hello, I recently bought a dodge durango 2000, I have a a couple of problems with it that I really appreciate if you can guide me on how to solve those things. one of them is that the back lights when you put reverse don't turn on, bulbs are good and fuses too, the other one is that when I'm driving the oil gauge goes all the way down for like a couple of seconds and the chime of check gauges light up, just for a couple of seconds and then comes back to normal, any advice on what to do?, thank you in advance for your help.

 

Check the oil level, check the reverse switch. Would help if you would add details about the vehicle. Mileage, engine size, transmission type, etc.

 

2000 dodge durango
v8
automatic transmission, not 4x4

oil level is good, about the reverse switch, how do I check it?, where it is located?

 

As for your "reverse lights". Try swapping out a "brake light" for the "reverse light". The sockets turn out, and swap easy. If the light comes on, you have a bad socket, if not, you have bigger issues.

As for replacing the socket, you can pick one up a local "pick and pull" junkyard as there were lots of Durangos made....and also the Mopar (Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth) Minivans of the similar years as the Gen1 Durango, used that same tail light assembly....and a lot of those were made too.

If all else fails there might be someone on here with extras or there is always Ebay or Amazon.

 

Could also be the neutral safety switch. We still need to know which engine though, there were 4.7, 5.2, and 5.9 V8s available in 2000, all with different transmissions. Seeing as it's a 2000 2wd it's most likely the 5.2 though.

 

Asked engine size. Not how many cylinders. This is key. We cannot read your mind. The more info you can provide makes it much easier to assist you. This is a good read:

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...our-visit.html

 

I tried swapping the sockets and the light didn't come on either, about the motor size I don't know where to look at to see the size, sorry, be easy with this lady guys. Any more ideas?, what about the neutral safety switch?, how do I check it or what do I do?

 

No worries, probably does not matter anyway. The neutral safety switch is on the transmission. You might want to puck up a Haynes or chiltons manual. It will help guide you.

The backup light switch is located on the rear driver side pointing back about 45 degrees. It will have 3 wires in the plug. The center is the ground for the neutral safety, the outside 2 are for back up lights. It takes a special socket to get it screwed out, but the parts house may lend you one to do the job.

To test the switch, unplug the wires and insert a straightened out paper clip in the two outside sockets. If the backup lights come on, the switch is not bad.

 

Which one of these looks like your engine?





There should be a sticker on the hood which lists engine displacement too.

 

It's a 1" socket or wrench. My switch gave out on a trip to Hardee's... when i came back out the truck would not start or even crank. Luckly there was a Autozone next door and was able to get a new switch and a socket to replace it right there. Sadly Autozone hosed me 29 bucks for the switch and 11 bucks for the socket.

A Little heads up: when you remove the switch your going to get a bath in transmission fluid if your not perpaired for it. Make sure you have a bucket handy and get the old one out and new one in as quick as you can, then check the transmission fluid lever and add as needed.