Ok, before I get throttled for asking to separate questions in a single thread, about 2 different problems..please understand I am looking for simple answers, I am not in the mood for complication this evening..lol

First thing I want to say..Went to Take-A-Part this morning..got a used steering shaft, no more play..still likes to hang to the right a little, i am guessing it's well overdue for an alignment. HERE is the FIRST issue...right around 10 mph(it's where I notice this noise first), as long as you keep the steering wheel cocked to the right it runs down the road, no noise, good and quiet. But let the steering wheel go to the left a little..thump thump thump, it's a very consistent noise, but like I said, turn the steering back to the right..no noise. Turn it further left...noise is more prominent, and gets louder. I am going to get both front wheels off the ground, take some of the pressure off some of the suspension components, I just wanted to see if anyone has dealt with this before. I am thinking first and foremost..CV shaft, I did find a little grease on the control arm, and there is a very small tear in the boot, it would be like squeezing a small pimple.

Second thing. When I bought the durango, one of the things the guy showed me was that the little plastic teet on the PCM was broken off, and that the vibration from the vehicle would cause the plug to slowly work it's way out, if the motor turned over but wouldn't fire to unplug the plug(closest to the firewall) and plug it back in, hold it while someone else started it..that has worked a couple of times. It came with a computer, but when I plugged it in, the motor would crank, but not fire..he said it was a reman'd, and he had bought it from OReilly's. Tonite, I drove it, same as I normally do, stopped to pick up my kids, shut it off, and it would crank, not fire. I checked EVERY fuse, EVERY relay..there are several, and I do not exaggerate about SEVERAL fuses and relay's I found in the center console. I looked under the dash to see if I had bumped anything replacing the steering shaft. To the left of the brake pedal, there is a plastic cap that has a bolt run thru the center..I wiggled it a little, started right up...I can take a picture of it tomorrow to show you. It's kinda right behind the emergency brake..not sure if that has anything to do with the no start, I checked fuel pressure, I just had no spark for some reason..I got home, and it started right up with no issues...Any ideas would help for the steering and the intermittent no start..

Again, I apologize if I should have separated these two but it was late when I got home..yes 11:45pm, and I had to get this out of my head before I forgot what to write down...

 

Just by guessing ... that "plastic thing with the screw though it" sounds like the main connector for the wire harness to go though the fire wall. If that be the case you might have a "dirty" connection. I would pull it apart and spray some electrical cleaner on both ends, let it completely dry and put it back together...

If you could get some pics of it we could help you much better...

 

First pic is of the plastic thing, I didn't notice the wires feeding in to it, because I was angry at it not starting... second pic is of the plug on the PCM..any ideas on how to keep that thing in there...it actually looks like(from the amount of electric tape) that plug is spliced on, I haven't pulled the tape to check...

Any ideas on the thumping sound in the front end?

 

i would do as a said above with both connectors... for the PCM connector you have 2 options .. 1 get an new one and cut-splice it in (not recommended) or you can find yourself a long zip tie to hold it on