2004 Dodge Durango: grinding or squealing brakes

Filed Jan 25, 2021 · Engine · TX

Car was parked on a thursday, was running fine with no problems. Rained all weekend. Went to start it on monday morning, produced a horrible grinding noise and would not start. Research shows that the cowl has allowed water to leak under the hood and puddle on the motor allowing it to seep into the intake and hydrolock the motor. Apparently this is a very common problem with this year make and model but nothing has been done to resolve it. Now I am without a running vehicle and can not afford to fix it or replace it.

Filed Mar 23, 2016 · Transmission · 150,000 miles · TX

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 dodge durango. While driving various speeds while in two wheel drive, the transmission would suddenly switch to neutral, the vehicle would stop, and the four wheel drive sensor light would illuminate. After shutting off and restarting the vehicle, the transmission would make a grinding noise while in four wheel drive. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transfer case shift motor was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 150,000.

Filed Mar 7, 2016 · Electrical, Engine · 135,000 miles · VT · fire

Tl* 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.

Filed Oct 26, 2015 · Transmission · 109,000 miles · VA

My 2004 dodge durango 5.7l awd is engaging in four wheel drive at high speeds on its own on the interstate. It made a very loud grinding and clunking noise, the service 4wd light will come on and then turn off and then the 4wd lo light will come on and turn off. I was forced to pull off the road and it felt like the car was stuck in four wheel drive and will not come out. I tried to put it in gear while just sitting still and it just makes that grinding noise. I had to have the car towed as I am afraid that driving it would cause myself or others physical harm. Please consider looking into this matter because as I am reading on several dodge forums this is a common problem and can be very serious to drivers and others. I have read that there are several problems with the transfer case in 2004 and 2005 dodge durango. A big company such as dodge should investigate the need for a possible recall since these problems are being addressed on dodge forums. As far as getting it fixed or trying to figure out how to get it fixed is the next problem.

Filed Mar 19, 2015 · Engine · 150,000 miles · CT

The vehicle was purchased new back in march of 2005 and has been maintained at regular intervals. Recently when it rained a sputter was noticed and thought to be spark plug wires, which had been changed approximately 1 year prior. Then approximately one month ago we went to start the durango and it would not start. At first it sounded like the starter grinding so I removed the starter and had it tested and it fine. I attempted to turn the engine over by the crankshaft bolt and the engine would not move. I removed the spark plugs and found that the #7 spark plug had ice on it. The cylinder was found to be full of ice. The following day the ice melted and the engine moved and ran. The truck drove fine with no issues after that. I did some research and found many complaints of the engine hydrolocking due to a failure in the cowl which allowed water to pour onto the engine. The complaints indicated that it was a known problem and that chrysler had been advised of the issue but nothing was done about it. I then found that water was leaking past the cowl and the wiper arms. On march 17, 2015 the durango again made the grinding noise when attempting to start. The #7 cylinder and the #8 cylinder had water in them. The vehicle had been sitting for approximately 4 days prior and it had rained while the vehicle was parked. The vehicle would not start with the starter and would not turn by hand when tried at the flywheel. The vehicle had not exhibited any issues prior to being parked and had not run since it was parked and did not turn over at all when we attempted to start it. The engine is believed to be seized and no longer usable.

Filed Dec 29, 2014 · Engine · 87,500 miles · MA

Had just fixed the sensors on the truck, put new battery and new tires. Totaling over $1200. Driving through unavoidable puddles on the highway, during a heavy rain in my area of 4.5 inches. Parked the car in my driveway and went to start it the next morning and heard this very loud grinding. Had the car towed. Diagnosis: engine hydrolock. Apparently dodge has known of this problem as I see thousands of complaints on youtube and similar sites. A $130 part could've prevented this from happening but we were never notified of the problem. Not sure what to do at this point. Dodge refusing to help and insurance saying it is a known defect so they won't cover it either.

Filed Apr 20, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 105,000 miles · MI · crash

I was pulling away from a stop when the engine suddenly made some loud noises sounding like grinding and the vehicle lost all power, steering and brakes. I had to navigate over railroad tracks with a train coming and onto a side street and a ditch. I was the only one in the truck at the time and was not hurt and there was no damage to the vehicle. If it had been one of my kids or wife driving it would have been tragic due to no power and trying to steer a 5000lb truck across traffic and railroad tracks with a train coming. This vehicle was well maintained and had an oil change two weeks prior to the failure. Within the past year this I had the vehicle completely gone thru by dealer mcinerney in mi and they got it ready for what I thought would be the next 100,000 miles. After I had the vehicle towed home due to the estimated $7000 repair bill, I called several chrysler mechanics who told me this is a known issue with that model and engine year due to both water leaking into the engine compartment (tsb issued) and a possible problem with the crank main bearing. I called chrysler customer service (joke) and both the people I talked too "literally" asked why I was calling since the warranty had expired and it was no longer chrysler's problem. I told them because warranty has no bearing on a known defect. The second person I talked to literally laughed at me on the phone and refused to let me talk to someone higher than him stating "I am as high as it gets" and told me "chrysler is not going to do anything for you". I asked his if this is the new chrysler after "I" helped bail them out, he said they bailed themselves out. This is the same customer service that told me there were no electrical issues, then 6 months later recalled my truck due to electric fires. If this does not get resolved by chrysler, I nor will a anyone in my family ever buy another chrysler product.

Filed May 8, 2013 · Engine · IA

I was driving the vehicle on an interstate during a pretty heavy thunderstorm. I noticed that the vehicle was starting to hesitate and lose power. As I started to slow the vehicle down to pull over the engine quit at about 50 MPH. Thankfully I was on a straight part of the road and without power I was able to guide the vehicle to the shoulder of the road with out an incident. After waiting out the storm to pass on the side of the interstate, with traffic flying by, I was able to get the vehicle restarted after some hesitation and drive it home. During the night the vehicle sat in the driveway while we had some pretty good rainfall in the area. The next morning I went and attempted to start the vehicle to go to work. The engine turned over, it started, followed by a grinding noise and then the motor quit and hasn't started since. After having the vehicle looked over we have found that two of the cylinders had quite a bit of water in them which had appeared to hydro lock the engine. Dodge needs to be held responsible for this issue and stop pushing the blame and cost off on to the vehicle owners. This is a huge design flaw and safety issue.

Filed Apr 17, 2013 · Body, Engine · 120,000 miles · NJ

After a snow storm and the snow melted, when I attempted to start it, the starter was grinding. The engine was hydrolocked and broke the connecting rod for #3 cylinder. Subsequent investigation turned up a tech bulletin (not mandatory recall) to replace cowl at the base of the windshield due to water leakage onto the top of the engine which can cause misfiring. I never received notice of this tech bulletin or the potential catastrophic consequences of not implementing it. There was no indication the defective cowl could cause total engine failure in the tech bulletin. The melting snow seeped into the #3 cylinder, possibly from a failed intake manifold seal or warped intake manifold (yet to be determined), and caused hydrolock. I found evidence of a small amount of water in the oil pan which leaked from #3 cylinder. I also found water under the intake manifold near the #3 cylinder. This is a safety issue because a broken connecting rod usually punches a hole in the block causing oil to spill on the road! This was a 5.7l hemi. The engine needed to be completely rebuilt.

Filed Mar 28, 2013 · Engine · 168,000 miles · NJ

2004 dodge durango with 5.7 hemi engine would run rough (to the point of stalling out) during light to medium rain or when it went through the car wash. Vehicle has been doing this for several months after it reached 100k miles. Dodge authorized mechanics were unable to determine the exact problem. Complete tune-up was performed. During february 2013, the vehicle's cowl was replaced (approx. 160k miles odometer reading) in an effort to divert water from entering the engine block area. In march 2013 (approx. 168k miles), attempted to start the vehicle; engine turned over with a banging noise followed by sounds of grinding metal. Brought in mechanic who informed me that the noise was due to blown engine-rod and that vehicle is in need of an engine overhaul.

Filed Feb 1, 2012 · Electrical, Engine · 104,000 miles · PA · fire

My passenger and I were sitting at a red light. The check engine of my 2004 dodge durango limited (5.7ltr) came on, then the battery light came on and both of those lights started to flicker. There was a loud squeal and a pop, then the engine stalled and I felt the brake pedal fall straight to the floor. White smoke started to emerge from the engine compartment, which quickly turned a thick black color. I couldn't even see through the smoke, as it was so dense. I grabbed my phone and proceeded to call roadside assistance to get the vehicle off of the road (the vehicle was blocking a lane of a major highway in my town). I started to smell burning plastic and thought, "am I on fire?". My passenger instructed me to lower my window because another driver was yelling something and making hand gestures. When I tried to use the windows, I noticed that I had lost all power. In a panic I opened the door and instructed my passenger to do the same. That was when we heard what the other drivers were screaming. "get out of the truck, it's on fire!". When I turned to get out of the vehicle, that was when I saw the flames flowing up the windshield about 4" long. We jumped out of the vehicle and ran across the road to the curb, turned to view the vehicle, seen that it was a large fire and decided to run about 200-300 feet away from it. Just in case it exploded. The firemen were there in under a minute, but the vehicle was engulfed in flames in about 30 to 45 seconds. I have a large family and it's a good thing they were not all with me, as is the case 90% of the time. I do not know if I would've had time to get three small children out of their carseats in time. This could've ended much worse than it did.

Filed Dec 26, 2011 · Engine · 84,116 miles · NJ

Started my vehicle and heard a horrible grinding metal sound. Towed it to a mechanic who said that a rod had blown a two inch hole in my engine block. There were pieces of metal in a pile of oil under my vehicle when it was towed and 2 large chunks found upon inspection of vehicle. There was no warning. No problems prior. Vehicle ran fine the day before. No lights ever came on the dash either, no check engine...etc. Upon researching this issue- I have found numerous similar stories. Hoping a class action suit will be investigated.