Hello to all,

I just recently picked up my first Durango. It's a 2003, SXT, 4x4, 4.7Lv8, with 64k miles.
Got it at a good price, but came with a few issues.

I had to replace: broken parking light lens, heater blower resister, gas cap, tires, and a GOOD CLEANING.

All no big deal . . but I have 2 problems that I could use some help in getting fixed.



1). Power Outlets not working.
The "constant hot" outlets in the center console (arm rest) and the one in the cargo area do not work.

I have checked all the fuses both in the fuse panel on the outside of the left side dash, and in the engine bay. All are good.

I have read about some "secret", "hidden" fuses (3 or 4) behind the main fuse panel by the emergency brake.

I looked in this area very well but could not find anything.

Does anyone know the exact location and/or number of the fuse that controls these outlets?

If you also have a picture of these "secret" fuses that would help.





2). Instrument Cluster Lights not working.
Now this one is more important (to me anyway) than the first, and a little more is needed to explain.

All exterior lights work as they should. Headlights. brake, parking, turn sig, etc. all work fine.

I do not have the problem of instrument/brake or instrument/parking or instrument/whatever not working at the same time.

I have read about these problems in many diff. posts, and I do not have this issue.

All other interior lights work as they should, and dim as they should.

This is what happens when I turn on the lights (parking or head):

Odometer and gear selection indicator light up along with radio, heater controls, etc. and function properly.

The lights for the other instruments (spedo/tach/temp/fuel) will not light.

Now the twist . . . . the turn sig. indicators will both light and respond to the dimmer as if they were the instrument lights.

When I use the turn sig. or 4way's the indicator lights will blink as they should but will remain lit in the background between flashes.

I am stumped by this one ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?





I am pretty good at fixing and/or working on cars and can usually diagnose problems and get things to work.

What is the "STUPID" thing that I am not seeing? Can it be a commonly know problem of a ground, broken lead wire, whatever?

Can the 2 be related in any way? I really believe they are separate issues.

I have looked at all the usual suspects but can't seem to find the culprits.



I hope this hasn't been too long or boring, but wanted to give as much detail as possible in the first post.

Any help or suggestions that you can supply would be greatly appreciated.

THANK YOU ALL in advance for your time and assistance with these 2 problems.





P.S. If you can't fix it with WD40 or Duct Tape . . . . . throw it out, you can't fix it ! ha,ha,ha!

RICH

 

Welcome to DF
You have two fuse box's, one is under the hood in the PDC and the other would be on the driver side on the side of the dash. If the outlets are not working it could, fuse,open wire or the outlets are unplugged. On the cluster, are you saying the back lights are not coming on when you turn on the headlamps?

 

The gauge cluster sounds like a broken wire or a bad ground... could also be a bad cluster....if it where me, just for giggles, visit a u-pull-it yard and lok for another cluster (are local yard sells them for about 20 bucks) and try swapping it out to see if the issue is still present. if so, then i would plan a few hours to look for a bad wire/connection.

if that does fix it...there are many places online that you can send the cluster for a odometer correction (for a price of course) and from what i have learned, that seems to be the only way 2 do it as i recently had to have the odometer corrected (see thread)and the 4 local stealerships would not do it. A very nice chick at the last one told me where they have it done(ones that they replace) its a outfit located in Brooklyn,NY if memory serves me well

 

#1) the so callled 'secret' fuses are not there in your truck, theyw ere only in the old interior design (98-00)

#2) sounds like a short or a bad ground to me

 

Hey guys . . thanks for the replys.
Haven't had time to do any of the fixes yet but will definitely post the results of my findings and fixes when I get things working.

Just to clearify: the exterior lights all work as they should. The only issue is with the cluster, it is the spedo/tach/fuel/temp lights not working.
I will re-check all the fuses in the PDC and dash side fuse box, and check/clean/tighten all the grounds. If that doesn't work I'll pull the cluster and give it a good lookie-see for anything broken on the board.

One more question: I couldn't find this anywhere. . . Where is the mileage that is displayed in the odometer stored. Is it in the cluster itself or in the main computer and just sent as a digital message to the cluster computer for display?

Thank you again for all your help.

RICH

 

have you checked to make sure all the bulbs in your cluster are good? my cluster is kinda wierd in that if i put a good bulb in the highbeems indicator position the light is on for when the highbeems are off and when thier on the light is off...

 

According to the stealership, its stored in the PCM and the cluster itself. I been to 4 dealers and none will fix it unless i buy a cluster from them @ 850 a pop! If it comes down to cluster replacement let me know and i will refer you to the guy in brooklyn, NY that's doing my odometer correction.

BTW, make sure the replacement cluster comes from a 2001-2003, 98-00 clusters will fit but, WILL NOT work unless you wanna rewire everything

 

mine does the same..thats why i removed the bulb till i can discover the fix. pretty sure its because i put a 99 cluster in and its as simple as moving a pin or 2. maybe ur cluster was replace with a 99 too?

 

hmmm... thats quite possible... dealership tried to tell me i needed a new turnsignal thing or something like that... idk it was more than a year ago and ive since forgot... i can tell by looking at the indicator light for the fogs. if its green its low beams, if its not lit then its highbeams and i can stop flashing my lights at people cause thier flashing at me lol