My 2002 4.7 Durango left me stranded tonight. It would crank, run with a rough idle below 600 rpm for 2-5 seconds, then die. Using the odometer code trick, it gave me 440 and 456, which it has given me for at least a year, so I dont think thats the issue.
All electricity in the durango seems to be functioning.
The only symptom that I seemed to have had was that I smelled gas in the cabin for less than a minute when I turned the AC on yesterday.

In the morning, I'll go back to it and clean the battery terminals and retry it.

I guess this could be a sensor issue, bad fuel, or fuel pump issue. The service manual and other posts suggest that I should first check for gas and spark.

So how do I do this in a parking lot with simple tools? If I can't figure it out with a little more research, insight, or fiddling, I'll have to call a tow and get it to a shop, which my college student budget wont appreciate.

BTW, any reputable repair shops that yall know of in the Greenville SC area?
(sorry for the long post, just trying to express most of what I know)

 

Hopefully cleaning the battery terminals will take care of it. I'm not sure how the setup is on the 4.7, but to check for fuel there should be a schrader valve somewhere that you can push; just don't push it with your finger and wear some sort of eye protection.

 

Alright, battery was good, checked the fuel pressure using the Schroeder valve, and no gas came out.
Using a trick I read on the forum (bang on the bottom of the gas tank to create enough pressure) I got it to crank and run. (BTW, I was jumping for joy in a walmart parking lot)
Drove to Advance, ran the codes and got
P0867-LINE PRESSURE FAULT
P0868-LINE PRESSURE LOW.

So dying fuel pump, right?

 

(Cont.)
Or a fuse or relay. I dont think its a clogged fuel filter because I dont hear the fuel pump come on at all. So how can I diagnose one of those things?

And how in the world does it keep running after I beat on the gas tank to get it going? Does the motor provide suction to the fuel line? (that doesnt seem right)

 

scratch that, the fuel pump is working, and the relay that turns it on too. gas sprayed out of the Schroeder valve when pressed. after it sat for 3 hours, I had to bang on the tank to get it going, but then itll start easily on each consecutive try over the next few minutes.

So I think I've ruled out everything except for a dirty/clogged fuel filter and bad fuel. I'll try to find some info about changing the filter.

 

The fuel filter is in the tank with the fuel pump... you have to replace them as a whole unit.

 

Reading what you wrote I honestly think it could be a loose connection to your fuel pump. This happened on a car of mine one time. it would start run for a couple of seconds and die. Took everything off and dropped the tank only to find the connector was barely on. This could be the same thing but you never know one persons problem is always different from your solution.

 

Old School: yeah, I saw that when I was looking for the part. Kinda pricey.

Squints: I'd be fine with it being a loose connection, that'd be a lot cheaper.

 

I just know that I have had run ins with that. Better to check it once you drop the tank vs buying a new fuel pump only to realize it was just a connection issue