As you can see by my name, I am an car idiot, so I come here begging your forgiveness.

I had my CEL come on a day or two ago, and found the code to be P1281, which I looked at your list as Engine Stays Cold Too Long.

My question is: what does this mean? Some Googling makes me think it is a thermostat problem...is this right? If so, how hard is it to fix by myself? My car repair experience is limited to replacing a battery in a Neon and watching someone replace brakes on the Durango. Is it possible to do by myself (or with the help of a more handy-gifted relative)? Is this even the problem? Also, is this something that I should stop driving on? A friend of mine told me if the CEL isn't blinking, that it's not a terrible problem, but I have no idea if this is true or not. The light keeps looking at me twisting my insides into knots.

03 Durango (which I hope puts it into the 2nd Generation, if not, sorry for posting in the wrong forum) with a 4.7 (I think?) engine.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Welcome to the site. It is probaly your thermastat and is hard to reach as it is under the vehicle. I will move this thread to the first generation Durango section,
FF

 

Welcome to the boards! We can sure help ya out.

P1281 Engine is Cold Too Long


The 4.7L is kinda a bitch to bleed out so you should take it in......IMHO.