A friend of mine has a 2000 Durango, the V-8 engine has thrown the no.7 rod. The dealer says that the reason is because of "oil sludge" The engine had regular oil changes every 3k miles. The replacement cost is about 6500.00!!

I had seen on some site or another that there was a TSB about these engines "sludging up" is this true?

 

I have never heard or read anything about that TSB. That doesnt mean that it doesnt exist, but I have not heard of it.
I have never actually heard of others having this problem as well.

 

I have a 99 Durango with the 318 and just replaced the engine in it due to oil sludge.The oil sludge build up was so bad that it clogged the oil pick-up tube causing engine to spin the mains. And yes the oil was changed every three thousand miles. I didn't take mine to a dealer (cost way to much ) I did take it to a garage I trusted and had them install a Jasper rebuilt engine .The final cost was $3500 for the engine and labor,not bad after a dealer told me that I couldn't get it done for less then $ 7000. So if your friend wants to save some money tell him to check around the dealers cost way to much.

 

I dont mean to bring bad history for the Durango but this sludge problem was warned to me about 3 years ago by a mechanic at the dealership. I always change my oil at 3000 miles or less and always keep my receipts just in case something does go wrong for proof.

My Durango has been a slow ticking problem child but I plan on keeping it for the long run since its pretty much paid for. Just that Im slowly getting problems. Right now I have a engine noise either from the clutch fan or water pump. My post is right below this one.

Enough of my ranting... [X(] here is a link about sludge that I have been keeping close eyes on:


http://www.consumeraffairs.com/autom...e_dur_oil.html

 

Just checked all TSB's for Durango's and found nothing about a sludging up problem. I even checked Dakota's & Ram's just in case but still found nothing.

 

Ther is no TSB about engine sludge-its not a Chrysler problem, its a customer problem . If you change your oil NOT EVERY 3K but every 3K OR every 3 mo you should not have a sludge problem. We see ALOT of 2.7 with this since Enterprise and the likes rent them and don't maintain them. The 2.7 that are regular customers-no problems.

 

i was also told there is a no sludge oil i thinks it is cheveron oil. not sure though. u can also do yearly moter flushes drop the pan and clean or replace the pump. but this is a lot of work to do to avoid a problem that shoule have been fixed the first year the moter was found to have an issue. you get a lot more mileage when and customers when u say hay we have this problem and if ur moter blows before 100,000 miles we will fix it free

 

Hello,

My name is Joe from NJ and I own a '99 Durango. It's at the dealer and they are telling me I need a new engine (for $5,000) because of too much sludge build-up clogging the strainer that sucks up the oil from the bottom of the oil pan. It's got 115,000 miles on it and I'm wondering if I can have them install a new oil pan and flush out the engine to buy me about a months worth of time so I can get rid of it. My e-mail is jae8870@yahoo.com. Thank you.

 

Hi,

My name is Joe and welcome to the club. I too did regular oil changes and even though I have high miles (115,000) I too am being told by the dealer that sludge is
clogging the strainer that sucks up the oil from the bottom of the pan. I just put a new oil pump in at 108,000 miles and I'm being told that a new engine(for $6,000 of course) is what it's going to take to fix it. It's B.S. if you ask me that my truck which I maintain very well is needing an engine at 115,000 miles. I'm never buying a dodge ever again.

 

Hello,

My name is Joe from NJ and I own a '99 Durango. It has 115,000 miles and I had a new oil pump installed at 108,000 miles.

It's now at the dealer for low to no oil pressure and they are telling me I need a new engine (for $5,000) because of too much sludge build-up clogging the strainer that sucks up the oil from the bottom of the oil pan.
I'm wondering if I can have them install a new oil pan and flush out the engine to buy me about one months worth of time so I can get rid of it. By the way, I change my oil regularly and on schedule(3,000 miles or 3mos.) Please contact me or reply to this post.
My e-mail is jae8870@yahoo.com. Thank you.