Help!!

This is my sons rig, he has only had it since Oct last yr and we all are getting really ticked. It's a 99 Durango 4 x 4 SLT with V8 Magnum
The problem is that it wants to sputter, kick and hesitate.

He has had it at the Dodge Dealership several times for various problems. This past Tuesday it wasi nthe shop because of the issues above and the check engine light had come on a few days before. It threw a code that they said was a speed sensor, they stated this is what was causing his problems so they did the repair. $350 later and it still has the problem of hesitating and sputtering. He and I just replace the Rotor, Cap and Wires as someone suggested that. He took it for a quick test drive and all seemed fine. It sat for a hr or 2 then he got ready to head to work. He started down the road from the house and had to turn back. It is now sitting in my driveway while he took my Kia to work.

My husband drove it yesterday, the son did a vehicle swap with us so he had something dependable to go to work in. Hubby had moved the Durango into his works yard (he's a trucker) and we (I was with him on an overnight run) unloaded the Semi and put everything into the Durango. We left hubby's work and had driven abt a block and a half, maybe 2 when it did a quick sputter and hesitation then was fine all the way home. We took it to the grocery store and back home, took it up a hill and down a hill and all was fine.

It only seems to do this shortly after start up right now. There's no codes being thrown. Dodge has told him to not bring it back until it throws a code but still even then we can't afford to keep taking it to them or anyone else.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Pam

 

Here's something to try, Not all gas is the same. I don't know if you buy your gas from the same station all the time or you use gas from different stations but you could have some water in yourfuel tank. This is more common than most people think.All gasoline has a given amount of water in it coming out of the refinerys, I live in toledo and we have 2 refinerys. BP and Sunoco. The highest quality gas (ie. lower water content) from these refinerys goes to their stations first, then the rest is sold on the market (all other stations). This is one way water can get in your tank. Another way is people don't fill their tank all the way up all the time andmoisture builds up from condensation. I've seen this a lot of times especially in the spring when the refinerys change from winter blend to summer blend. Yes, the gas you buy in the winter is different than what you buy in the summer. Winter gas has a higher moisture content and the moisture will condense when the weather gets warmer. Another way is the stations themselves have old storage tanks and havea lot of moisture build up over time.

Try putting some dry gas in on a full tank and running it thru. Water and gas don't mix, the dry gas breaks the water down into smaller particles so it passes thru the system. Only a couple of bucks and it may solve your problem, it can't hurt and would eliminate the possibily of bad fuel. I put a bottle of dry gas in all my rides every spring after the refinery changes to summer blend.

I'm thinking this because your having a problem in the 1st couple of minutes of driving after the vehicle has sat for a little allowing the water to settle in the bottom tank where it gets picked up by the fuel pump. after driving a little the fuel would get sloshed around a little dispersing the water.

My info comes from a good source, My father was a transport driver for Sunoco for about 20 years. He hauled gasoline to local stations and jet fuel to local airports.

 

Sounds like a good cause.

The other thing I would recommend is: What spark plugs are you using???

Where did you get the tune up parts from and what name brand are they???

Also have you done a fuel pressure test yet and what was the result???