1998 Dodge Durango: check engine light

Filed Aug 4, 2003 · Transmission · 85,000 miles · CA

At 85000 miles I started having significant problems with the transmission. When first started in the morning the transmission does not shift out of first gear until the tach reads 2500 RPM. This causes a check engine light to come on because the transmission is sending a fault code to the computer. Also there are many many time that the car bogs down when trying to accelerate and then will finally kick into gear however passing speed is very very poor. I had the problem diagnosed and was told it is going to cost well over 1500.00 to repair which is why I have yet to have it done because quite frankly I cannot afford that right now.that is how I found out abnout this complaint service because I was told that 98 durangos have had this problem since the car was built and the more research that I do on it the more I discover that there is truth to that statement. There is no way that a transmission should go out that quickly. I have never used this vehicle to tow anything and it has just been used to go back and forth to work and other normal family errands. I have never taken it off road and therefore I cannot understand why this transmission uis acting so flaky. I am also now getting some very wierd grinding noises when I back up...this is a new sound and will be having this looked at next. It seems as if this car is just deteriorating too quickly. After all I am not even at 100k yet...any help or suggestions would be greatly greatly appreciated.

Filed Jul 22, 2003 · Engine · 107,700 miles · CA

Returning home from a business trip, the durango started making a loud noise, then quit within seconds of the original noise, with a loud clunk. The "check engine guages" light did not come on prior to the loud noise. I live in the mountains, and fortunately the engine quit next to a vehicle turnout. If the engine failure had occured a few seconds earlier, or a few seconds later, my life would have been in serious danger, and I would have endangered the lives of the people at risk of hitting my stalled vehicle. My mechanic found a used engine and installed it. New installed engine ran quite well for about 300 miles. This time, the failure was forwarned by a "check engine guages" light and bell. Checking the guages, I found nothing out of the ordinary - oil pressure and temp were ok. This happened with the second bell as well. The third bell, and I turned the engine off due to the oil pressure guage falling to zero. Towing the durango to a local mechanic, he advised that we should change the oil pump, but advised me that metal shavings were found in the oil pump screen, and that further damage was probbable. My mechanic told me that I should have the pump changed, and drive it to his shop for inspection - a distance of approximately 35 miles. The durango made it 15 miles before quitting. The catastrophic failure of this engine creates a definite safety hazard. The manufacturer should be allowed to do a recall on this engine. If the manufacturer does not think a recall necessary, the federal safety agency should force a recall. This engine will create serious harm to someone. It is just a matter of time....

Filed Jul 3, 2003 · Airbags, Engine · 41,679 miles · CA

Check engine light came on; cracked left cylinder head at 40,000 miles. Dealer repaired under warranty; claims to not know why head cracked. Exactly 40,000 miles later, left cylinder head cracked again. Dealer will not repair; car is 3 months outside of extended warranty. Dealer still can't give reason for cylinder head failure. Other mechanics/dealers believe cylinder heads fail due to faulty casting. *nlm there was a scraping noise when the steering wheel was turned. The service dealer found internal damage in the clockspring and replaced the unit. The consumer requested reimbursement.

Filed Jun 18, 2003 · Airbags, Engine · 75,000 miles · CA

Faulty clock spring. $178 to replace/repair. My vehicle apparently not affected by recall of 216,000 vehicles. Clock spring failure results in failure of airbag to deploy. I guess I'm extremely lucky I was not involved in a life-altering accident. *nlm refer to recall # 01v153000. Per invoice, the engine light had come on and there were rattles upon acceleration, the service dealer found #5 cylinder misfire and removed the #5 spark plug and viewed signs of coolant on the spark plug. (recommended removal of the left cylinder head for further inspection/consumer declined) there was also a scraping noise when the vehicle was turned, the clockspring was found faulty due to internal damage, the clockspring unit was replaced.

Filed Jan 31, 2002 · Engine · PA

While driving at state speed limit, engine light illuminated, engine stalled due to a constant oil leak.*ak the engine was blown. The engine always burned oil and the engine light always came on. The engine was defective from day one. When previous problems with the engine would occur the dodge mechanics always informed consumer that everything was fine. Consumer would like reimbursement of monies paid.

Filed Feb 2, 2000 · Engine · NJ

Check engine light came on and the engine shut down after making a loud noise. Yh

Filed Sep 8, 1999 · CA

Engine light.