My wife put the car in park to walk into a store and the car jumped into reverse, moving quickly toward a busy street with my son in the back seat. She was able to open the door and dive in, hitting the brakes in time to avoid a collision. Her only injury was a bruise on her head from hitting the door frame, but had she not been able to recover in time the car certainly would have ended up in the middle of the street. I have experienced problems with the indicator (telling what gear I am in) in the past, but the dealer dismissed all claims of defect. When I heard of the grand cherokee probe I realized there was somehting I could do to report this problem. I hope others do as well.
1998 Dodge Durango transmission complaints
Page 4 of 5: complaints 71 to 100 of 103, newest first, as owners wrote them.
When first accelerating or braking to a stop there is a shimmying in the front end took vehicle to dealership was told wheel alignment was needed got alignment problem still there was told I had a busted belt went out and purchased four new tires took vehicle back to dealership to have them look at it again was told had defective u-joint and driveshaft has to be replaced. I feel this is a manufacturing defect that probably is not just my durango.
Spoke to dealer about failure and he claimed this is normal. I do not believe the joints should fail at 37000 to 38000 miles.
Vehicle has automatic transmission ; there was hesitation when shifting into second gear. When shifting into reverse, it was clanking. Dealership was aware of problem.
Abs light stayed on intermitently. Abs system locked in normal driving conditions. 4- wheel drive malfunctioned. It will not engage in 4- wheel drive. Entire rear end was replaced do to leakage. Ransfer case was replaced to rectify problem. Consumer has been arguing that 4- wheel drive never worked.
Rear differential locks up. Under normal driving conditions it makes the vehicle feel as though the rear end is loose on the road as a low tire pressure problem. When attempting to make a tight turn at an intersection the vehicle requires considerable power to force it through the turn. The unit will release with a sudden bang that would make you think the drivetrain gave way. The vehicle will not achieve its turning radius under these conditions, taking the driver by surprise when trying to pull into traffic.
No tire jack was in the vehicle at time of purhase.
Transmission failure at 52,000 miles. Total rebuild costing $2,084.00.
1)initially heard a "clunk" from right rear every time we'd hit a bump. Turned out to be not a broken shock absorber, nor the bolt which attaches the shock absorber to the frame, but the actual frame piece to which the bolt/absorber assembly attaches. 2)while observing problem 1, noticed oil/dirt "leak" on driver's side of rear differential/axle.
Vehicle was in park w/emergency brake on. When putting boat on trailer transfer case popped into neutral causing car to roll into water. Transfer case had popped into n before, but was not repeatable.
Usually driving at highway spped about 60 MPH transmission will keep slipping. Consumer has been at dealer 3 times, and cannot determine cause.
While driving ABS light come on unexpectedly and stayed on. They could not find the problem to fix it correctly. *ak the speedometer jumps to 100mph and falls to 0 MPH intermittently. The transmission is slipping and the overdrive harness is stuck. The brake pedal goes to the floor, the dealer replaced the brake components. The interior lights were inoperable, the dealer found a faulty module. The power door locks were inoperable, the dealer found a faulty module. The rear seat wouldn't fold up. The consumer heard a rattling noise coming from the left front wheel area. The right rear panel came loose. Motor oil was found in the master cylinder.
Vehicle was running but it was in park. Vehicle slipped into reverse and started to back up. Consumer jumped into the vehicle and put the brakes on.
Vehicle was experiencing loud noise from the rear differential unit. Taken to dealer for repairs, and dealer replaced differential ring and pinon and rear axle bearing at consumer's cost. Also, dealer noticed that some of the bearings were missing when removed. *ak
While driving on the highway engine check light came on, vehicle started idling and cut off. Pulled over and sat for awhile to cool off, then shift indicator jumped out of gear. Went to put fog lights, and they failed to operate properly. Fog light switch replaced three times, battery and throttle body also replaced. *ak
Reporting 2-year old child was able to shift vehicle out of gear ( from reverse to forward ). Vehicle ran into an office building wall. No injuries reported.
Vehicle can be placed in gear from park without applying the brake. This situation could allow unintentional movement of the vehicle and subsequent injury.
Engine overheating due to failure of the fan/clutch assembly. Mjs
There is no automatic transmission interlock system in the 1998 durango. A child moved the automatic transmission, and the vehicle rolled away. It caused a crash.
Vehicle was shifted out of gear by a two- year old child while parked, causing vehicle to roll into another vehicle. Vehicle gear shift was not suppose to moved unless foot was pressed on brake pedal. Dealer notified.
Dealer replaced vehicles pressure governor for transmission which had been damaged due to low fluid level.
Transmission failed. Yh
Light switch failed.
Transmission out put shaft bearing failed. Yh
1. Stops or misses gears on upshift when accelerating. This occurs frequently, and is most apparent when towing/merging into faster traffic, or traveling up an incline. This slip causes the engine to rev into the very high rpms. The last time this occurred, a belt broke and caused the loss of steering in the truck. 2. Shift indicator on the dash does not display indicator when in d drive position. The indicator is lost between neutral and drive positions. 3. Noticeable vibration in the gas pedal when driving in certain speed ranges. It is most noticeable when accelerating between 30 to 40 and 60 to 70. 4.vibration noise can be heard and can be felt in the gas pedal. This is a recent development ( since nov, 1998 ).
While driving the vehicle or starting/parking and then stopping the vehicle goes from park to another gear without letting driver touch the brake or pedal. Contacted dealer, they don't know anything about a problem within this vehicle.
Was driving approximately. 60mph when vehicle started to vibrate. Had rear windows down & front windows up. Mechanic said driveshaft was causing problem & vehicle was working like it was made.
Four wheel drive fails to disengage when going from 4th wheel full time to 2nd wheel drive, drive train torque converter problem.
The defective automatic transmission malfunctioned, causing the gears to slip, resulting in decreased speed while driving which almost caused an accident. Cause unknown. Please provide details.
Child accidentally moved gear shifter out of park, causing vehicle to go into a lake.
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