i have found a 2000 durango rt awd with 169 000kms ive been reading about them and ive read alot of bad things about the sludge build up in the motor and tranny problems. should i let this get in the way of buying this or are people just over reacting would this be a good reliable truck

 

The sludge problem-there is NONE. It is a false statement that got started who knows when. That is a lot of km's on that vehicle and expect to replace the trans. in the future if it has not been replaced already.

 

Well i had a very long post all typed out went to press send an it was lost... SO am just going to type a short one. yes there is a sludge issue with some of the magnums (5.2L 5.9L... 4.7L is not a true magnum) there has been some issue with the plenum gasket on some.. this issue has been fixed for the most part..

anyways..... most people who have experienced this issue are the people who do not maintain the vehicle an or use cheap oil... Always use name brand oil, I myself recommend Mobile... (its the people who run 8000-10000+ on an oil change an have their oil changed at Jiffy lube another words.. just let them change it an pull away not even checking their work)

ok transmission, the RE series.. 5.9L is 46RE 5.2L is 44RE an the 3.9L is the 42RE... the number being the strength of the transmission an the RE meaning its an electrical operated tranny (even tho the RE is mostly mechanical with just a little electrical, its the 45RE that is electrical)

the issue with these transmission is the flow threw out the transmission.. basically this causes heat because of poor flow causing premature damage, this can be offset by using an external cooler along with the cooler in the radiator, an by using ONLY quality transmission fluid... only use atf+4 (again quality fluid here only such as mopar)
The RE is really a mid life tranny rated somewhere around 150,000 mile (is what i read)

Now as always it is the condition the vehicle is in due to the previous owners.. Driving habits an maintenance.. you can not blame dodge if the vehicle has not been maintained. people on this forum have over 300k with no issues, just basic maintenance.

another issue with the 98-03 models is front ball joints.. use moog as replacements an ur good for 80,100k

Look the truck over, have an engine oil analysis done. an go from there.

 

alright thanks alot guys and im lookin at it at a dealer ship so the previous record of it is unknown it could have been beat on or it could have been taken care of its really clean and in great shape and it has the 5.9 in it

 

schusterjo, the sludge problem that you are relating to is common with any other vehicle, not just Magnum related. Sludge problems only happen when people DO NOT perform regular maintenance as you stated. This is not a Dodge problem and never has been, only problem that Dodge had was with the 4.7 pcv valve but they fixed that. Do not stir the pot with the sludge issue because it will open up a can of worms with other people here and they will state the same as I have.

 

Very true, this is not only a dodge or engine related issue.. Unfortunately u are not aware of the TSB on the plenum gasket leak that has been proven directly related to engine sludge. You my sir are just not informed..
http://www.smartsynthetics.com/pdf/T...num-gasket.pdf

 

Well I am wrong in that issue and thanks for the heads up. Very informative reading! But in reality, how many of these engines were affected by this? 5 years worth is a lot and I can see people complaining about this if they are not informed previously about this.

 

This is not a sludge issue!

This is an internal engine issue that the owner/owners of the vehicles let go and didn't get fixed. Had the owners had it fixed it would have never happened. Because Chrysler looked into the costomer complaints about the issue (and thanks to the people that investigated the issue) we now a TSB conferming the issue. However TSB 18-006-01 http://silverdodge.dodgeram.org/tsb/2001/18-006-01.htm superseded the issue later know as the "Death Flash". The "Death Flash" was a way around the issue that retarded the timing to stop the "ping" and therefore cease the engine deterioration. OEM scheduled oil changes will keep the deposits out of the motor. Now this was a "Chicken ****" way around the issue without fixing the issue and a way Chrysler could get around any recalls that "could" be extended.

If left untreated then deposits can combine causing an issue. However, under normal scheduled maintenance (aka....3000 mile intervals) and normal engine temperature with today's oil additives should clean most blow by out "under normal conditions".


Now there is a different issue that you bring up in this link: http://www.smartsynthetics.com/pdf/T...num-gasket.pdf The TSB MO-2005-09-30 was a TSB from Amsoil Oil Company and not Chrysler! The reason they did this was because of the manufactures disclaimers of extended oil life so they couldn't get sued by customers that did the extended service interval "as persuaded by Amsoil Oil Company" with the "Death Flash" and cause the engine to build up deposits.


Now your informed.

 

Well would it still not be a sludge issue even if its the owners fault for not having the plenum gasket repaired? At the end of the day there is still sludge in the engine that may of not been there if it was not for a leaky plenum gasket, to me that is a sludge issue.

plenum gasket goes beyond general maintenance is why some people say there is.
As stated with the 4.7 there was a pcv issue that was related to sludge.
http://dodgeram.info/tsb/2006/25-001-06.htm

Yes, there are fixes to both issues PCV an the plenum gasket. the word issue is present so therefore i think it would be safe to say there has been issues with sludge being design or owner created.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...ne-sludge.html

 

Thanks Hydra, I always trust the Lube Master!