durango is a money pit junk box i would not send my worst enemy to buy one of these crap mobiles so sorry i ever bought a damn dodge and will never ever buy another i would rather take the bus or walk than buy another one of these heaps of junk....no wounder all the American cars are going under and need help stop selling crap and you would probably sell more cars especially if you know there is an issue with the model fix it take care of the ones who pay your damn paycheck when we buy these death traps.

Don't Buy used Durango by sdmike22 Jul 16 '08 Author's Product Rating: Product Rating: 5.0 Recommended: Yes Pros: OK Body, great transmission, excellent 4wd system (low range, full time and part time) Cons: ball joints, engine sludge problem

The only way to know if the engine is OK is to pull the pan. ALL 360ci versions have a severe sludge problem caused by the location of the oil filter.

While I have over 165,000 miles on mine I do NOT drive it in urban conditions. Stop & go and urban driving causes the filter (located VERY CLOSE to the right exhaust header) to coke, fail, and block the oil bypass valve. The result is a rapid build up of particulates, sludge, and complete lack of oil filtration. This also causes low or no oil pressure.

The ONLY solution to this problem is to remote mount the oil filter. Synthetic oil helps. Dealers and Dodge will not admit they have a design flaw.

Only buy this vehicle if you are planning on replacing the engine AND remote mounting the filter.

We bought this car 2 months ago. Although not happy about the 10 mpg, it was a lot of fun to drive down the road. Check gauges light turned on and off, engine oil pressure gauge went to zero! Missed 2 days of work so far while Durango sits on the lift at trusted mechanics shop. We were going to have it scoured, the oil pump replaced, etc., instead of Cmas this year.

After reading the other posts, I have severe hesitations, will call mechanic on Monday Morning! Only our second Dodge, certainly our last Dodge purchase!

I was driving along at 45 mph when the steering wheel began to vibrate badly. At the light, it would hardly keep running& had a bad rap-rap-rap sound. I thought it might have skipped time, but this engine has a chain, so here I am waiting on a rebuilt engine to the tune of $4200 with the same song as the others in the forum. I am so done with Dodge! Its really too bad because they have some great style...but not substance. i will drive it long enough to get a little of my money back and then leave the Chrysler family.

October 2007 I experienced a problem with the oil pressure dropping and a ticking sound so I immediately parked the car until I could get it looked at. In January 2008 I had it looked at and they told me that I needed an oil pump, screen, oil pan gasket and timing chain tensioner and a secondary timing chair arm. Well after spending 1500.00 the oil pressure is still dropping and the ticking is much worse. I was told that the motor was so sludged up that even after cleaning it and changing the oil twice back to back it still won't let the oil flow through the motor like it should. I was told that I need a new engine and I don't have the money for that so I guess me and my 3 children will be car less because Chrysler won't recall this motor and I can't afford to pay 500.00 per month for the next 3 yrs and have another car payment.

Granted 130000+ miles is a bit high. But, I've regularly run autos and truck to near 200,000 miles, with regular maintenance. This Durango has been very well maintained with regular oil changes at 3000-3500 miles and all recommended mfr maintenance. On 1-8-08 the oil pressure dropped to Zero while driving. It recovered, but then started an irregular up/down. We got it home, and immediately called our service garage. They towed it into the shop, and determined that the oil pump had failed, due to wear that resulted from sludge accumulation. In researching the issue, it seems that Dodge is aware of the issue, and is engaged in legal issues with other engines of like design (the 2.7L particularly). Accordingly, I called Chrysler/Dodge and was politely told to pound sand; that the warranty ran out at 36000 miles, and they weren't responsible.

I beg to differ. This is an engineering fault; the oil ports and chases are too small to move sufficient oil, allowing the oil to cook off into sludge which accumulates in the already too small oil ports and chases. This starves the hydraulic timing chain tensioners and allows the oil pump shafts to wear their races. And, this cannot be remedied by any means other than replacing the motor.

Dodge will never have to worry about selling me another vehicle. Time to call the lawyers.