2001 Dodge Durango: engine overheating

Filed Mar 30, 2016 · Engine · 212,282 miles · WA

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 dodge durango. While driving 55 MPH, an unknown liquid splashed onto the windshield before the thermostat gauge indicated that the vehicle was overheating. The contact pulled over and observed under the hood that the coolant was low. The coolant was refilled, but the failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the fan clutch, electric fan, radiator cap, serpentine belt, and thermostat were replaced. The remedy failed to repair the vehicle. The cause of the failure was not found. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 212,282.

Filed Jan 22, 2015 · Electrical · 58,000 miles · PA · fire

This vehicle and just about every other durango and similar make dodge from 2001 to 2005 has a blower relay and harness under the dash that overheats. It melts the plastic causes smoke in the vehicle and can cause a fire. Chrysler has a fix for it for about $100.00 just for the part not including labor which is about 2 hours. When it happened to me the relay had fallen out of its place in the blower and landed on my wife's burning her foot. Why should the consumer have to pay for a defect that can cause injury or if someone panics and accident there has to be thousands and thousands of these vehicles with the same problem. I decided to look in the junk yards for this problem and turns out every vehicle in this year range has the exact problem.not a couple every one of them.

Filed Sep 19, 2011 · 80,000 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 dodge durango, the contact stated that upon starting the vehicle and activating the air conditioner, only hot air would blow from the vents. The vehicle was taken to an independent repair shop and the contact was informed that the evaporator failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was unknown. Overheats when it is over 85 degrees and coolant evaporator keeps going out. Updated 10/26/2011 *ln

Filed Jul 25, 2010 · Engine · 95,000 miles · AZ

Since 2007, have had many problems with overheating. One time to the point it warped both heads and had to have the engine rebuilt. Have replaced water pump, radiator, thermostat (3 times), clutch fan. When the heads warped, the upper radiator hose sheared apart and I saw no check engine light (cel) and the temperature gauge never went above half-way. Personally I think it's just a bad design. The upper radiator hose contains the radiator cap, and it's still not the highest point in the "closed" system, thusly there is always air which never purges into the overflow tank. Everytime I check radiator fluid their is none in the upper radiator hose. The fluid has to be going somewhere, although I never see any under the vehicle. I have read in internet forums of many people having this same issue. It's not year specific, nor is it engine model specific. There is an underlying issue that dodge isn't addressing, or has kept from the general public to avoid having to replace 500,000 engines. I love my vehicle. I love the way it drives as well as it's appearance. This is quite an annoyance. It has depleted what little savings my family has to insure that our daily-driver of a vehicle will be getting us from point a to point b. We have refrained from taking this vehicle on any type of trip outside our metro area for this reason alone.

Filed Mar 2, 2009 · Brakes, Engine · 26,000 miles · FL

Vehicle is 2001 dodge durango r/t 5.9. 26,000 miles. Front end ball joints needed replacing. Calipers froze/locked on both front wheels. Overheating occurred twice on front calipers. Needed out of pocket money for repairs. Air conditioning broken.

Filed Aug 1, 2008 · Engine · 183,000 miles · TX

Engine overheats with out cause changed thermostat, flushed radiator changed fans etc et.

Filed Jul 16, 2008 · Engine, Transmission · 102,000 miles · NC

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 dodge durango. The contact can switch gears without first engaging the brake. The consumer repaired the power train: automatic transmission lever and linkage column shift per the federal safety agency campaign id number 07v555000 (power train:automatic transmission:lever and linkage:column shift). Immediately after the repair, the failure recurred. The dealer stated that because the vehicle was previously repaired according to the recall, the contact would be responsible for any additional repairs. The vehicle also began overheating repeatedly. The dealer replaced the water pump, thermostat, coolant tube, fan clutch, and the control box; however, the failure still persists. The failure and current mileages were 102,000. Updated 08/08/08 *bf updated 08/12/08

Filed Jul 7, 2008 · Electrical, Transmission · 75,000 miles · CO

After purchasing my durango used from a local dealer I immediately began having issues with the transmission slipping out of gear while going up passes, passing car, towing etc. I took it back to the dealer and they stated that the transmission had been over filled causing this. I then drove it again and it still happened. In researching my durango I found that it already had its tranny replaced at 60k miles by the previous owner. I also have the gear shift lever that will come out of gear without the brake being pressed, but I see they actually recalled that particular item so it will soon be fixed. I also have rear and passenger window that stopped rolling up or down by their controls but still operate with driver controls. And last but not least my engine service light came on right before a trip stating that I had a coolant leak. I had just washed my durango so I reset the light and it hasn't came back on again. What did happen though is as soon as I reset the light my service 4wd light came on and will not clear. Does dodge actually recall the annoying things too or do they wait until it becomes a problem that actually kills someone before anyone takes notice? Hello toyota here we come tire of all the tranny issues with american cars.

Filed Jul 29, 2004 · Engine · 73,000 miles · CA

(1) events leading up to the failure, while driving on a 20 mile dirt mountain road with very little grade at a slow speed of 10 to 20 miles an hour. Ac was not on!. 2) failure and its consequences, overheating for unknown reason. The engine would not stay cool and ended up using our 4 gallons drinking water to keep it cool. Consequence, the heads on the truck warped due to failure of the head gasket. *ak (3) what was done to correct the failure; I.e, parts repaired or replaced (and if old part is available) a dealer service mechanic inspected the vehicle the next day. Exhaust gases were detected in the coolant water. This was due to a head gasket failure. After the heads were removed and sent to a head shop for inspection and removal of components it was discovered the heads were warped. The mechanic contacted a dodge dealer and he was advised the head part numbers were changed due to a known issue with the current heads. New heads are on order at this time and other components will be inspected over the next 2 days. The expense and inconvenience of this failure is costing me approximately $5000.00 over the next 7 days of not having a vehicle. The vehicle was never driven to excusive heating. The temperature was only running .25% hotter than normal with loss of power and water over flowing from over flow bottle. The temperature gage was only showing just below scale and normal operating temperature is just below of the gage. The vehicle overheated approximately 32 times before I could get help on the other end of the dirt road. Out side temp in the canyon was no more than 85 degrees.

Filed Apr 28, 2004 · Electrical · 53,912 miles · CA

The ignition switch overheated and melted, causing the ignition to malfunction.

Filed Oct 14, 2003 · Engine · 56,000 miles · GA

Oil pressure dropped and the car started making a loud noise. Had the car towed to our mechanic. Chrysler would not release oil pump so we had to have the car towed to a dealer (the vehicle was no longer covered under warranty, but we had to have it repaired by the dealer??????). The told us that there was sludge in the engine. It cost $6000.00 to have it replace. Now the engine overheats when the temperature goes above 90 degrees outside. One dealer says I need a new radiator (530.00) and the other dealer (the one who did the engine work) can't find anything wrong.

Filed May 29, 2003 · Engine · TX

While traveling on the highway and without prior warning vehicle was overheating and clogged up. Dealer was aware of problem. Please fill in additional information.