Bad Fuel pump.......Make sure it's over 50 psi.

Bad cell in a battery +++++++1.

Bad ignition switch.



By the way, welcome back to the boards suzane!

 

Thank you for the help and the welcome back. We took stock of when this was happening and each time it has been after the rig has been setting parked for over night or in the parking lot at work for 7 to 8 hours. It starts right up , no problems, no noises and runs great then after about 20 to 30 minutes after its been running is when it has happened each time. We live in SE Florida so cold is not an issue. We replaced the battery in December when it happened the first time even thought the old batttery tested good. We decided to replace it anyway just to be sure.

We talked to the shop last night , they so far have not been able to find anything wrong, said it ran like a top, 2 different peolple drove it trying to get it to do it but of course it didn't. Thats when we started looking back at when it was happening. They are keeping it til Monday and will then take it for a long drive to see if it repeats the problen then, after sitting over the weekend. Otherwise, they just don't know what to try next. They have done the codes thing, nothing shows up. Until it happens while they have, they can't find the problem. Is there anything other than the coil and fuel pump and sensor/relays related to the fuel that we could have then check?

Thank you all again for your help. We only have the one rig and I need it to get to work and back. We don't live on a bus route so thats not a get me there & back option.

Suzanne

 

This sounds like a classic battery connection or battery. Check both the terminals and wires. Also clean and re-bolt the grounding lug.

Only other thing I would try is a ignition switch.

 

Disagree.

Classic bad battery is stumble at low idle and startup. Her D is dying when running per the original posts... not having trouble when starting and then not running.

Her D is also not starting, not typically a battery issue either. That is spark and fuel related.

A Durango simply dying when running at 30, 50, 70 MPH, without a NO BUS error on the CEL, is usually 99% the coil.

If the D is not running, most electrical will also drop off since the system is pulling from the alternator in a running situation. No running, no alt.

If she complained of terrible running conditions AT STARTUP, then battery for sure.

Not to say she doesn't have a bad batt... just that for others reading this post, that is not the typical "classic bad battery" symptoms or condition.

Sorry.

IndyDurango

 

it is not water in the fuel, no amount of time sitting would make any difference to water. fuel pump, very likely, esp if you have a tendancy to let it run under a 1/4 tank. Pump must remain submerged to cool.

Could be electrical, as in wiring or connectors but I would doubt it.

You have either a relay failing or a bad pump, electronic component. relays, computers, moduels, & electric pumps can have a failing circut over heat & fail but start working again after cooling.

My guess, bad fuel pump. your tech needs to put a fuel press gauge on it & drive it till it fails, if fuel press goes away it's pump or relay, if it stays, its electronic.

 

Good points!


The system is still connected to the battery without a diode so if the alternator failed the engine would be powered by the battery until depletion. These systems are all wired in a loop.

Again, this can't happen unless the key switch is bad, CTM, PCM, or bad connection somewhere. IF the PCM is getting hot it could do this as well.


Now if the motor died but everything else stayed powered then I would agree with a coil of fuel.

 

Not the battery, we replaced it when this happened the first time in December. Husband decided to use the Ask A Dodge Mechanic Ad he saw on this site. The Mechanic told him that when a vehicle does what mine is doing it is almost always the PCM going down. He suggested having the shop try to get it to duplicate the problem and if they can't he suggested they check the things controlled by the PCM if they test good then the PCM needs to be replaced. He said the reason there were no codes is the PCM basically went to sleep and caused the stall, but since it was asleep it could not retain any error codes. Not his actual words but you all get the picture. We will call when shop opens in the morning and go over this with them. Meanwhile does anyone know what this PCM thing costs and how long it takes to install it?

Thanks again.

Suzanne

 

Quote:
radio air ect and the air bag check engine brake ect lights do not come on when it stalls.
"Again, this can't happen unless the key switch is bad, CTM, PCM, or bad connection somewhere. IF the PCM is getting hot it could do this as well."

I think we need a clairification on this. I just went out started my 99 d & pulled the fp relay, when the motor died no lights came on for abs or anything else "UNTILL" I cycled the key to off and then back on.

When your saying the lights don't come on do you mean they don't come on as the engine stalls but will if you cycle they key or do they not light up at all?

This would be an important difference.

 

Actual ecu failures are fairly rare, I will double check everything before I commit myself to replacing an ecm. the shutdown relay will also not set a code, nor will the fuel pump, ignition module or fuel pump relay.

It's important to understand that we don't drive the starship enterprise & the computer is not capable of recording problems outside of its system. relays pumps and the like are not code monitored components. (before I get blasted, On most cars.)

 

No offense to anyone...

...this thread is a perfect example of why sometimes forum diagnostics don't work.

After 100's of guesswork solutions to the same 3 or 4 symptoms, some make sense, some are WAY out there. It is certainly easy for armchair quaterbacks to call plays when it isn't their money needing spent to track down every conceivable provided solution to the problem. KaleCo loves threads like these. Certainly within 48 hours, someone would have provided one of their products to fix the problem too. And all would be correct of course! haha.

Sometimes, less is more. Other times, the best of stated intentions will fall on deaf ears.

Without actual eyes and ears on the Durango, this thread isn't helping. It is just proving that most threads end in the same place... throw everything at the problem, including the kitchen sink, and certainly one of them will have fixed the problem. As long as that solution is one of the first ones tried, the suggestion was "great" and the provider a hero. If it is found only after hundreds and thousands of dollars spent, that it wasn't such a grand excercise at all at following the patchwork "solutions" provided. Just IMHO and of course, opinions are like bellybuttons, everybody's got one.

Sorry. I just had to point out the not so obvious, or obvious, depending on what one reads into threads like these.

There are too many ideas and not enough concrete answers. Some from poor or incomplete descriptions of the problems, others from second hand answers with no real experience to back them up. Not just this thread, how most of the threads recently are heading. For a while last year, 8 out of 10 answers suggested in every post seemed to be checking for compression pressure. WTF? Really? No actually, not really. Usually, a total waste of time.

Sorry for the general rant folks.

Suz, my sincerest best of luck at finding your solution. Prior to spending hundreds or a grand on a PCM replacement, with no "No Bus" indicator, have it unplugged, throughly cleaned connections and double checked that the connections are but back nice and tight. Then double check again that they are triple tight just to be sure. Unless the PCM is failing only when hot, then it isn't the PCM. Ever see a computer completely fail only to work again the next day? Once actually failed, it is done.

IndyD