2004 Dodge Durango: sudden loss of power

Filed Dec 26, 2015 · Electrical · PW

I have a 2004 dodge durango 5.7 and it has been having an issue with the battery continuously draining. It started in nov 2014 when the battery drained and would not hold a charge. I let the vehicle sit until march 2015, when I need an inspection, the shop recommended I purchase a new battery. I did and the battery drained with 3 weeks, so I eventually schedule an appt. With the dealer to have a drain on the battery check, they sent the vehicle back stating there was no drawl on the battery, it sat for months again, because it drained back out. In nov. 2015 I found out about the g07 instrument panel recall and took it back to the dealer for that. They claimed they repaired a wire in the panel and that fixed the drain, however I still lost power 2 weeks later. I then took it to another dealer to have the recall checked again, because of a dead battery again the headlights and interior dash lights would flicker on and off. 3 days later still nothing they stated they were unable to duplicate failure and they did not find any drain or flickering. The very moment I picked up the vehicle and drove it home with my headlights on they began to flicker on and off. Two days later my battery was dead again. This makes no sense to me that the dealer can not pin point anything, so I began to proceed to fix on my own, I have found that the headlight switch was shorted out causing the lights to go on and off, and I replaced it. I still have a drain somewhere though, battery died within 8 hours of the last start.

Filed Sep 12, 2015 · Engine · 140,000 miles · MI · crash · 1 injury

I have a 2004 dodge durango slt 5.7l hemi. Never had any big issues with it until in 2014 I was driving home from work on the highway when I heard a loud bang and loud knocking noises followed shortly by an abrupt shut off. I tried immediately to get to the side of the road but when I lost power steering from the engine ceizing and couldn't correct myself enough so I went down the hill off the side of the highway while trying to break with no brake booster anymore as well. I ended up running into a couple small tree's and finally stopping . Air bags didn't deploy and I only jammed my finger and hurt my back some but I only missed a larger group of tree by inches. My front bumper was ripped off, my drivers side headlight was broke as well as my grille and my windshield cracked. I took it to my mechanic and found out that the engine "hydrolocked" and a piston rod punched through my engine and broke a lot of other things internally. Needless to say the engine is gone. After doing some research I have found that there are hundreds more people that had this happen to their 04 and 05 dodge durango with the 5.7l hemi. Apparently the water runs right down onto the engine and pools up and the intake is faulty so it sucks that water up and causes a catastrophic hydrolock with the engine which could kill someone if they lose power steering and power brakes within a second. I've been trying to save to get a new engine (which will cost about $3800 alone) because I bought this for too much and neither dodge or my insurance would cover it so it's now a pile of scrap until I hopefully can get a new engine or have dodge buy this death trap back. Dodge needs to buy these back or fix them! This is by far not an individual case and it is very dangerous and costly!

Filed Jul 27, 2015 · Engine · 140,000 miles · NH · crash

The engine hydro-locked breaking 2 rods and blowing a hole through the engine block. Caused the vehicle to lose all power and my wife drove off of the road. Luckily she did not hit anything or get injured. The vehicle needed an engine replacement. The local dodge dealership was familiar with the issue as it turns out to be very common with this year vehicle. The windshield dam that directs rain water away from the engine is poorly designed and it allows water to flow right onto the motor. Over time the water rusts and rots the intake manifold bolts eventually allowing the water to flow into the engine causing hydro-lock. This is an issue that chrysler should have taken responsibility for but instead they have not. My wife could have been killed and it cost me $6,000 to replace the motor.

Filed Jun 9, 2015 · Engine · 150,000 miles · IN

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 dodge durango. While at a car wash, the vehicle suddenly lost power without warning. The vehicle restarted after several attempts; however, the failure recurred and the vehicle became inoperable. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the engine was defective and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The failure mileage was 150,000. The VIN was not available.

Filed Jun 27, 2014 · Transmission · 135,000 miles · TX

Vehicle suddenly shifts electronically into four wheel drive mode. This causes loss of driveability at slow speeds and the ability to easily turn corners on dry pavement. If this electronic shift control were to shift the transfer case to neutral, the vehicle would lose all power to the wheels and if it were parked could roll away. The transfer case shift knob includes the following user selectable modes: awd, fwd high, fwd low, neutral.

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 Mar 20, 2014 · Engine · 123,000 miles · KY

After making a clicking noise for a couple of days that we had been told was the starter fan (and having it replaced), we loaded up our durango for a week long camping trip 8 hours away. 45 minutes into the drive the durango started "dragging" like it was having a difficult time maintaining speed with cruise control. Shortly afterward, a horrible metal on metal banging noise came from under the hood and I lost all power. On the interstate, at 4 a.m. I dropped from 72 MPH to 0 in a matter of seconds and barely had enough momentum to pull the truck to the side of the road. Oil just poured from under the truck. We had the durango towed home and called our local mechanic. He took a look and informed us we had thrown a rod and complete engine replacement would be needed. We verified this through 3 different dodge technicians who all stated that this was a known issue within the company. They know and have known that the skirting at the bottom of the windshield leaks. They know that those leaks drip water onto the intake valve resulting in water being drawn into the engine and causing engine failure through a rod being thrown. This is not a cheap fix. It could have been through recall or even notification to owners. It could have only cost about $400. But now it doesn't. Now it costs anywhere from $4-6000. Unacceptable.

Filed Oct 16, 2013 · Engine · 130,000 miles · TX

Vehicle stalled out on me during a heavy rain. I was going about 60mph on the highway, when vehicle started to shake. About 5 minutes after heavy rain, I lost all power and had to pull my vehicle off to the side of the road. I waited about 30 minutes and rain began to slow to a drizzle. Vehicle cranked right up after that. This is a very dangerous situation as I could have been rear ended on the highway. I have looked into this issue as I have had rough idles and stall outs when in automatic car washes. The issue seems to be with the cowl and a replacement cowl is available through the manufacturer at our own cost. If this issue has been addressed as a defect on an oem part then why should the consumer who has already paid for a vehicle be liable? I hope that this is more thoroughly investigated and it does not take the fatality of an unsuspecting consumer for issue to be addressed.

Filed Jul 30, 2013 · Engine · 105,250 miles · NJ

2004 dodge durango limited 5.7l hemi had a knocking noise, took it to the dealer and based on their visual and hearing inspection suspected to be the flywheel ring; dealer stated that they needed to take the trans out for a final assessment. Dealer stated that there was not issues with engine. A week later while driving at approximately 55mph a loud noise and smoke came from underneath the vehicle. The engine stopped and lost power breaks and power steering. Towed the vehicle to the dealer and I was told that there is a hole in the engine block by the 8th cylinder and engine was sized. Dealer found metal parts (piston rod parts) all over the engine compartment. Contacted chrysler hq and I was told that there are no reports of such failure and they were not interested into looking at this problem. The vehicle had less than 106k miles. The vehicle was not repaired as the repairs (parts and labor) exceeded the book value of the vehicle. This looks like a metallurgy issue of the piston rod and chrysler should address it.

Filed Jul 25, 2013 · Engine · 126,050 miles · MO

It started with what I thought was just an egr problem about two years ago, and I replaced it. It kept dying, especially when it was raining pretty good, and I thought something was getting wet. I thought it was the starter or battery, and replaced the battery. A few days before the last incident, it didn't want to start again, so I thought I guessed wrong and was going to replace the starter. May 3, 2013, on the way to work, it started running real rough, and the check engine light started flashing. It was raining very hard. I pulled over, and smelled burned oil, and then saw a multicolored sheen on the wet, rainy pavement. The engine died before I got the hood up. I can start it, but it sounds like someone is inside with a hammer. The guy that towed it said it threw a rod out the driver side of the engine, by the motor mount. It starts, but sounds like someone is inside the engine with a hammer. From what it sounds, the rod broke, and went through the side of the engine. With almost 700 complaints, something should be able to be done. I owe almost $8000 on this car, and it will cost at least half of that to fix it. It isn't worth anything the way it is, and it costs more to fix it than it is probably worth. A simple internet search brings up all of these same symptoms for this 5.7l hemi engine, without even mentioning the issues. There are that many problems with it. It isn't a safety issue when you lose all power steering, brakes, and pour out oil at highway speeds in the rain? Please do something. Thank you.

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 10, 2013 · Engine · 87,389 miles · PA

Driving north bound on I 95 in south carolina the check engine light came on and a flapping sound followed by a loss of power and a very rough idle. Pull to off ramp, shut car off, and called for a nearby dodge dealer and a tow. It seems a "new" engine is required. Dodge does not supply new engines with replacements they use remanufactured engines. The cost with labor will be $7,500. Upon requesting the true cause and broken parts I was told dodge requires all parts be sent back with the broken engine to remanufacture a future engine. Very convenient to prevent any independent examination of the problem. Research on various sites like edmunds illustrates that this engine failure of the 5.7l hemi in the second generation durango's is prevalent. Dodge refuses to help with the repair because of the age of the vehicle.