Wow feel lucky feel very lucky, you are the first that has said anything good about their dealer. I don't really have a choice of dealers as I live in rural northern michigan and this dealer is the closest and is an hour away. I just don't understand how dodge can make these if they can not even fix them!!! I was on another site that has comments, 95% of the dodge durango comments are bad, but there is one every so often that says they have no problems. But from what I see if you get one that has a problem you can expect more and more problems. DODGE needs to step up on this and do some recalls on the ball joints and the plenum gasket and maybe even their stupid retarded modules..I am really upset.

 

To tell you the truth, there is really no such auto manufacturer that is perfect, I am sure that everyone has their gripes on every vehicle made out there. Just some do not bother to vent and some do not know where to find real help when they need it most.

Example, I have a Nissan Maxima that so far, not even the dealer has figured out what's the problem is. The engine stalls right in the middle of the road when there is alot of traffic grid lock. Check engine lights come on and everything. But if the car sits for a few minutes to cool down, the engine will start up fine and all problems disappear. Already spent over $300 from the Nissan dealer and still no solution to this yet. But reading the nissan forums from www.automotiveforums.com, some says it can be the mass air flow sensor ($600 part) and some says it is the O2 sensor ($70 part). So I am going to get this fixed on my own based on what others have to say and hopefully it is the $70 O2 sensor. But in the end, I still feel Nissan let me down, by not fixing this and also took my $300 for their so-called work that did not work. Overall, I like the Maxima until this money draining problem came up on me.

Now whenever I have problems with any of my vehicles, I always check the message forums first to see if anyone else had a similar issue and what they did to correct it. This can also let you compare if you took it to the dealer to see if the solution was similar. My search forums that I use are;

http://www.automotiveforums.com - great site for just about any vehicle made on this planet.

https://dodgeforum.com - enough said I guess! haha


For Dodge in general, Ball Joints seemed to be the most common issue in most dodge forums that I am a member of. I would say this problably affects the Dakota and the RAM line as well. I wonder if this ball joint issue is mainly related to the users in the northern part of the U.S.? Problaby in the extreme cold enviroment?? I and a few of my friends that are Durango owners here in DFW, Tx so far, has no problems with our ball joints. That is with Durangos ranging from 20k to 100k miles on them. Then again, our Durangos mainly stay on smooth pavement and in Tx, you do not see too many bad bumpy roads. My guess on the ball joints going out so early is problaby the type of enviroment you are in that causes the ball joints to wear out prematurely. I would guess maybe the extreme prolong cold environment are prematurely wearing out some of the sensitive components (rubber and plastic parts) of the ball joints. With this said, the Chrysler should check on this and make the joints more durable for that particular environment. I wonder if there are aftermarket ball joints made by different manufacturers that may exceed Chrysler's design and make it more durable?

I have been monitoring my ball joints every time I go in for a oil change and so far, it's still in great shape. My 00 Durango is approaching 52k miles now. The only thing that went out on my D is the shocks. All 4 shocks leaked its oil out. Replacement them with reflexes and it's been a smooth firm ride since.

 

Kay, just got in from work and was reading your post , sorry to hear your still having problems with your D. I know some dealers don't do a very good job listening to there customers not to mention there expensive thats why I take my D to a local shop that I trust and there cheaper also. Hope things get better for you.

 

Well if they replaced your BCM and the problem is still there, then they replaced a very good working BCM and I would DEMAND your money back for both parts and labor and then find another dealership to have your vehicle worked on. Good luck and God Bless.

 

for whatever it's worth. auto shutdown is controlled by PCM. keep pushing it. call district manager and get on they're nerves.....

 

Kensai, i wish it was just my dealer that was the problem, but I have to say that my Durango is a Lemon, shall I list my issues?
1. plenum gakset blown
2. stalling
3. Ball joints
4. accelerates on its own
And I had owned this less than 2 month when this all became apparent.
When we did the plenum gasket we fixed an anti-freeze problem too, there was green corroded crap all over the motor because things don't fit tight and it leaks.
Thanks for your suggestions.

 

I just replaced the ignition coil and everything seems to be running good for my wifes 1998 durango. I don't know if this will help you or not. The coil was around $50.00-$60.00. It might be worth the money to try it. It is real easy to change on your own and you can get it through a regular auto parts store. Good luck

 

Well I finally did get the dealer to do what I wanted, but I had to be a total B**** to get it done. So 700 miles later and no stall, guess it was the PCM like I told them the first time. Wow men can be stubborn. I see that the ctm controls auto locking of doors and low gas warning bell, so I left that part on. Thanks so much to all of you for help.