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Comments
We babied the auto, had a extended warranty that ran out right before. The best is that we don't owe on the car but now we are out of a car, with 6 kids I thought we could have at least had this car for a while.
I did file a complaint with Safecar.gov https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ which I encourage all owners to document this with them.
They repaired this "known" issue in the next years version but not the 04.
I need a miracle to get a new car now. Best of luck to you all!
:sick: :mad:
It is paid for but we had to borrow money from the inlaws to pay for replacing the engine in Sept 2010. I would like to sell it or trade it in but technically they have a lien on it in a certain respect.
The biggest reason I want to get rid of it really isn't reliability; it is operating cost. 7 quarts of Mobil 1 at every oil change, expensive tires, it gets about 15 MPG around town. It is just to costly when gas is typically $3.50 a gallon (Thanks Obama).
It is a shame. I have a 85 Dodge Ramcharger that is rock solid reliable and has been totally neglected as far as regular maintenance for years. I'm putting the wife in a car of some type and I will continue to drive the old Ramcharger when I need to. The Durango is going up for sale ASAP.
mech says its the wrist pin or connecting rod.
no warning, no issue or prior warning or failure. computer says engine was perfect order .mech says he cant explain why?
im screwed and i am not going to put a new engine in this unless dodge steps up. and i will tell anyone i know about this problem ,... and i know a few:)
any help here on this forum would be welcome and is there a class action suit pending and where do i sign>?
james
To fix this will cost me over $5,000 dollars-scandalous.
This is an interesting post on motor oil.
This vehicle has been taken care of with regular oil changes and maintenance and had 91,000 miles on it.
Who do I need to contact in regards to filing a complaint. So far I have gotten no where.
Here is the link to this:
http://www.newcar.com/15/04/2012/dodge/durango/recalls/94173.html
Recall ID# 94173
Recall Date
SEP 29, 2011
Model Affected
2012 DODGE DURANGO
Description
CHRYSLER IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2012 CHRYSLER VEHICLES, INCLUDING 200 AND TOWN AND COUNTRY MODELS, DODGE VEHICLES, INCLUDING CHARGER, DURANGO, GRAND CARAVAN AND JOURNEY MODELS AND JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM AUGUST 31, 2011, THROUGH SEPTEMBER 13, 2011, THAT ARE EQUIPPED WITH 3.6L ENGINES. THESE ENGINES MAY EXPERIENCE CONNECTING ROD BEARING FAILURE DUE TO DEBRIS INSIDE THE ENGINE BLOCK.
Consequence
CONNECTING ROD FAILURE MAY LEAD TO ENGINE SEIZURE WHICH MAY INCREASE THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Remedy
CHRYSLER WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE ENGINE FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ON OR ABOUT NOVEMBER 18, 2011. OWNERS MAY CONTACT CHRYSLER AT 1-800-853-1403.
Potential Units Affected
667
Notes
CHRYSLER GROUP LLC L33
So how come the 2004 hemi's aren't recalled??? I going to ask dodge that question.
https://sites.google.com/site/blownuphemi/
Lemme guess; Keith Black?
Had a buddy that raced Chevys with 409s in the old days. Keith Black built his engines; made over 500hp.
Yeah, I did the same exploration since I have been building MoPar engines for over 20 years. I was shocked at the cheap internals of the 3rd gen Hemi.
Before the 3rd gen hit the market I did a lot of reading on it's design aspects and on paper it was a win-win. A real game changer. Until they decided to stuff it full of cracker jack prize internal parts. There are several theories why these fail. Keep it mind it is mainly DURANGOs that suffer from this which makes it all the more mysterious. Why since this same engine went in trucks and cars is a mystery. One theory is concerning an issue with the design of the '04 cowl that can allow water to leak on top of the engine and somehow this water is getting inside the intake.
I noticed this issue with mine. And I would get a "ignition misfire" code sometimes. But if water gets on the ignition coil or wires that could easy ground the spark, or cause an arc that would register as a misfire.
As far as water getting into the engine it would have operating with a massive vacuum leak in the intake track. This would mean very poor running and a code for a lean condition. I never hear of this happening so water getting into the engine while running sounds pretty far fetched if it is leaking form the cowl.
The conclusion I came to was just bad metallurgy. Very poor quality control when they produced the powered metal rods.
All manufactures use these now with low failure rates; so you can't really claim this technique of making rods is inferior. I just think there are some batches of rods made that didn't get checked for quality.
Are they as good as old fashion forged rods?? Not by a long shot. But powered steel rods are much lighter and cheaper to make. A must for smaller displacement engines since it is important they reach the high "power band" quickly. This new generation of small displacement high power (greater than 1HP per cubic inch) likely could not make the same power number without the lightweight powered steel rods. Example. My current project is a '02 Chrysler Sebring with a 2.7L v6. It measures 165 cu.in. in displacement at makes 200hp AT THE WHEELS. That is amazing.
You touched on an issues I think might have something to do with these failures.
There are several recalls on '04 Durango for transmission controller firmware updates. One of the main problems is engine lugging because the transmission controller does not downshift when it should in certain situations. For instance where you encounter a steep hill and you are going less than 30 mph. Engine lugging is very hard on connecting rods.
I AM ALL IN ON A CLASS ACTION SUIT!!!!!!!
I AM ALL IN ON A CLASS ACTION SUIT!!!!!!!"
I'm getting sick of hearing this.
A class action lawsuit will get you NOTHING.
They are designed to enrich LAWYERS not the plaintiffs. There is typically a settlement between the defendant and the LAWYERS for $XXX dollars. The lawyer fees will consume the MAJORITY of it and the money left will be divided among the actual injured parties. And it will likely be a few dollars.
You would get almost NOTHING; the case you had against Chrysler is now settled, they got off cheap and the lawyers are laughing their [non-permissible content removed] off because another group of suckers fell for their scam.
I understand you feel ripped off. I understand you feel powerless.
My best advise for those who are not in a position to administer the repair of their vehicle themselves would be to SELL IT, trade it in etc, etc.
Don't ever buy a Chrysler again.
Search Results
Report Date : December 21, 2012 at 12:21 AM
ODI Numbers Searched: 10489071
Results : 1 | All records displayed
Make : DODGE Model : DURANGO Year : 2004
Manufacturer : Chrysler Group LLC
Crash : No Fire : No Number of Injuries: 0
ODI ID Number : 10489071 Number of Deaths: 0
Date Complaint Filed: December 17, 2012 Date of Incident: September 19, 2012
VIN : Not Available
Component: ENGINE
Summary:
HOW MANY MORE DODGE DURANGO 2004 IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO INVESTIGATE. CHRYSLER IS RECALLING 2012 VEHICLES FOR THE SAME PROBLEM, WHAT MOST OF THE COMPLAINTS ARE ABOUT, ENGINE FAILURE, BLOWN ROD . IS IT GOING TO TAKING SOMEONE GETTING KILLED TO WAKE YOU UP? SEEMS LIKE SOMEONE IS NOT DOING THEIR JOB . DOESN'T ANYONE READ THE CMPLAINTS OTHER THAN OTHER 2004 DODGE OWNERS?
Of course it is the only complaint even though the only difference with the complaint I made in the fall is I did not put the VIN # in. Maybe if more people complain or question why no one is doing anything maybe that will make someone take notice. If anyone else wants to leave a message like this please do. When I left my first complaint the count was around 450. Last time I looked it is in the 700's.
First you need to find out what is the extent of the damage. A common failure is a broken valve spring and this will cause no compression on one cylinder and. This causes the engine to be out of balance and it will run very rough. If you hear a bang-bang-bang-bang-bang while it is running this is a rod bearing failure. But if the noise is loud clang, banging,and thumping, this could be a broken rod. I would suggest DO NOT START IT again. Have it evaluated by a GOOD mechanic. If the engine still runs it should be fixable as long as there isn't a big hole in it.
I purchased a used 2006 with 35K miles on it, Limited model, same engine...Used it in the same manner, and put over 95K miles on it, again with no issues. It was still running great, looked and smelled new, and I received top trade in value for it when I traded it in on a new 2011 Citadel with Hemi. I don't drive as much as before, but still tow a race car on an open aluminum trailer and the new car has been flawless after 15K... I have absolutely no problem recommending these SUVs and pickup trucks, 2005 and newer...YMMV....
The only answer I can come up with is just bad metallurgy; a lot of rods failed to get checked and went into engines destined for Durangos.
But does that really make sense? This is the same engine that went into pickups and the Jeep vehicles with Hemis, they do not have the same issues. Only Durangos. It gets more murky the closer you look instead of more clear.