Hey Guys its been a while since I have been on here but figured I would see what everyone thinks. I have a 1999 durango with ~185k 5.9 4 wheel drive, leather seats very nice interior.

Over the recent snowpocalpes that hit I was forced to use it as a daily driver for a week.(normally just a boat puller) Some things I noticed while driving. The heat smelled like coolant, I had replaced the heatercore about one and half years ago and I believe it was already blown again. ( Got the part from Orilellys) I am kinda mad about this as it was a total pia to replace and took a whole weekend. Also seems to leak trans fluid between the motor and block. Along with this the durango has has subpar a/c performance during the summer (used an ac evap core from orilellys as well)

A few questions, do Oriellys parts just suck? If I were to replace the heater core would it be better to replace with a direct from dodge part? Is it likely the evap is attributing to my crap ac performance ( have had a shop put on two different compressors and charge/ recharge never were able to get it working well) The transmission leak was never able to be fixed and have taken it to two shops, staring to feel like know one knows what they are doing. If you were me what would you do? Repair it or sell it?

 

to be honest with you I don't know anything about oriellys parts but I do know that rockauto is deff the place to go for parts especialy the pricey ones that's were I go cause you just cant beat there prices and my brother rebuilt half his 89 2 door Cherokee
just from there parts and he beats the piis outa of it in the trails and hasn't broke yet so id deff say buy parts from them first. heatercors on there go for 30 to 50 bucks depending on the brand you want. just bought both front cvs for 50 bucks a pair cant beat that

 

"If you were me what would you do? Repair it or sell it?


If I were doing the repairs myself I'd keep it. Drive the wheels off it. Having a shop take care of these and future problems the bills would have me wondering who I'm working for. At the end of the day it's your call though.


Do you have rear air also? If not that's a lot of space to cool down. If its the air is not getting cold out of the vents either they are not finding/fixing the real problem or maybe you have flapper doors not working correctly. But you have a few months before you really need.
Heater core is what I'd replace ASAP. Don't need that stuff on the carpet.
Trans down twice and still leaks? Time to find another mechanic.

 

id deff fix it I love my D its been a love hate relationship since I got her. I love her she hates me that's why she takes all my money. ( wife hates it cause I spend more time and money on D then her ) but aint complaining . ya I don't think mine has rear heat cause after hearing about it I looked and didn't see no y pipe or anything I got middle seat heat ( well as much as the front gets ) but the air blower thing above my head doesn't get any heat at all strate cold air almost like ac cold

 

The OEM heater cores are no better, if not worse than after market. My 3rd heater core is now an aftermarket and different design but still fit. So I am crossing my fingers I will not have to do a 4th heater core replacement anytime soon. The 2nd core was a oem replacement, did not last 3 years before it started leaking. Original one leaked also. Just make sure the replacement core you have is mostly made out of metal. Seen some aftermarket cores has plastic components that will end up becoming brittle due to hot/cold temp changes.

 

If it's not rusty, has a sound body and interior, you still enjoy it, and it still fits your lifestyle/needs, I'd repair it in a heartbeat.

 

I use mine as a spare vehicle. I dont think I could drive my durango on the daily compared to driving the two new vehicles that also sit in my driveway..

but hey, it all comes down to what you want to drive. Repairs or monthly payments. You're still forking out $$$ one way or the other..

 

monthly payments are recurring where repairs are random you don't have to pay 500 a month I repairs if you treat it right were no matter how ya treat the new car u still got payments and insurance on it not to mention if it breaks after the warranty then yer paying payments and repairs and insurance which sounds a hell of a lot more exspensive to me plus you don't own it (yet) so you can pay all you want then something happens in yer life that screws you and then uh bye bye new car here comes mr repo stupid ill wait 5 to 7 yrs to buy a new car cause then yer paying wat there realy worth not what they think there worth. and a new car depreciates the min u pull out the parking lot did the price tag that yer paying go down nope so u loose either way.

 

Maybe one simply just can't afford a new car?
Nothing wrong with that.. But you can't really knock buying a new car (or slighly new).

That's like saying you only buy clothes 2nd hand. That toaster in your kitchen? Yep, that's second hand.

Your tv is still a tube tv because.. well flat screens didn't really hit the market until the last 4-5 years..

Sometimes you gotta pay full price to have nice things.

 

Good points really, @ JeeperDon the body is in good shape. Guess I might just bite the bullet and get it fixed. Anyone have suggestions on what I should do with the ac while I am replacing the heatercore again? Maybe Ill just have a shop do it so they can be responsible if it does not work well... Thanks for the feed back everyone!