CarComplaints.com Notes: The second generation Durango was introduced in 2004 and instantly came under fire for, well, catching on fire.
From 2004-2006 electrical overloading in the driver's side instrument panel caused numerous reports of interior fires. The interior infernos became so commonplace that Chrysler eventually issued a recall.
The problems didn't stop there, however. Owners of the recalled vehicles complained about being treated unfairly and given take-it-or-leave-it low ball settlement offers. "They offered me $2000 under NADA retail as a settlement," said one owner, "and have been rude and hostile to deal with." Nothing says awesome service like treating your customers rudely after their cars have caught on fire.
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
My 2004 Dodge Durango suffered the catastrophic engine failure due to hydrolock from the poor cowl design. I live in bear country, if this had happened while I was in a remote area I could have easily been stranded with 800lbs of claws and teeth. I started the motor in my driveway during a light rain shower only to hear an obvious problem in the engine, it ran for 5 seconds then died. Plenty of vehicles have been affected by this issue, but no recall has been issued. The 2012 hemi had a very similar issue and a recall was issued.
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Durango. The contact recieved notification of NHTSA campaign numbers: 14V770000 (air bags) and 15V313000 (air bags); however, the parts to do the repairs were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. Also, the check engine light was illuminated. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was unknown. Parts distribution disconnect.
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Durango. While the vehicle was parked, it failed to start without warning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the push rod fractured and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.
Whenever it rains or I go through a car wash my car dies and the service engine light comes on. The steering wheel won't move, therefore I have no control over my car. We were in Tennessee the first time this happened and we were coming down the mountain when it died and we lost all control and almost got hurt and almost hurt others.
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Durango. While the vehicle was parked, the power outlet in the center console started smoking. The contact and the passenger found the source of the smoke, pulled the panel off the center console, and noticed the outlet was on fire. The contact extinguished the fire. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. On another occasion, the contact heard loud grinding noises coming from the engine. While driving 50 mph and without warning, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was able to be restarted and driven to the contact's residence. Once home, the vehicle stalled. Upon further investigation, the contact stated that the spring separated from the engine and that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failures. The failure mileage was 135,000.
- Graniteville, VT, USA
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After noticing a difference in driving power from a stop the RPM's would almost hit 2K before moving. Engine light came on and said that I had a miss-fire in cylinder 8 and I needed a new ignition coil. Bought new plugs and an ignition coil and proceeded to change them out. The drivers side of the engine plugs still looked clean and new. The passengers side were burnt, had moisture and the cylinder 8 plug was fouled and broke off in the engine. Finished changing everything out and put the truck back together with still no change in codes or power. Found that the starter was corroded and information concerning a bad cowl design causing hydro-locking of the engines. Also replaced the exhaust gaskets 3 times in 5-6 year period each time with broken bolts found. Changed out the PCM, then replaced all the injectors which were found to be cracked and swollen. The truck is still going into limp mode and turned my Focus on the transmission (replaced as well) and still having cylinder 8 miss-fire codes.
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Durango. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 mph, a loud knocking noise emitted from the engine as the front end vibrated severely. The vehicle stalled without warning. After restarting, the vehicle resumed with an abnormal noise. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to locate the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 153,714.
Rod pierced thru the bottom of engine and locked up (110K miles), family on board and happened while turning at busy intersection.. had to replace engine used( found one with 70K, waiting on this one to do the same) consumes tons of oil. Electrical within driver seat and cd player are faulty/broken. Rust on rear outer wheel wells. (noticed this rust is apparent in every same model make year that I run across)
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Durango. While driving 65 mph, the vehicle began to vibrate severely and various warning lights illuminated. The contact pulled over and restarted the vehicle with no failure present. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the throttle body was serviced. The vehicle was repaired. On another occasion, while parked, the vehicle was unable to start. The failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed, but the cause of the failure was not found. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 61,953.
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Durango. The contact stated that the engine compartment flooded in the rain causing the vehicle to stall without warning. The vehicle failed to start on numerous occasions. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 125,000.
While entering a highway and accelerating up to speed there was a loud bang, both heard and felt, followed by very rough engine operation. Turned onto the first available side street and stopped the vehicle. While examining the vehicle and looking in through the driver's side front wheel well discovered a hole in the engine block. The crankshaft is visible through the hole.
We were very happy with our Durango until a few days ago. My husband and kids loaded up a few days before christmas to go drive up the mountain, they made just as far as the neighbors driveway when they heard a loud bang and were able to pull in to the driveway of a neighbor. The engine completly seized, all oil leaked out. The car has always been well maintained. No warning at all! a few days earlier I had drove it to town in the rain and it was idling rough, but the next day seemed fine. Now the engine is shot. We have been having heavy rain for days and looks like water was leaking in to the engine due to a faulty cowl or something, which caused the engine to fail. We had just put brand new tires on the vehicle and just received new tags for it! all this with absolutely no warning! we are just out a vehicle and 2 days before christmas! had we known this was an issue we would have gladly done everything we could to fix it, but we have only had the vehicle for a few years and had no idea rain could cause our engine to seize up! thankful it happened close to home and no accident, but very scary when something like this happens!
I purchased the vehicle in 2009, within a 1 years, I noticed while driving during a heavy downpour the car would shake and sometimes stall out. I took it to the dealer in 2011 and they replaced the intake gaskets. I am now realing that this seems to be a common problem and should have had a recall on it.
11/18/15. It was raining hard here in Oregon as I was on my way back from taking my girlfriend to the doctors. I was first in line at an intersection. When the light turned green I proceeded. Half way through the intersection, without warning, I heard a terrible repeating bang. My vehicle died and I was able to coast into a near parking lot. I had it towed to my mechanic and he took it apart and had found out the engine was shot. He reported to me, that he has had a few of these Durangos lately with the same problem.
Purchased vehicle in April 2013. First week fuel pump went out. In late 2013 replaced fuel pump again after it went out a second time. By now we realized that if we drove the vehicle in the rain or through a car wash it would shutter and cut off. In early 2014 the fuel pump went out again. We replaced fuel pump again and also cowl as we had found information that the cowl was allowing water to drip down on the engine and electrical box. This helped for about 14 months. In July 2015 replaced fuel pump twice. Now it is November 2015 and as I type this it is back in the shop having the fuel pump replaced again. Water is again leaking onto the engine and computer block. It causes shuttering and stalling and then within a short time the fuel pump goes out. Driving down the road in the rain is terribly dangerous because there is no way to tell if the vehicle will shut off or not. I have contacted Dodge and there is a technical safety bulletin about this issue, but no recall as of yet. A quick search shows hundreds of other Dodge owners having the same issue. Because most of the vehicles are no longer under warranty Dodge has not address the issue as a whole. I hope it doesn't take someone or a family being killed before a recall is issued.
2004 Durango 5.7 every time we have a hard rain the motor stalls or runs extremely rough and we have to pull to the side of the road. I travel for work, and received a call from my wife that the Durango would no crank over but was not caused by battery issue as it had just been replaced. Had several people look at it and they said motor was locked up (had rained the night before). Let it sit until I got home and it started up with a little kick back against starter. Let it warm up and went and had the battery and starter checked, both were within specification for voltage and amp draw. Drove on county hwy with 45 mile speed limit approx. Three miles to the bank. Leaving the bank made a right turn onto main street and the motor went thump, clunk, bang and died. Coasted off road and looked under vehicle thinking we had thrown a belt or hit something. Saw oil dripping from passenger side of motor and found a hole in the oil pan with part of the connecting rod sticking through it. I used to be a mechanic so I know what I was looking at. After doing research I have found that the rain gutter channels water onto the top of the motor where the plastic intake manifold has cracked allowing water into the motor, this water can become trapped in the intake manifold and be pulled into the motor while it is running and you are making a turn. Talked to my local Dodge dealer, they said they had never heard of such a problem but kindly told me $8000 to replace my motor. Talked to the parts department and they did not have any information on an updated rain gutter, even though there appears to be a service bulletin on this problem. The number of complaints I have seen says to me that there should have been a recall on this problem as every thing I have read says it is quite common
After heavy rains the engine would run rough and then smooth out. Then during one heavy rain I tried to start the vehicle and heard a loud knocking. I brought it to the shop and they determined that it had hydrolocked due to water getting into the intake gasket from the cowl. After two months of agruing with the warranty company and the dealer, the warranty company covered all but 1000 dollars of the engine replacement but the cowl is not replaced. I fear that this will happen again.
If any water gets into engine compartment (rain, etc..) the engine will misfire (stationary) or shut off (stationary or driving). If driving while raining, the SUV will misfire and may shut off while driving. The error seems to be well documented on the internet and became all to real this week when the car shut off at 70 mph on the highway while it was raining almost causing an accident and potentially killing my family.
Vehicle would stall during heavy rains and taking it through a car wash while driving. Sometimes it would even cut off. One day it cut off and I had to have it towed to the dealership. I bought my vehicle brand new and this problem has been going on since then. Goodyear could not determine the cause of the issue and the Dodge dealership informed me that it was the fuel pump. So they replaced my fuel pump and the problem still occurs during heavy rains and going through the car wash. I replaced the battery a third time after contacting roadside assistance. Now the vehicle is making a knocking sound. I'm afraid it's the engine. After researching, there are thousands of complaints about the issue with the wiper cowl leaking. There is a service bulletin 18-006-05 put out by Chrysler.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Fort Wainwright, AK, USA