Hello all,

I just bought an '05 Durango SLT Hemi from the dealer here. It's about a month old and I am having some problems. After searching here, I am not sure if it's a culmination of everyone's problems that I am seeing in my SUV or if it's one serious one. Here is my situation (it just started on Tuesday);
1- Panel light flickers on/off while driving.
2- Radio/cd does the same (including speakers).
3- Various symbols also do the same such as airbag, battery, 4wd svc.
4- When slowing down and making left u-turn, I feel a 'grinding/locking' when applying the brakes.
5- When driving at low speeds 15-25 mph, the speedometer and rpm gauge drops to zero and returns to its appropriate speed and rpm gauge eventhough the speed I am driving at is the same?!
6- It stalled once when making a u-turn (to the left). Everything shutted off and I ran into the curb. It did start right back up.
7- When at highway speeds, when I press the gas pedal I can hear a 'hissing/humming' sound. It's like I can hear the gas being pumped. This is my first Dodge so I don't know if that is normal; to actually hear the gas being pumped. My previous vehicles from other makes didn't have this sound.
8- When I finally got home, I sat there with the car running for about 5-10 mins to ovserve it some more and during that time, the panel light, symbols, cd flickered on/off. The headlights then joined in and did it too.
9- I turned the car off and when I tried to activate the alarm (with the stock key), it wouldn't work. I had to deactivate it then activated and it worked.

The following day (yesterday) I took it into the dealer and these are the codes that came up;
1- PCM Unifomr 1411
2- P0571 Brake switch #1
3- FCM Uniform 0023 CAM B Buf + circuit high
4- FCM Uniform 0019 CAM B Buf

He gave me a quote of 11,000 Riyals ($2500+) to address those issues. He also said he'll address in phases in hoping to resolve the problem without going through all of those codes, if possible.

I told him to hold on so he's waiting on my reply to start. If I agree then he'll start Sat (beginning of the work week here).

Anyone familiar with these codes and anyone have similar issues? If so, what did you do to resolve the issue(s)? It seems like a $**# load of issues/codes! I thought it was something more simple like the wiring or something.

I don't want to spend that kind of money for nothing. I am currently working here in Riyadh and anyone who has been here knows that there is no such thing as customer service here, etc...so any advice from everyone here will be GREATLY appreciated.

 

The 2005 has a recall for the instrument cluster that pose a fire hazard:

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...ls/results.cfm

FF

 

+1. Check the cluster for an electrical short first. There are 2 related but different recalls there that are electrical/dash related.

After that, if it were a Gen1, I would say loose connection at the PCM or failing CTM.

IndyDurango

 

Thanks for the replies. When I brought the vehicle in, I brought up the recall and asked if that could be the problem. When the tech checked it and came back, he said the panel "overload" is not an issue. I don't know if that is the same thing that is being referred here or not?! He said he'll first replace the battery and check the wiring of the vehicle. It's going to cost $1000. That seems like an awful lot but is that a good place to start?

 

No. It is not good.

A battery is $175 installed and an electrical system check even at 2 full hours is $180 based on $90 a hour (which is HIGH.)

If that is what they are telling you, $1000, go somewhere else. Can this be real? $1000?!? for that?!

 

Yes that is what they said or to be more exact "up to $1000". The battery here is $270! Probably because they are the only one in Riyadh, therefore the markup?! But labor should not be that high regardless.

I'll look into it more. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Greetings from Ohio, USA:

I think replacing your battery is a good place to start. Indy is right that $2500 or even $1000 US is too much to just throw at it!

You may have a failing ignition switch, or one of many other issues. The many computers on board will and can do crazy things if the battery it not tip top.

Get back to us and let us know how the battery replacement goes.

I do not think you said how many miles the D has on it which could be helpful.

Don

 

Greetings back at you N8ech and thanks for the replies, very much appreciated.The D has 97,200ish KM on it.They changed the battery and checked the wiring. It was completed yesterday and they test drove it and said the issue is no longer there. However, while test driving it they said the 4wd would lock up when going over bumps, etc, (the other issue that a lot of other people seem to have).He recommended replacing the transfer motor and based on what I have read (on here) from what others have done to resolve that issue, I told him to go ahead. Parts won't be here til tomorrow and hopefully be done then or the day after.I haven't had a chance to ask them about what they actually did with the wiring but will do so when I go get the D. I'll keep everyone updated.After speaking to them about the previous quote, I was then quoted $1200 for everything...with the possibility of additional discounts that I will definitely push for.-Slayman

 

Glad to hear that some of your issues are apparently taken care of by the new battery.

From what you have told us, I would be very careful with these fellows as it seems they are out to get as much money from you as they can.

Were you having any issues with the 4wd before you took it to them? While there have been issues with the Transfer Case Controller causing issues, I find it strange that they have brought this forward now that the battery seems to have gone along way towards fixing your D.

The shift motor would be no more than $200 here in the US and no more than two hours to install if I recall correctly.

Keep us up to date on your progress please......................Don

 

I just got back my D and things appear to be fixed (as of right now). Hopefully it will stay that way. I am now @ 98200km so we'll see.

This is what they ended up doing;
1- Checked the wiring of the whole vehicle and found some loose connections and stripping (wiring harness) and repaired it.
2- Also found loose connections at the fuel pump area so they fixed that too. This was very labor intensive because of what they had to do to get to it (according to them).
3- Replaced the transfer case motor.
4- Updated the computer (whatever that means).

When all was said and done and one week later it costed me $775. I felt more comfortable to going to an authorized center for D then to go to the many "back-alley" mechanics here.

I will keep everyone updated as I continue driving the vehicle. Hopefully nothing other than routine maintenance will be needed from now on.

Thanks to all for their posts.